“… There are two forthcoming reports with the OIG’s findings about the deployment of the new EHR system at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC. Currently, both are in draft and, consistent with our practices, are being reviewed by the Department. These reviews allow VA offices to comment on OIG findings and recommendations, as well as to provide responsive action plans to implement the recommendations. After receiving VA’s responses, OIG staff will integrate that feedback into the final reports and publish them. While it is not the OIG’s practice to testify regarding not-yet-published reports, due to the timing of this hearing and VA being in receipt of the reports, the findings will be generally discussed today.”
“The first OIG report discusses the potential impact of the transition to the new EHR system on patient access to care and the initially available capabilities. The issues go beyond technical concerns, however. For example, the OIG healthcare team found that the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC lacks adequate staffing to navigate the additional strains of the transition and had not received formal, written guidance on minimizing obstacles to patients’ access to care. The OIG also found that the risk mitigations facility leaders would employ during the go-live period with incomplete capabilities present a significant risk to patient safety.”
“The second OIG report focuses on the progress and gaps in VA’s efforts to update the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC’s physical and information technology (IT) infrastructure. The OIG audit team found critical physical and IT infrastructure upgrades have not been completed at the Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in line with VA’s own timelines. On February 10, 2020, a VA spokesperson announced that the new EHR’s deployment scheduled for March 28, 2020, would be postponed indefinitely because at six weeks prior to go-live, it was only 75–80 percent ready…”
Read the full 12-page statement here.
Source: Statement of Deputy Inspector General David Case: Getting it Right: Challenges with the Go-Live of the Electronic Health Record Modernization – March 5, 2020. VA.
