The Department of Veterans Affairs will award up to $3 million in cash prizes to developers who can make a scheduling module compatible with the VA’s electronic health records system, Federal News Radio reports.
Jared Serbu writes the winning developers will not necessarily have their products chosen to run with the VA’s open source VistA system as selected ideas will have to go through a formal acquisition process.
Roger Baker, the VA’s chief information officer, told the station one developer already has submitted a successful candidate for the competition and he expects more applicants to follow.
Baker also said this is the first time such a competition has occurred in government and the VA wants to see how it works.
