Veterans Health Administration

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is part of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) which operates nationwide programs for financial assistance and burial benefits in addition to healthcare. As a major healthcare provider, the VHA operates 153 medical centers, with at least one in each state, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The VHA operates more than 1400 sites of care and contracts for over $1B a year to outside providers for veteran healthcare. The VHA is directly impacted by numerous internal and external factors such as government legislation and directives, the healthcare industry, the information technology industry and internal restructuring. Additionally, the VHA’s size and complexity create special technical issues.

The VHA views itself as part of a larger healthcare community with which we need to interoperate. We consider standards to be the foundation of healthcare interoperability.

OHT Participation:

At the second OHT Board meeting, Veterans Health Administration along with IBM, proposed a Modeling Tools for Healthcare project. See slides and charter.