From the July/August issue of Government Health IT.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has requested $3.2 billion in its IT budget submission for FY 2012. Each investment in the budget request is assigned a sub-function classification based on the program's purpose as it relates to overall IT and federal government operations.

•    IT Infrastructure Maintenance. The largest sub-function of the VA's IT budget will be allocated toward infrastructure support for the Veterans Health Administration and Veterans Benefits Administration and for the VA Enterprise, including planning, development, modernization, enhancement, and O&M of IT systems across management, finance, human capital and other functions.

•    Information Sharing. Programs of interest include Veterans Relationship Management, Veterans Interoperability, Laboratory Data Sharing Interoperability and Clinical Data Repository/Health Data Repository (CHDR) data-sharing with the Department of Defense.

•    Information Management. Activities include: Paperless Delivery of Veterans Benefits, Veteran employment and benefits services systems, VETSNET, Enrollment Systems Redesign, Memorials/NCA Legacy Development Support, CAPRI, CIO oversight and implementation of IT strategic plan, and Revenue Improvement and Systems Enhancements (RISE).

•    System Development. This sub-function consists of several important health IT related projects: The development and management of an integrated healthcare delivery and management system; Telehealth; Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Laboratory Information System; My HealtheVet (MHV); Common Services Infrastructure to facilitate information-sharing between Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) applications and  the DoD Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA)/ Composite Health Care System (CHCS); Pharmacy Re-engineering system; Registries Realignment and Scheduling Redesign.

When examining each sub-function in more detail, it's clear that the VA remains committed to a 21st Century transformation through its investment in IT.

Source:  Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Exhibit 53, Department of Veterans Affairs FY12 Budget Request