“The leaders of the $16 billion electronic health record refresh at the Department of Veterans Affairs say they’re optimistic that they’ll hit a revised go-live date for their first installation of the new, commercial system at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Wash.”
“The planned March 28 go-live date for the Cerner electronic medical record was pushed back because of development issues…”
“VA officials said they can’t deliver a detailed schedule revision for the implementation of the project until March 10, but a few upcoming milestones were described in testimony.”
“Dr. Robert Stone, who heads the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) on an acting basis, said that the software build that includes completing interfaces that connect Cerner systems with the VA’s own systems, will be completed in April or May. After that, VA needs six weeks of training and two weeks of operational assessment to determine whether the system is ready to go live…”
“Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), who chairs the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, wanted to know why Congress wasn’t informed earlier about the potential for delay, whether lagging infrastructure improvements posed a threat to the viability of the system or to patient safety and ‘why VA didn’t realize earlier that its commitment to a stripped-down first-capability set would be problematic.’”
“Specific answers on the timeline weren’t forthcoming from VA officials, but Fischer explained that his staff began to filter up their concerns based on feedback from ‘super users’ — staffers who volunteered to take an early look at the Cerner system…”
“Infrastructure woes continue to dog the project. Deputy Inspector General David Case noted that ‘critical physical and IT infrastructure upgrades have not been completed … in line with VA’s own timelines.’”
“The IG’s audit team found that ‘as of February 25, 2020, contracts had yet to be awarded for some critical physical infrastructure upgrades.’ The Office of Electronic Health Records Modernization had set a goal of completing all physical and IT infrastructure upgrades six months ahead of any go-live date…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA leaders optimistic on July go-live date for new health record – By Adam Mazmanian, March 5, 2020. FCW.
