In August 2020, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs went reside with the first part of its Cerner-developed digital well being document at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System in Columbus.
Two months later, it rolled out the new EHR at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington.
The strikes represented main progress for the multibillion-dollar Electronic Health Record Modernization mission, which had confronted quite a few delays as a result of COVID-19 and different elements.
But that development was short-lived: The initiative has now had quite a few setbacks, with management repeatedly delivered to testify earlier than congressional committees and quite a few watchdog experiences zeroing in on budgetary issues and coaching issues.
Throughout all of it, Healthcare IT News has continued to cowl the division’s efforts. Read on for a recap of the initiative’s headway to this point, and to search out out extra about the VA’s latest plan introduced simply this previous week.
The Mann-Grandstaff response
In March 2021, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, wrote a letter to VA management describing the complaints she had heard about the new system at Mann-Grandstaff and asking for an investigation.
McMorris Rodgers cited alleged issues with affected person security, akin to veterans getting the unsuitable prescription, and with the Cerner affected person portal.
In response to those and different issues, the VA mentioned it could undertake a strategic overview of the program and would pause different go-live actions in the meantime.
What the overview discovered
That 90-day overview revealed a number of excellent points, as VA Secretary Denis McDonough instructed the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs in July.
The points recognized concerned affected person security, productiveness, governance and administration, value, affected person portal expertise, testing, knowledge and change administration.
Lawmakers weren’t impressed.
“Frankly, I for one am fed up with the quantity of taxpayer {dollars} we’re spending on this program with none demonstrated advantages to veterans or VA medical workers,” mentioned Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, throughout one listening to.
Although McDonough had mentioned the company would keep the course with Cerner, McDonough additionally mentioned it deliberate to reimagine its method.
That identical week in July, Cerner executives instructed the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization that the firm was “dedicated to getting this proper.”
Meanwhile, VA Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks Dr. Carolyn Clancy mentioned the company would cease additional deployments till subsequent 12 months.
The Office of Inspector General experiences
Throughout this course of, the VA OIG has launched a number of experiences flagging points with the mission.
In May, for instance, it discovered that the company had underestimated the value of the initiative by billions of {dollars}.
Another report, revealed in July, targeted on unreliable IT infrastructure value estimates, whereas a third from that very same month pointed to coaching deficiencies.
And a fourth, which got here down in November, mentioned the scheduling system wants work.
What now?
VA has continued to push the mission alongside. Leaders have often appeared earlier than congressional committees, dealing with pointed questions round funding and affected person security.
In September, the company allotted $134 million to Cerner to go towards deployment actions at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center and the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center in Detroit.
The following month, it partnered with the Institute for Defense Analyses in October to offer an evaluation and full value estimate of the initiative.
And in November, the White House introduced its nomination of former Microsoft govt Kurt DelBene as chief info officer and assistant secretary for info at the VA. If confirmed by the Senate, DelBene may take an energetic position in the modernization efforts.
That is not the solely new position at the company specializing in the mission. Just this previous week, the VA introduced a retooled plan that included a revised EHR administration construction, a strengthened Office of the Functional Champion, a new Deputy Chief Information Officer for EHR, and a newly established Program Executive Director for EHR Integration place.
That latter place can be stuffed by Dr. Terry Adirim, at present serving as the performing assistant secretary of protection for Health Affairs. The VA additionally introduced that it deliberate to go reside in Columbus in March 2022, with one other deployment tentatively scheduled for Walla Walla, Washington that very same month.
Altogether, 11 extra deployments are on the calendar for 2022, wrapping up with the facility in Portland, Oregon on November 5.
In addition, the company launched a “complete classes discovered” progress replace, reflecting on the strategic overview and establishing a new path ahead.
“We will do every part we will to get digital well being data proper for Veterans and our well being care workers, with affected person security being the key driver and nonnegotiable,” mentioned VA Deputy Secretary Donald M. Remy in a assertion.
“I’ve included the classes discovered I acquired throughout my latest conferences with our crew at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, into this new means ahead,” he continued. “Under my course, VA is refining EHR governance and administration buildings to determine further rigor and oversight.
“VA, in coordination with our companions, the Department of Defense and EHR vendor Cerner, will proceed to replace and refine the EHR implementation course of to make sure it delivers the sexcellence veterans count on and deserve from VA,” he added.
Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.Twitter: @kjercichEmail: [email protected] IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/turbulent-year-and-retooled-future-vas-ehr-rollout
