WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama announced a plan Thursday to
create a more efficient record system to streamline health care for
wounded veterans.
The electronic record would follow a service member in the military and
then later in the Veterans Affairs Department's medical system.
There is currently a six-month backlog in disability claims at the VA.
Because the two agencies have different medical systems, veterans have
complained about bureaucratic hurdles and long waits as they enter the VA
system.
More than 1.6 million troops have deployed in support of the Iraq and
Afghanistan wars. Of those, more than 33,000 have been wounded.
Obama made the announcement with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and VA
Secretary Eric Shinseki.
The electronic record keeping system will handle military service members'
administrative and medical records from the day they enter service and
insure that those files are transferred automatically to the Department of
Veterans Affairs when they leave active duty.
As the president tackles the larger problem of health care for all
Americans, he is proposing massive spending to enable providers to keep
patients' records on computer networks, a development that Obama says will
cut costs in the longer term and diminish medical errors.
The White House said the program being undertaken by the Pentagon and
Veterans Affairs will be "next leap to delivering seamless, high-quality
care, and serve as a model for the nation."
Obama has been pushing as well for increased spending for veterans,
claiming those who have and are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are not
getting the care they deserve.
The program introduced Thursday will be part of overall Defense Department
spending of $47 billion on health care in the next fiscal year, the White
House said.
Over the next five years, the White House said, spending for veterans
affairs was set to rise by $25 billion.
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posted by Larry Scott Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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