VistA-Office, free electronic health records (EHR) software developed for use by the Veterans Administration, will not be available to physicians anytime soon, the Dept. of Health and Human Services announced yesterday, according to Federal Computer Week.

Dr. Karen Bell, division director of the Quality Improvement Group at HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, told a conference audience that VistA-Office “is undergoing a review right now by the secretary’s office.… You can’t download anything” now.

VistA-Office, based on the EHR system that the Department of Veterans Affairs developed for use in VA hospitals and clinics, was supposed to be released in July and then in August.

Bell declined to speculate on what HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt would decide about releasing VistA-Office.

 No word on what the reason is for the hold-up or when it will be approved for release.

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