[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 100 (Monday, July 15, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S5688]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. NELSON:
  S. 1296. A bill to amend the Wounded Warrior Act to establish a 
specific timeline for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to achieve interoperable electronic health records, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. NELSON. Mr. President, the men and women of our armed services 
sacrifice a great deal for this country and when their service ends 
they should not have to worry about retaking medical tests or jumping 
through bureaucratic hoops to make sure their health records are 
complete. We need a modern health record system, and it needs to happen 
without further delay.
  Each year 150,000 servicemembers make the transition from military 
service to veteran status. When a servicemember makes that change their 
health records should go with them and transition seamlessly from the 
Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
Unfortunately, as it stands today, the two Departments operate separate 
health record systems that do not communicate with each other. This can 
cause gaps in a servicemember's health record, meaning more medical 
tests that lead to greater costs and an increase in the backlog of 
cases at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  For fifteen years we have tried to fix this problem, and in the past 
5 years the Departments have spent around $1 billion but we are not 
there yet. Recently, Secretary Hagel announced that the two Departments 
were abandoning the goal of creating a single health system. Instead, 
the Department of Defense will invest in a commercial system that will 
be able to communicate with the system being used by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  These recent efforts are a positive sign, but we must make sure the 
Departments continue to make progress towards a cohesive health system. 
That is why I am filing legislation that will provide a timeline for 
the health record systems to be able to talk to one another. In 
addition, this legislation encourages innovation in the sharing of 
electronic records and will provide patients greater access to their 
health records.

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