VistA Project

Deploying and Modernizing VistA– A Case Study for Legacy System Transition

In response to a request from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Industry Advisory Council (IAC) has undertaken a project to assist the VA in understanding the issues associated with the modernization of its Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA).  

Developed and managed by the VA over 20 years ago, VistA is currently in use at 166 VA medical centers and over 850 VA clinics nationwide.   It is generally recognized as an effective and valuable healthcare information system.  In addition to serving  the VA healthcare community, it may have future value for the entire national healthcare community.  However, is one of the government’s legacy information technology systems that must be updated and modernized.  This project will address the issues associated with modernizing VistA to better serve the nation’s veterans and to enable the private sector to take advantage of the breadth of healthcare applications included under the mantle of .

Although no decision has been made regarding the future of VistA, the VA’s Chief Information Officer, Roger Baker, has asked IAC to assess the issues, challenges and opportunities associated with modernizing the system.  As part of the assessment, IAC will also consider whether there are principles or strategies that would be applicable to other legacy systems currently operated by the government such as those driving Social Security and Medicare.

Key issues to be addressed by the project include, but are not limited to:  

• Is  VistA a system that could be deployed to a wider community?  If yes, what is the most appropriate deployment model:  open source code; cloud computing; business process/methodology; other? 

• What is an appropriate strategy for modernizing and transitioning it to a more current and innovative architecture?

• What are the opportunities and impact of modernizing and deploying upon private industry, the healthcare community and other key groups?

The deliverables of this project will include a report that documents and summarizes the answers to the above questions.  Other deliverables (such as roundtables, seminars, video training, etc.) may be identified by the project team.

A call for volunteers was put out to the IAC membership and 42 companies responded.  The  working group is chaired by Ed Meagher, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Technology, Department of Veterans Affairs and currently the Director of Strategic Health Initiatives, SRA.   Overseeing the project on behalf of IAC is Andy Robinson, IAC Executive Vice Chair and Senior Vice President, ICF International.  The schedule calls for the project to be completed within six months.

Information on the status of this project will be shared with the broader community through this web site.  Individuals and organizations who wish to provide input to this initiative will have an opportunity to do so throughout the project.

For current information about the project, visit the VistA Chair's Blog that is available from this page.  You may also send an email to the project at vista@actgov.org.