For Our Troops: VA Electronic Records and Thanks

Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember those who have sacrificed their lives because we have asked them to. There are no words to express both the awe for and the profound loss of these brave men and women.

Today also is a day to think about the many service men and women who have returned home. These vets are supported by the Veterans Health Administration and their award-winning electronic patient records system, VisitA. Yes, since 2006, the VA has model system of electronic health records which reduces costs and errors while increasing safety and efficiency. A few measures:

• The cost of maintaining the system is $80 per patient per year, less than the cost of one unnecessarily repeated lab test.
  
• The VA outperforms all other sectors of American health care across 294 measures of quality in disease prevention and treatment.
  
• Patient waiting times have declined.
  

The VA's system is open source so it can be freely adapted and used by civilian hospitals. Currently, less than 2% of non-VA hospitals have a full-fledged electronic patient record. This is a great example of innovation in the government sector that can solve a universal problem. As health care reform heats up this summer, expect to see more on the VA's systems.

A bit off topic, two other links for Memorial Day. 

First, an incredible mashup using Google Earth called Map The Fallen-- a new online memorial to honor those service members who have fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan. You need Google Earth to see it, but please check out the video demo, it is truly amazing. 

Second, see www.tweettoremind.org for a small way to thank our troops. The campaign includes calls to tweet about your hero (@remind_org and #tweettoremind), share videos, and micro-fundraising. Five minutes and $5.25 isn't much to say, "Thanks!"