The system was started as a research project by Ruth Dayhoff in 1986 and was formally launched in 1991.
[1] The VistA Imaging System uses hardware components to provide short- and long-term storage.
[3] As part of the US national mandate to co-ordinate care between Department of Defense and the VA, VistA Imaging is forming a cornerstone of the effort to exchange medical imagery between the two systems.
[4] The software for VistA Imaging has been made available through the Freedom of Information Act so that it is in the public domain.
Although it can be used in healthcare facilities that are outside the Department of Veterans Affairs, this is possible only if the proprietary modules that have been integrated into it are also licensed and implementation is registered with the FDA.