Military Health Records to Have One-Stop Shop

How often have military service members been shuffled from one office to another—one organization to the next—before all of their records are pulled together and coordination of treatments or benefits can begin? The answer is too often.

But here is the good news: The U.S. Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have launched an effort to combine their two electronic health record systems into one. Known as the integrated Electronic Health Record, or iEHR, it aims to ensure that health care records will follow troops for their rest of their lives, beginning from the day they swear in to serve their country. The move will improve medical care for all military community members, including those wounded in combat or trying to process a VA claim.

According to News Editor Rita Boland in her article, “Two Government Organizations, One Health Information System,” in this issue of SIGNAL Magazine, the iEHR program is not merely a clearinghouse that stores all information, but rather, a continually evolving network that will use the newest technologies developed in order to provide the best care to U.S. troops...