Patient appointment information is obtained from the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture Scheduling module. The Patient Appointment Information application gathers appointment data to be loaded into a national database for statistical reporting. Patient appointments are scanned from September 1, 2002 to the present, and appointment data meeting specified criteria are transmitted to the Austin Information Technology Center Patient Appointment Information Transmission (PAIT) national database. Subsequent transmissions (bi-monthly) update PAIT bi-monthly via Health Level Seven message transmissions through Vitria Interface Engine (VIE) connections. A Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) program in Austin utilizes PAIT data to create a bi-monthly SAS dataset on the Austin mainframe. This additional data is used to supplement the existing Clinic Appointment Wait Time and Clinic Utilization extracts created by the Veterans Health Administration Support Service Center (VSSC).

The VA Drug Pricing database contains the current prices for pharmaceuticals purchased by the federal government. These listed prices are based on the Federal Supply Schedule (FSS). This database is mandated by Public Law 102-585, the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which sets the maximum amount that a drug may be bought for by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The source of this information is contained in printed contracts or data files supplied by the drug manufacturers, representing the pricing agreements between VHA and the manufacturers. Price data is input by the National Acquisition Center (NAC) into the database administered by the Pharmacy Benefits Management Strategic Health Care Group. Information from this database is published on the World Wide Web at the following site: http://www.pbm.va.gov. The users of this database include pharmaceutical manufacturers, drug wholesalers, Office of Inspector General (OIG) and those who purchase pharmaceuticals for the VHA and other government agencies.

This reports shows visibility into the status of projects that comprise VA�s IT development activities.

This reports shows a summary level view of projects that comprise VA�s IT development activities.