You said, "I feel that since he doctors at the VA and locally he gets left behind sometimes." I hear that often! There is a lot of problem with communication between doctors in different systems. Especially because there a several electronic recordkeeping systems, that do not necessarily communicate with one another. My friends who have to change networks for different parts of care, or when they seasonally locate, often find they must hand carry information between providers.
I see doctors in two different networks, both using the same software and patient portal, yet I must have 2 different logins to make appointments, see test results, etc. The patient records must be "manually released" after each visit, so the docs in both networks can see them!
Sue