One undernoticed detail in the health care debate is that part of the Obama vision is going to come to pass no matter what Congress legislates, or doesn't, this fall. About $20 billion to transition the U.S. to computer-based health records systems have already been appropriated. This week, Joe Biden and Kathleen Sebelius started going around the country spending it. The new grants will, reports Bloomberg.com, will go to establishing 70 "Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers" that will provide health providers with technical help. (Photo credit: juhansonin)

Sometimes I like to imagine that there's some far off land where words scamper about like ponies. And somewhere in that magical land, there's some configuration of word/ponies that makes the subject of negotiations over legislative definitions of electronic medical recordkeeping into good blog fodder. But it's Friday afternoon, it's hot in my office, I don't live in magical pony land, and sometimes important stuff is just boring. So I'll make you a deal. You read the next short paragraph about how HHS is wrestling with the definition of how doctors and other medical providers qualify for "meaningful use" of electronic medical records and I'll reward you with a fun and uplifting video at the end. Deal?

NextGov's Aliya Sternstein has really been doing some tremendous reporting about the nitty-gritty of the DC tech and policy scene. In her latest report, Sternstein tells of a rather airy Senate confirmation hearing for incoming U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra. Chopra, who will head up the White House's portfolio on using technology to drive American innovation in the years ahead got one -- one -- substantive question on what he plans to do once in office. How might telemedicine benefit us?, asked Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar. It will create jobs and lower the cost of health care, answered Chopra.

Good enough!

No questions for Chopra, reports Sternstein, about the more contentious aspects of tech policy implementation. Not a question on topics like the electric grid or patent reform or electronic health records -- the last of which was earmarked in the stimulus package for $20 billion in federal spending. (The Wall Street Journal's Amy Schatz backs up Sternstein's account of the breezy hearing.)

Sternstein: "The ambivalence signals, perhaps, a misunderstanding of the position or, worse, indifference about the role."

Obama has been making big news today for calling for something rather geeky: interoperability between the Defense Department's electronic health records system and the Department of Veterans Affairs' much praised VistA digital records program. A soldier, the thinking goes, shouldn't experience any gap in care or coverage when he or she is transitioning between active duty and veteran's status. Of course, Obama has made a big deal about the potential of electronic health records (EHRs) to improve the America health care system. And a successful DOD-VA EHR bridge would be quite a lovely case study to bolster his approach.