Dive Brief:
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In an attempt to expand healthcare options for veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs released a proposed rule that would allow for more data sharing of veterans’ medical records.
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The rule would change a privacy regulation to allow sharing of VA medical records with providers beyond the VA system if the patient gives the OK, even without a physical copy of the consent.
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Health information exchange (HIE) partner requests are often denied because of the current requirement that written consent be on file, according to the rule.
Dive Insight:
The Department of Veterans Affairs views the change as a way to remove barriers to care for veterans. Excessive wait times for VA care are well documented and the VA is looking for ways to reduce that burden.
VA Secretary David Shulkin has said he wants private providers to play a bigger role in veterans' healthcare, so that veterans have more choices for treatment and the VA can focus on its strengths, like prosthetics and traumatic brain injury. With that in mind, President Donald Trump signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act last year. The plan provides $2.1 billion for the Veterans Choice Program, which pays for private-sector care for veterans who don’t have access to VA hospitals and clinics.
EHR interoperability struggles are a hurdle for this plan, however. The new rule aims to remove delays associated with obtaining written consent as a start in improving the process.
“This revision would ensure that more community health care providers and other HIE community partners can deliver informed medical care to patients by having access to the patient’s VA medical records at the point of care,” according to the proposal.
The VA is working to resolve EHR issues but has a long way to go, according to a recent GAO report that outlined the VA's four separate initiatives to modernize its health information system.
“The department’s dedication to completing and effectively executing the planning activities that it has identified will be essential to helping minimize program risks and expeditiously guide this latest electronic health record modernization initiative to a successful outcome — which VA, for almost two decades, has been unable to achieve,” according to the GAO.
The VA is also looking at telehealth as a way to expand care for veterans. In October, the Department of Veterans Affairs released a proposed rule that would allow healthcare providers to treat patients anywhere via telehealth.
Health IT Now Executive Director Joel White said at the time that the change “will be instrumental in breaking down geographic barriers that, for too long, have prevented our nation’s heroes from accessing the care they need where they need it.”
The VA has also announced plans to open five telemental health centers and a series of telehealth and mobile application initiatives to expand access to care and enable veterans to get healthcare at home.