“The Department of Veterans Affairs will not deploy its new electronic health record to additional sites over the next six months, after a recent strategic review found a wide array of problems at the first go-live site in Spokane, Washington.”
“It’s the most definitive statement VA has provided publicly to date about the path forward for the EHR modernization since it launched a strategic review of the massive project back in March…”
“The department will review the state of physical and IT infrastructure, leadership, staffing and other factors at each of its facilities. Those facilities that are at “the greatest state of readiness” will deploy the new EHR next, Clancy said.
“This approach will force VA facilities to think about preparing for the EHR sooner rather than later, she added. The department doesn’t yet know how many sites will go live with the new system at once or which specific sites might go next…”
“VA is also “starting from scratch” on a new, independent lifecycle cost estimate for the EHR modernization, a point that seemed to satisfy committee members. That estimate may take another year to complete, Clancy said.”
“The strategic review highlighted training failures, data migration problems and ultimately, patient safety concerns at the initial go-live site…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA will pause EHR deployments through at least 2021, department says – By Nicole Ogrysko, July 21, 2021. Federal News Network.
