Image Source: www.whitehouse.gov

President Barack Obama announced plans Thursday to create a joint virtual lifetime electronic record that will improve care and services to transitioning veterans by easing the flow of medical records between the Department of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) administrations.

The concept is considered a major step toward improving the delivery of care and services to service members transitioning from military to civilian life, according to the Obama administration.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki were present as the president described the initiative to an audience of wounded service men and women, veterans and veterans service organization leaders.

"When a member of the armed forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a [Defense Department] duty station to a local VA health center," Obama explained. "Their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever."

No comprehensive system is currently in place to streamline the transition of health records between the two departments, the president noted. "And that results in extraordinary hardship for an awful lot of veterans who end up finding their records lost [or] unable to get their benefits processed in a timely fashion," Obama said.

Ultimately, the new system will include both administrative and medical information from the day recruits enter military service, throughout their military careers, and after they retire or leave the military.

In addition, it would enable VA sites to access veterans' complete military medical records, within rigorous privacy and security protections, so VA staffs have the information they need to deliver high-quality care, Obama said.

The joint virtual lifetime record will take the next leap to delivering seamless, high-quality care while serving as a national model, officials said.