Honoring Our Veterans | Veterans Day 2025
- Initiate Government Solutions
- Nov 11
- 2 min read
This Veterans Day, we honor those who have served and proudly recognize Mike Baker, a U.S. Navy Veteran and Health IT software architect who has dedicated over 40 years serving our nation.
Mike’s pioneering work has been instrumental in modernizing federal healthcare systems. As the original architect and lead developer of VX-130, a government off-the-shelf (GOTS) data migration platform, he has transformed how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) integrates and manages clinical data.
VX-130 is a government off-the-shelf (GOTS) data extraction and migration system developed in 2008 by Mike Baker as an employee of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Initially, it was built to extract data from 130 VA Medical Center (VAMC) instances of VistA. Today, VX-130 supports over 163 sites, synchronizing data every minute into the VA’s Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW) and Oracle’s Health Data Intelligence platform.
Under Mike's leadership, VX-130 became the backbone of the VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) initiative, seamlessly transferring and validating 226 billion records between the VA’s legacy systems and Oracle Health Millennium.
Key features of VX-130 include:
Non-intrusive data extraction that prevents impacts to live patient systems.
Auto-adaptive code generation based on VistA data dictionary changes.
Recovery capabilities that ensure data integrity even during system outages.
A GUI-based VX130 Monitor for real-time system health across all VAMCs.
Continually checks all records for accuracy against the source systems.
VX-130 is a technical solution, and a strategic enabler of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM). It supports data standardization, improves clinical decision-making, and ensures continuity of care across VA and DoD systems.
Mike Baker, under multiple contracts, has been instrumental in supporting the mission, and his contributions are widely recognized across the VA and its partner organizations.
As VA continues its journey toward full EHR modernization, VX-130 stands as a testament to innovation, resilience, and the power of purpose-built technology to transform Veteran care.
We are proud to have Mike on our team and grateful for his dedication, serving Veterans through innovative solutions that support those who have served.
Comments