VistA

The Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) is a nationwide information system and Electronic Health Record (EHR) developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) throughout the U.S. to all 1200+ healthcare sites of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The VHA manages the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States, providing care to over 8 million veterans, employing 180,000 medical personnel and operating 163 hospitals, over 800 clinics, and 135 nursing homes throughout the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii on a single electronic healthcare information network.

VISTA consists of nearly 180 applications for clinical, financial, administrative, and infrastructure needs in VA integrated into a single, common database, permitting all VA applications to share one single, authoritative data source for all veteran-related care and services. The U.S. Congress has mandated the VA keep all veterans health information in one single authoritative system, and has mandated VISTA as this role.

Over 60% of all physicians trained in the U.S. rotate through the VHA on clinical electives, making VistA the most familiar and widely used EHR in the U.S. Nearly half of all U.S. hospitals that have a complete inpatient/outpatient enterprise-wide implementation of an EHR are VA hospitals using VistA.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had automated data processing systems, including extensive clinical and administrative capabilities, within its medical facilities since before 1985. Initially called the Decentralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP) information system, DHCP was enshrined as a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for best use of Information Technology in Medicine in 1995.

VistA supports both ambulatory and inpatient care, and includes several significant enhancements to the original DHCP system. The most significant is a graphical user interface for clinicians known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), which was released in 1997. In addition, VistA includes computerized order entry, bar code medication administration, electronic prescribing, and clinical guidelines.

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