In three reports released on Thursday, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General has concluded the department’s efforts to adopt its new $16 billion Electronic Health Record system have made patients less safe and made it harder for medical providers to provide quality health care.
“These three reports found serious deficiencies and failures in the implementation of the new electronic health record at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, which increased the risks to patient safety and made it more difficult for clinicians to provide quality health care,” VA Inspector General Michael Missal said in a March 17 statement.
EHR initially went live in October 2020 at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. The OIG reports concluded that the new system sometimes failed to alert providers to a patients’ high risk of suicide status.
“The OIG is concerned that deployment of the new EHR without resolution of the deficiencies presents risks to patient safety,” state the reports, which were released Thursday.
The reports also found that providers not having a total view of a patient’s health records “may negatively affect the coordination of care and provider efficiency, as well as increase risks for errors and decrease staff perceptions of system usability.”
The VA OIG also concluded requests for patients to receive lab work through the new system did not always make it to the medical facility’s lab. According to the reports, veterans also could not access an online patient portal, causing problems with appointment scheduling and prescription refills.
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The reports triggered a quick response from Capitol Hill. House Veterans Committee Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Senate Veterans Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.), and Rep. Frank J. Mrvan (D-Ind.), noted that the reports highlight “unresolved issues that currently do not have a timeline or plan for mitigation.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wa.) issued a statement calling for a halt to any new rollouts of the system in Washington until the problems are resolved. There are plans for the system to go live at the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla on March 26.
“It’s clear to me that VA is not ready for go-live of the EHR system at the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla and we need to put a pause on this rollout right now,” she said.
The OIG reports also highlighted problems with care coordination, medication management discrepancies, and IT ticket process concerns.
No patients deaths were caused by the problems, the OIG found.
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In a response to the findings, Deputy VA Secretary Donald Remy told the OIG office that the Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office (EHRM IO) and the Veterans Health Administration are working on a “Get Well” plan to review and address the findings by May 10.
The new system is expected to go live at the VA Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio on April 30. Missal pledged that his office would continue with its EHR oversight work.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.