Journalists from around the nation visited the Washington DC VA Medical Center (DCVAMC) on Tuesday, August 9, 2005. The reporters, representing publications including the Dallas Morning News, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Washington Post, and The Palm Beach Post, and television shows such as ABC's 20/20 news program and the PBS program Wide Angle, were not after a story. They came to learn.

The journalists, many of them responsible for the "health beat" were accompanied by staff of the prestigious Kaiser Family Foundation and were recently honored to be selected for year-long fellowships in the Foundations Media Fellowship Program.

Their afternoon at DCVAMC included an orientation to the Medical Center by Medical Center Director, Mr. Sanford M. Garfunkel, a demonstration of VA's computerized patient record system (CPRS) by Chief of Staff, Dr. Ross Fletcher and a presentation by the staff of the hospital's HIV/AIDs Program.

Prior to their visit to the Medical Center, the group was host at VA Central Office by Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, Undersecretary for Health.

The journalists were extremely impressed with the technological advances in VA; in particular the great benefit patients appreciate in healthcare delivery due to the computerized patient record system and the bar code medication administration. Susan Wagner, Medical Producer of ABC's 20/20 expressed it this way, "It's not just better recordkeeping, it's better medicine."