Senate passes Heller amendment on veterans records
WASHINGTON — The Senate approved an amendment on Tuesday to prod the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs to harmonize electronic health records compiled on service members.
The amendment by Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., was passed unanimously and attached to the 2016 national defense authorization bill being debated this week.
The legislation would give the Department of Defense and the VA a year to present a report to Congress on what it would take and how long to make their electronic health systems inter-operable.
Advocates have said veterans face delays in having their disability claims processed in part because the two bureaucracies find it difficult to share health records.
Heller said the amendment goal is to get the VA and the Defense Department “operating on the same page when it comes to establishing electronic health records.”
Contact Review-Journal Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC.
