The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued a request for information (RFI) to vendors for a Web-accessible mobile app to interface with VistA Imaging, the PACS component of the agency’s electronic health record (EHR) system.
The RFI is part of an ongoing initiative to adopt new technology geared toward improving how the Veterans Health Administration communicates. The VA expects that by extending access to diagnostic imaging, including 3D images, in its PACS, as well as prior radiology reports, both diagnosis and treatment can be expedited. The mobile app is also expected to increase communication between radiologists and referring physicians.
The app must work with mobile devices approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which at this point in time is solely the Apple iPad. It must be scalable to support 10,000 concurrent users and be able to perform under a variety of network restrictions while supporting optimal user performance. The system must also have robust security to provide patient data protection, and it must be vendor-agnostic.
Requirements for the system, which include patient database access, query, and search functions on VistA Imaging, can be accessed here. The deadline to submit an RFI is November 28, 2012.
