VA open source custodial agent opens doors

David Perera | Fierce Government IT | August 31, 2011

The Veterans Affairs Department officially launched Aug. 30 a central body dubbed the "custodial agent" to oversee open source electronic health record projects. The body, now going by the official name of the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent, or OSEHRA (pronounced "oh- sarah"), is meant to be the first step in creating an open source successor to VA and Defense Department EHRs. 

...The joint DoD and VA successor system, the iEHR, "when we get done, will be in the open source," VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker told reporters during an Aug. 30 call. The DoD and VA posted online Aug. 22 a special notice encouraging vendors "to develop or modify their potential solutions to fit into an open architecture model."...