The Defense Department has finished implementing the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, says William Winkenwerder Jr., the top Pentagon health official. The AHLTA is the DOD’s electronic health records system, providing a repository with information on all beneficiaries that will be accessible worldwide for military health care providers. The Pentagon plans to share AHLTA with the VA, replacing its Vista system, which Winkenwerder says “doesn’t have the capability to move the information around the world like AHLTA.” When both departments are using the same system, he said that “medical information can move seamlessly from the battlefield to any medical facility in the world.” After DOD and VA announced Jan. 24 a record sharing agreement, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, promptly fired off a letter asking for particulars. He is not impressed with the speed of this conversion, among other things.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
