The pause continues.
The Department of Veterans Affairs on April 6 said its new Oracle-Cerner Electronic Health Record will not go live as planned later this year at its Saginaw, Michigan medical center.
“As VA leadership has promised, we will not deploy the new EHR system at any facility until we are confident it is ready to deliver for veterans and VA providers,” Laura Ruzick, director of Veterans Integrated Services Network 10, announced in a staff memo. “Based on our recent assessments, including the ongoing `assess and address’ period and the Readiness Assessment, we have determined that the new EHR is not yet ready for the planned June deployment in Saginaw.”
Currently in use at five locations around the country, the EHR system had been set to go live in Saginaw this summer after an eight-month pause. In the memo, Ruzick told staff that she knew their commitment to the project was “extraordinary.”
“I am confident that when we do roll out the new EHR system in Saginaw, we will make it a smooth, safe and positive experience for veterans and staff alike — and we will do so together," she added.
The modernized EHR is expected to replace VA’s current 40-year-old Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) to document and support all aspects of a veteran’s health care. However, its rollout has been plagued by problems that the VA noted in its recently released EHR Modernization Sprint Report. In contrast, the Department of Defense has the same system up and running in a majority of its medical facilities.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and Subcommittee Chairman Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) said in a statement that the pause should last as long as is necessary for VA and Oracle-Center to “get their houses in order.”
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Bost and Rosendale added that it“is abundantly clear to us that the Oracle Cerner EHR system is not ready for prime time, and VA is not ready to carry out this project.”
During a hearing on March 15, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee learned from VA that six events related to the EHR system led to four fatalities over several years.
Various pieces of legislation have been introduced in both the House and Senate to address problems with the rollout.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.
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