Health Economics, Policy and Law

Table of Contents - 2006 - Volume 1, Issue 02  


Perspective

Effect of the implementation of an enterprise-wide Electronic Health Record on productivity in the Veterans Health Administration

Dwight C. Evans a1, W. Paul Nichol a2 and Jonathan B. Perlin a3c1
a1 Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, USA
a2 University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA
a3 Veterans Health Administration, Washington, DC, USA

Article author query
evans d   [Google Scholar] 
nichol w   [Google Scholar] 
perlin j   [Google Scholar] 
 

Abstract

Since 1995, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has had an ongoing process of systems improvement that has led to dramatic improvement in the quality of care delivered. A major component of the redesign of the VHA has been the creation of a fully developed enterprise-wide Electronic Health Record (EHR). VHA’s Health Information Technology was developed in a collaborative fashion between local clinical champions and central software engineers. Successful national EHR implementation was achieved by 1999, since when the VHA has been able to increase its productivity by nearly 6 per cent per year.

(Published Online March 23 2006)


Correspondence:
c1 Corresponding author: Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., MSHA, Under Secretary for Health, Veterans Health Administration, 810 Vermont St. Washington, D.C. 20240. USA. Tel: 202-273-5781; Fax: 202-273-5787; Email: jonathan.perlin@va.gov