Michigan will be the first state to switch over to an electronic healthcare record system for veterans. That's according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who says the switch starts mid-April.
Anthony Colon, CEO of the Saginaw VA healthcare system, said other states will start to roll out the program over the next year or two until the entire country has transitioned to the new system.
Colon spoke at a Veterans Healthcare townhall in Clare, Michigan this week. More than 50 veterans and their families showed up to ask questions about the new system and to learn more about their benefits.
Colon says healthcare for veterans has dramatically changed in recent years with expanded coverage through the PACT act.
The old way of using physical records can make it challenging to utilize that new coverage and for veterans to prove exposure to chemicals from burn pits and agent orange, Colon said.
“There are still a significant number of veterans who may not realize that they've earned this benefit due to some exposure they may have faced during their military time,” Colon said.
Colon says the new electronic records system will keep records in one, easily accessible place for future veterans.
In the past, Colon said veterans had to request their records via mail and were retrieved by hand.
“There was a period of time in the 70s where a whole bunch of records were caught up in a fire,” Colon said. “So it just could be challenging.”
The new system will ensure major losses like that won’t happen for future veterans, Colon said.
Many veterans told WCMU they were excited to have easier access to their records, but Colon said the transition may cause delays at first.
