VA and DoD are working together to make DoD radiological images and scanned patient records for polytrauma patients available to VA clinicians.  This project is presently limited to severely injured patients who are transferred from Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Bethesda National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), or Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) to one of the four VA polytrauma centers which are located at Tampa, Richmond, Minneapolis, and Palo Alto.

Presently, sending patient medical information between DoD and VA is not fully automated and involves labor intensive business processes to copy and transmit files in various ways, including sending a hand carried CD/DVD with the patient.  The short term solution is to electronically transfer images and PDF files of scanned patient records between Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda National Naval Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center, and the four VA polytrauma centers. This electronic transfer uses the existing authorized Austin Automation Center VA/DoD gateway.  A long term solution will require further work in communications and health information systems, and will include a bidirectional exchange of information.