Testimony 

Before the Subcommittee on Oversight 

and Investigations, Committee on 

Veterans' Affairs, House of 

Representatives

United States General Accounting Office 

GAO

For Release on Delivery 

Expected at 10:30 a.m. EST 

Wednesday, November 19, 2003 COMPUTER-BASED 

PATIENT RECORDS 

Short-Term Progress Made, 

but Much Work Remains to 

Achieve a Two-Way Data 

Exchange Between VA and 

DOD Health Systems 

Statement of Linda D. Koontz, Director 

Information Management Issues 

GAO-04-271T 
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-271T.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Linda D. 

Koontz at (202) 512-6240 or 

koontzl@gao.gov. 

Highlights of GAO-04-271T, a report to the 

Subcommittee on Oversight and 

Investigations, House Committee on 

Veterans' Affairs 

November 19, 2003 

COMPUTER-BASED PATIENT RECORDS

Short-Term Progress Made, But Much 

Work Remains to Achieve A Two-Way 

Data Exchange Between VA and DOD 

Health Systems 

Access to medical data that includes information on the entire lives of 

veterans and active duty military personnel represents an enormous step 

toward enhanced and more effective medical care. VA and DOD are pursuing 

this goal in two stages. 

• Federal Health Information Exchange. This current, one-way 

transfer of health care data from DOD to VA is already allowing 

clinicians in VA medical centers to make faster, more informed decisions 

through ready access to information on almost 2 million patients, 

thereby improving their level of health care delivery. The program’s 

fiscal year 2003 cost was just over $11 million.

• HealthePeople (Federal). The realization of this longer term strategy 

to enable electronic, two-way information sharing is farther out on the 

horizon. The departments are proceeding with projects that are expected 

to result in a limited two-way exchange of health data by the end of 2005. 

However, VA and DOD face significant challenges in implementing a full 

data exchange capability. Although a high-level strategy exists, the 

departments have not yet clearly articulated a common health 

information infrastructure and architecture to show how they intend to 

achieve the data exchange capability or what they will be able to 

exchange by the end of 2005. In addition, critical to achieving the twoway exchange will be completing the standardization of the clinical data 

that these departments plan to share. Without standardization, the task 

of sharing meaningful data could be more complex and may not prove 

successful.

VA, DOD Systems to Support Two-Way Data Exchange Strategy 

VA 

Initiatives 

Projected 

Completion 

DOD 

Initiatives 

 2005 

Graphical User Interface, 

General Dentistry 

Health Data Repository, 

Billing Replacement 2006 

Pharmacy, Laboratory, 

Radiology, Immunizations 

Laboratory 2007 Inpatient and Scheduling 

Pharmacy 2008 Additional Capabilities as Defined 

Imaging 2011 

Appointment Scheduling 

Replacement 2012 

Source: VA and DOD. 

For the past 5 years, the 

Departments of Veterans Affairs 

and Defense have been working to 

exchange health care data and 

create electronic records for 

veterans and active duty personnel. 

Such exchange is seen as a means 

of reducing the billions of dollars 

that the departments spend 

annually on health care services 

and making such data more readily 

accessible to those treating our 

country’s approximately 13 million 

veterans, military personnel, and 

dependents. This is especially 

critical when military personnel are 

engaged in conflicts all over the 

world, and their health records can 

reside at multiple locations. 

GAO has reported on these efforts 

several times, most recently in 

September 2002. At the request of 

the Subcommittee, GAO is 

updating its observations on the 

departments’ efforts, focusing on 

(1) the reported status of the 

ongoing, one-way exchange of data, 

the Federal Health Information 

Exchange, and (2) progress toward 

achieving the longer term two-way 

exchange under the HealthePeople 

(Federal) initiative. 
Page 1 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

Thank you for inviting us to testify on actions of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DOD) to achieve 

the ability to exchange patient health care data and create an electronic 

record for veterans and active duty personnel. VA and DOD, collectively, 

provided health care services to approximately 13 million veterans, 

military personnel, and dependents at a cost of about $47 billion in fiscal 

year 2002. While in military status and later as veterans, many patients 

tend to be highly mobile and, consequently, their health records may be at 

multiple federal and nonfederal medical facilities, both in and outside of 

the United States. Thus, having readily accessible data on active duty 

personnel and veterans is important to facilitate providing quality health 

care to them. 

VA and DOD have been pursuing ways to share data in their health 

information systems and create electronic records since 1998, their actions 

following the President’s call for the development of an interface to allow 

the two departments to share patient health information.1

 Since 

undertaking this mission, however, the departments have faced 

considerable challenges, leading to repeated changes in the focus of their 

initiative and the target dates for its accomplishment. Our prior reports 

supporting the initiative2

 noted disappointing progress, exacerbated in 

large part by inadequate accountability and poor planning and oversight, 

which raised doubts about the departments’ ability to achieve an 

electronic interface among their health information systems. When we last 

reported on the initiative in September 2002,3

 VA and DOD had taken some 

actions aimed at strengthening their joint efforts. For example, they had 

 1

In 1996, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses reported on 

many deficiencies in VA’s and DOD’s data capabilities for handling service members’ health 

information. In November 1997, the President called for the two agencies to start 

developing a “comprehensive, life-long medical record for each service member,” and in 

1998 issued a directive requiring VA and DOD to develop a “computer-based patient record 

system that will accurately and efficiently exchange information.” 

2

U.S. General Accounting Office, Computer-Based Patient Records: Better Planning and 

Oversight by VA, DOD, and IHS [Indian Health Service] Would Enhance Health Data 

Sharing, GAO-01-459 (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 30, 2001); VA Information Technology: 

Progress Made, but Continued Management Attention Is Key to Achieving Results, 

GAO-02-369T (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 13, 2002); and VA Information Technology: 

Management Making Important Progress in Addressing Key Challenges GAO-02-1054T

(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 26, 2002). 

3

GAO-02-1054T. 
Page 2 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

clarified key roles and responsibilities for the initiative and begun 

executing revised near- and long-term strategies for achieving the 

electronic information exchange capability. 

My statement today will discuss our observations regarding VA’s and 

DOD’s continued actions over the past year to further their 

implementation of the electronic information exchange, including an 

update on (1) the status and reported benefits of the ongoing near-term 

initiative, the Federal Health Information Exchange (FHIE), and (2) the 

departments’ progress and challenges in achieving the longer term, twoway exchange of data under the HealthePeople (Federal) initiative. 

In conducting this work, we obtained and reviewed relevant 

documentation and interviewed key agency officials regarding VA’s 

decisions and actions, in conjunction with DOD, to develop an electronic 

medical record for exchanging patient information. We analyzed the 

departments’ plans and strategies for the HealthePeople (Federal) 

initiative and data on patient information that is currently being 

transmitted by DOD to VA. In addition, to observe data retrieval 

capabilities of the Federal Health Information Exchange, we conducted a 

site visit at the VA medical center in Washington, D.C. We performed our 

work in accordance with generally accepted government auditing 

standards, from March through November 2003. 

The current one-way transfer of health information resulting from the 

departments’ near-term solution—the Federal Health Information 

Exchange—represents a positive undertaking that has begun enabling 

information sharing between DOD and VA. As part of the initiative, 

electronic health data from separated (retired or discharged) service 

members contained in DOD’s Military Health System Composite Health 

Care System are being transmitted monthly to a VA FHIE repository,4

which VA clinicians access through the department’s current health 

system, the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology 

Architecture. As a result, VA clinicians now have more readily accessible 

DOD health data, such as laboratory, pharmacy, and radiology records, on 

almost 2 million patients and have noted the benefits of this current 

capability in improving health care delivery. Further, although not 

 4

A repository is an information system used to store and access data. 

Results in Brief 
Page 3 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

originally included in the FHIE plan, VA officials have stated that efforts 

are underway to provide access to outpatient and retail pharmacy data. 

Realizing the departments’ longer term strategy—HealthePeople 

(Federal)—is farther out on the horizon. VA officials have stated that the 

departments are on schedule to provide a limited capability for an 

electronic, two-way exchange of patient health information by the end of 

2005. However, VA and DOD face significant challenges in implementing a 

full data exchange capability. Although a high-level strategy exists, the 

departments have not yet clearly articulated a common health information 

infrastructure and architecture to show how they intend to achieve the 

data exchange capability or what exactly they will be able to exchange by 

the end of 2005. In addition, critical to achieving the two-way exchange 

will be completing the standardization of the clinical data that these 

departments plan to share. Without standardization, the task of sharing 

meaningful data is made more complex, and may not prove successful. 

Until these essential issues are resolved, the departments cannot be 

assured that the HealthePeople (Federal) initiative will deliver expected 

benefits within established time frames. 

In 1998, VA and DOD, along with the Indian Health Service (IHS), began 

the Government Computer-Based Patient Record (GCPR) project—an 

initiative to share patient health care data. At that time, each agency 

collected and maintained patient health information in separate systems, 

and their health facilities could not electronically share patient health 

information across agency lines. GCPR was envisioned as an electronic 

interface that would allow physicians and other authorized users at VA, 

DOD, and IHS health facilities to access data from any of the other 

agencies’ health facilities. The interface was expected to compile 

requested patient information in a “virtual” record that could be displayed 

on a user’s computer screen. 

In reporting on the initiative in April 2001,5

 we raised doubts about GCPR’s 

ability to provide expected benefits. We noted that the project was 

experiencing schedule and cost overruns and was operating without clear 

goals, objectives, and consistent leadership. We recommended that the 

participating agencies (1) designate a lead entity with final decisionmaking authority and establish a clear line of authority for the GCPR 

 5

GAO-01-459. 

Background 
Page 4 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

project, and (2) create comprehensive and coordinated plans that included 

an agreed-upon mission and clear goals, objectives, and performance 

measures, to ensure that the agencies could share comprehensive, 

meaningful, accurate, and secure patient health care data. VA, DOD, and 

IHS agreed with our findings and recommendations. 

In March 2002, however, we again reported that the project was continuing 

to operate without clear lines of authority or a lead entity responsible for 

final decision-making.6

 Further, the project continued to move forward 

without comprehensive and coordinated plans, including an agreed-upon 

mission and clear goals, objectives, and performance measures. In 

addition, the participating agencies had announced a revised strategy that 

was considerably less encompassing than the project was originally 

intended to be. For example, rather than serve as an interface to allow 

data sharing across the three agencies’ disparate systems, as originally 

envisioned, the revised strategy initially called only for a one-way transfer 

of data from DOD’s current health care information system to a separate 

database that VA hospitals could access. In further reporting on this 

initiative in June 2002, we recommended that VA, DOD, and IHS revise the 

original goals and objectives of the project to align with their current 

strategy, commit the executive support necessary to adequately manage 

the project, and ensure that it followed sound project management 

principles.7

When we last testified on the initiative in September 2002,8

 VA had 

reported some progress toward achieving shared patient health care data 

and the two departments had formally revised both the name and the 

strategy for the initiative. Specifically, the two departments had renamed 

the project the Federal Health Information Exchange (FHIE) Program. In 

addition, consistent with our prior recommendation, they had finalized a 

memorandum of agreement designating VA as the lead entity in 

implementing FHIE. 

With this agreement, FHIE became a joint effort between VA and DOD to 

achieve the exchange of health care information in two phases. The first 

 6

GAO-02-369T. 

7

U.S. General Accounting Office, Veterans Affairs: Sustained Management Attention Is 

Key to Achieving Information Technology Results, GAO-02-703 (Washington, D.C.: 

June 12, 2002). 

8

GAO-02-1054T. 
Page 5 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

phase, completed in mid-July 2002, enabled the one-way transfer of data 

from DOD’s existing health care information system to a separate database 

that VA hospitals could access. 

Further, the revised strategy envisioned VA and DOD pursuing a longer 

term, two-way exchange of clinical information.9

 This initiative, known as 

HealthePeople (Federal), is premised upon the departments’ development 

of a common health information infrastructure and architecture 

comprising standardized data, communications, security, and highperformance health information systems. The departments developed the 

strategy for achieving the two-way exchange in September 2002 and 

anticipated achieving a limited capability by the end of 2005. 

Over the past year, VA and DOD have continued to realize success in the 

implementation and use of FHIE. In achieving the exchange of health care 

information, electronic data from separated (retired or discharged) service 

members contained in DOD’s Military Health System Composite Health 

Care System (CHCS) are being transmitted monthly to a VA FHIE 

repository, which VA clinicians access through the Computerized Patient 

Record System (CPRS) in the Veterans Health Information Systems and 

Technology Architecture (VistA), VA’s current health care system. This 

information exchange capability is currently available to all VA medical 

centers and has given VA clinicians the ability to access and display the 

data through CPRS remote data views10 about 6 weeks after the service 

member’s separation. VA and DOD reported spending about $11 million in 

fiscal year 2003 to cover completion and maintenance of FHIE. 

According to program officials, FHIE is showing positive results by 

providing a wide range of health care information to enable clinicians to 

make faster and more informed decisions regarding the care of veterans. 

The officials stated that the repository presently contains data on almost 2 

million patients. This includes clinical data on almost 1.8 million personnel 

who separated from the military between 1987 and June 2003. The data 

consist of over 23 million laboratory records, 24 million pharmacy records, 

and over 4 million radiology records. A second phase of the FHIE 

 9

IHS, which had been a part of the early efforts, was not included in FHIE, but was 

expected to assume a role in the longer term project—HealthePeople (Federal). 

10CPRS remote data views is an application that allows authorized users to access patient 

health care data from any VA medical facility. 

VA AND DOD 

Continue to Report 

Success in 

Implementing the 

Feeral Health 

Information Exchange 

Near-Term Solution 
Page 6 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

initiative, completed in September 2003, added to the base of health 

information available to VA clinicians by including discharge summaries;11

allergy information; admissions, disposition, and transfer information; and 

consultation results. A clinician at VA’s Washington, D.C. medical center 

noted that the information provided through FHIE has proved particularly 

valuable for treating emergency-room and first-time patients by providing 

ready access to information on patients’ existing medical conditions and 

current drug prescriptions. 

The program manager added that FHIE is providing ready access to health 

information. It is currently capable of accommodating up to 800 queries 

per hour, with an average response rate of 4 seconds per query. For the 

month of September 2003, VA clinicians made over 1,900 authorized 

queries to the database. Further, as we observed during an FHIE 

demonstration at the medical center, the capability has resulted in an 

almost instantaneous display of DOD patient data in the same format as 

other data residing in CPRS, thus facilitating its use. 

Although nearing completion, VA officials indicated, additional patient 

information from DOD will be added to the FHIE database. For example, 

they stated that efforts are currently under way to add, by the end of 

December, outpatient pharmacy data (such as mail order and retail 

pharmacy profiles) that are housed in DOD’s Pharmacy Data Transaction 

Service, and by the end of February 2004, other outpatient records. 

Beyond FHIE, VA and DOD are proceeding with a joint, long-term strategy 

involving the two-way exchange of clinical information. Under this 

strategy, VA and DOD plan to seek opportunities for sharing existing 

systems and technology and explore the convergence of VA and DOD 

health information applications consistent with mission requirements. 

According to the Veterans Health Administration’s Acting Deputy Chief 

Information Officer (CIO) for Health, and the Military Health System’s 

CIO, this joint VA/DOD initiative is expected to allow the secured sharing 

of health data required by their health care providers between systems 

that each is currently developing—DOD’s Composite Health Care System 

II (CHCS II) and VA’s HealtheVet VistA. Critical to achieving this capability 

is an interface to allow the exchange of patient health information 

between each system’s data repository. 

 11Discharge summaries will include inpatient histories, diagnoses, and procedures. 

Actions Toward a 

Common Health 

Information 

Infrastructure Are 

Progressing, but 

Significant Challenges 

Remain 
Page 7 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

Under the HealthePeople (Federal) strategy, upon entering military 

service, a health record for the service member will be created and stored 

in DOD’s CHCS II clinical data repository. The record will remain in the 

clinical data repository and be updated as the service member receives 

medical care. When the individual separates from active duty and, if 

eligible, seeks medical care at a VA facility, VA will then create a medical 

record for the individual, which will be stored in its health data repository. 

Upon viewing the medical record, the VA clinician would be alerted and 

provided access to clinical information on the individual also residing in 

DOD’s repository. In the same manner, when a veteran seeks medical care 

at a military treatment facility, the attending DOD clinician would be 

alerted and provided access to the clinical information existing in VA’s 

repository. According to VA and DOD, the planned approach would make 

virtual medical records displaying all available clinical information from 

the two repositories accessible to both departments’ clinicians. 

VA’s and DOD’s joint strategy for accomplishing the two-way exchange of 

health information, developed in September 2002, depends on successfully 

implementing and achieving an electronic interface between individual 

health information systems that each department is currently developing. 

These systems development efforts began as separate, department-specific 

initiatives in which VA aimed to enhance its existing health information 

system utilizing modern tools and languages, and DOD aimed to replace 

several of its health information systems to achieve cost efficiencies and a 

computer-based patient record. Work on modernizing VA’s new system, 

HealtheVet (VistA), began in 2001, and development of DOD’s new system, 

CHCS II, began in 1997. 

Since establishing the strategy, VA and DOD have made some progress on 

systems development efforts that will support achieving health data 

exchange. Currently, VA and DOD are in different stages of completing 

their systems. As shown in table 1, VA began work on one of the key 

initiatives intended to support HealthePeople (Federal)—the health data 

repository—in June 2001; it is currently testing the design of this database. 

VA plans to complete the repository by July 2006; it projects completing all 

six initiatives comprising HealtheVet (VistA) over the next 9 years, with a 

final module on scheduling replacement expected in May 2012. 

VA and DOD Are Making 

Progress, but Full 

Implementation of Joint 

Strategy Is Years Away 
Page 8 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

Table 1: HealtheVet (VistA) Initiatives 

HealtheVet Initiative Purpose Initiative Start Date Projected Completion Date 

Health Data Repository 

(HDR) 

Establish a repository of clinical information normally 

residing on one or more independent platforms 

June 2001 2006 

Billing Replacement Obtain a modern, high- performance billing system that 

will support an increase to third- party payments 

April 2002 2006 

Laboratory Clinically oriented system designed to provide data to 

health care personnel 

February 2003 2007 

Pharmacy Facilitate improved VA pharmacy operations, customer 

service, and patient safety, concurrent with the pursuit 

of full reengineering of VA pharmacy applications 

April 2002 2008 

Imaging Provide complete online data to healthcare providers, to 

increase clinician productivity, facilitate medical 

decision-making, and improve quality of care 

October 2002 2011 

Appointment Scheduling 

Replacement 

Provide VistA users with a redesigned scheduling 

capability to better meet the needs of VHA facility staff 

and patients 

May 2001 2012 

Source: VA 

As table 2 reflects, DOD is incrementally deploying CHCS II in five blocks, 

with each block providing additional capabilities to its system. The 

department is currently proceeding with limited deployment of its 

graphical user interface for clinical outpatient processes. In addition, DOD 

has completed its clinical data repository, and a department official stated 

that as each site implements CHCS II, data in CHCS will be converted to 

the new system. DOD expects to complete deployment of all of its major 

system capabilities by September 2008. 

Table 2: CHCS II Deployment Information 

Block Number Major Capabilities Status Projected Completion Date 

1 (release 1) Adds a graphical user interface for 

clinical outpatient processes 

Limited deployment underway September 2005 

2 (release 2) Support for general dentistry Deployment to Operation, Test & Evaluation 

sites during the 2nd Qtr of FY04 

September 2005 

3 (releases 3&4) Provides pharmacy, laboratory, 

radiology, and immunizations 

capabilities 

Plan under way to award a contract for Block 

3 in 2nd Qtr FY 04 and begin requirements 

analysis by 4th Qtr FY04 

September 2006 

4 (releases 5&6) Provides inpatient and scheduling 

capabilities 

Begin requirements development and 

analysis in 2nd Qtr FY 04 

September 2007 

5 (release 7) Additional Capabilities as Defined Begin requirements development and 

analysis in early 1st Qtr FY05 

September 2008 

Source: DOD. 
Page 9 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

Although VA and DOD officials do not expect their departments’ systems 

to be fully implemented until 2012 and 2008, respectively, they anticipate 

being able to exchange some degree of clinical information through an 

interface between DOD’s clinical data repository and VA’s planned health 

data repository by the end of calendar year 2005. VA officials explained 

that by that time, they expect to have developed the HealtheVet (VistA) 

health data repository to a point at which it will have limited data. 

However, the departments have not yet articulated exactly what data will 

be available. 

Also critical, VA and DOD have begun adopting data standards. Data 

standardization is essential to allowing the exchange of health information 

from disparate systems and improving decision-making by providing 

health information when and where it is needed. In accordance with the 

Consolidated Health Informatics Initiative,12 in March 2003, VA and DOD, 

along with the Department of Health and Human Services, announced the 

adoption of four standards to allow the transmission of messages and one 

standard that allows laboratory results to be presented uniformly in any 

system. In addition, VA officials stated that the departments have 

examined and concluded that their existing legislation and policies meet 

the intent of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. 

VA and DOD face key challenges to completing HealthePeople (Federal) 

that raise doubts as to when and to what extent a true virtual health 

record will be achieved. Although a high-level strategy exists, the 

HealthePeople (Federal) joint work group faces the challenge of clearly 

articulating a common health information infrastructure and architecture 

to show how they intend to achieve the data exchange capability, or just 

what they will be able to exchange by the end of 2005. Such an 

architecture is necessary for ensuring that the departments have defined a 

level of detail and specificity needed to build the data repository interface, 

including interface requirements and design specifications. For example, 

having detailed specifications would assist VA in making critical decisions 

such as the manner in which it will store its electronic data. According to 

VA officials, they have not yet determined whether one central or several 

regional data repositories would best facilitate access to the patient 

 12The Consolidated Health Informatics Initiative, created under the President’s 

Management Agenda, identified a portfolio of 24 target areas for data and messaging 

standards that would enable all agencies in the federal health enterprise to more readily 

exchange clinical health information. 

VA and DOD Face 

Challenges in Moving 

Toward HealthePeople 

(Federal) 
Page 10 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

information and achieve the timely response rates required by clinicians at 

its medical facilities. 

Another critical challenge to successfully implementing HealthePeople 

(Federal) will be completing the standardization of the data elements of 

each department’s health records. While standards for laboratory results 

were adopted in 2003, VA and DOD face a significant undertaking to 

standardize the remaining health data. To lend perspective to the enormity 

of this task, according to the joint strategy that VA and DOD have 

developed, VA will have to migrate over 150 variations of clinical and 

demographic data to one standard, and DOD will have to migrate over 100 

variations of clinical data to one standard. VA officials have indicated that 

as various HealtheVet (VistA) applications are developed, they plan to 

incorporate clinical data standards. Further, they and DOD officials 

maintain that their departments, along with the Department of Health and 

Human Services, are actively pursuing the development and adoption of 

such data standards. Nonetheless, they remain uncertain as to what degree 

of standardization (beyond the laboratory result standard that has been 

adopted) will be achieved by the 2005 milestone for implementing the twoway exchange of health information. 

In summary, in pursuing an electronic exchange of patient health 

information, VA and DOD are taking a vital step toward facilitating 

services to our nation’s active duty personnel and veterans. The ability to 

readily access medical records covering the lifecycle of service members 

and veterans would enhance the effectiveness of care to these individuals. 

In working toward this capability, VA and DOD have achieved a measure 

of success in sharing data, as evidenced by VA clinicians now having 

access to military health records for veterans through FHIE. However, a 

virtual medical record based on the two-way exchange of data between VA 

and DOD is far from being achieved. The departments face significant 

challenges in realizing this longer term strategy. Without having clearly 

articulated a common health information infrastructure and architecture, 

the departments lack the details and specificity essential to determining 

how they will achieve the data exchange capability. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be pleased to respond 

to any questions that you or other members of the Subcommittee may 

have at this time. 
Page 11 GAO-04-271T VA/DOD Health Data Exchange 

For information regarding this testimony, please contact Linda D. Koontz, 

Director, or Valerie Melvin, Assistant Director, Information Management 

Issues, at (202) 512-6240 or at koontzl@gao.gov or melvinv@gao.gov,

respectively. Other individuals making key contributions to this testimony 

include Barbara S. Oliver, Eric L. Trout, Michael P. Fruitman, and J. 

Michael Resser. 

Contacts and 

Acknowledgments 

(310362) 
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