“A soon-to-be-published inspector general report found several critical IT infrastructure problems and training issues that could cause “cascading failures” in the migration of the Department of Veteran Affairs to a modernized electronic health record (EHR) system if not addressed.”
“The two-part report’s main finding is that a VA hospital in Spokane, Washington, “lacks adequate staffing” to minimize patients losing access to care as it transitions to the new EHR system, replacing the outdated Veterans Information Systems Architecture (VistA). The VA center was set to go live later this month as the first to debut new EHR systems, but that schedule was “unrealistic,” according to the OIG report.”
“On top of that, failures to prepare VA’s larger IT infrastructure and adequately train for the new system has caused the VA to push the EHR’s launch date back to July.”
“Though the IG report hasn’t been published yet, VA Deputy Inspector General David Case detailed it Thursday before the House Veterans Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee…”
“Now with an extra four months, the VA will be able to program more interfaces, such as online prescription refilling, telehealth and travel reimbursement portals, said Richard Stone, director of the Veterans Health Administration…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA lacks infrastructure and staffing for EHR rollout, forthcoming IG report says – By Jackson Barnett, March 5, 2020. FedScoop.
