The Department of Veterans Affairs’ investment in health IT – while greater proportionally than private sector norms – is improving the quality of health care and savings costs, according to a study published in a public health academic journal, Health Affairs.
The study covered the 1997 – 2007 period and found that $4 billion in investment yielded over $7 billion in savings, largely due to the elimination of duplicated tests and reduced medical errors. Other savings resulted from lower operating expenses and reduced workload, according to the study, which can be found here: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/29/4/629.
The department said it has begun piloting health record exchanges with DoD and private-sector providers, intended to pave the way for the seamless, lifetime exchange of the health care records of veterans, regardless of where they live.
