“Despite an ongoing pandemic, a summer of raging wildfires and a record-breaking pre-Halloween snowstorm that knocked out power just before officials were about to start the cutover, the Veterans Affairs Department is reporting a near flawless deployment of the first instance of its new electronic health record platform.”
“The VA has been working for close to two years on deploying the first instance of its new electronic health record platform—one of the most difficult projects in both tech and health in even the best of times.”
“’We went live as anticipated on October 24, Saturday, at approximately 0700. It’s great to report that the system is working as expected—that includes the interfaces, that includes the core electronic health record solution. We’re proud to report we opened for business on the 24th,’ John Windom, executive director of VA’s Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization, told Nextgov in an interview Monday.”
“’We’ve got 75 interfaces in play and, literally, double the capability sets that typical implementations have,’ Windom said. ‘And to have the issues that we’ve had, it’s really phenomenal that we’ve been able to maintain the incident profile at the level we’ve been able to maintain it.’”
“The cutover process included turning off old interfaces, launching new ones and triple checking the validity of all data and processes in the new system to ensure a safe, seamless continuity of care for patients. By Saturday morning, 1,300 users at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington were using the new system, as well as 100 support staff at the Western Consolidated Patient Accounting Center in Las Vegas and another 800 users at the Tele-ICU—the clinical resource hub for telehealth—based out of Cincinnati…”
“’The system integrity has worked flawlessly. The interfaces coming together with the core EHR, the technical solution is working. We couldn’t have asked for a better cutover,’ Windom said…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA Launches New Electronic Health Record Platform Amid a Pandemic, Wildfires and Citywide Power Outages – By Aaron Boyd, October 26, 2020. Nextgov.
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