CD-ROM prototype applications within the Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been actively involved in examining the benefits of Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) to its operations. Approximately twenty VA titles either have been produced or are scheduled for production by Summer of 1991. Both textual and database CDs have been prototyped. Several of the CDs have been integrated directly into the VA's MUMPS-based hospital information systems. Titles which contain patient information employ the Data Encryption Standard (DES) for sensitive information. A related project involves the installation of a system which allows common VDTs on the hospital system to access commercial CDs such as MEDLINE, PDR, and CCIS. The prototypes have been successful and very favorably received by users.