“The Department of Veterans Affairs is reassessing the future of its medical supply chain modernization program, one of several major efforts that Congress fears is teetering on the edge of the abyss.”
“Mike Parrish, principal executive director for VA’s Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction, said the department has multiple reviews ongoing, including one that will evaluate the current state of its medical supply chain modernization initiative and the solution VA is attempting to deploy now.”
“VA has made four supply chain modernization efforts since 2004. In 2018, VA chose to implement a 20-year-old system from the Defense Logistics Agency known as the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS).”
“But like other major IT modernization initiatives that VA has ongoing, a recent inspector general report highlighted some problems with the DMLSS deployment at its first site, the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago.”
“VA deployed DMLSS earlier this year, an implementation effort that cost $176 million.”
“But the department’s inspector general said DMLSS didn’t meet more than 40% of high-priority business needs that VA staff in North Chicago had identified as essential for a successful supply chain management system…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA’s struggling supply chain modernization initiative is under review – By Nicole Ogrysko, November 23, 2021. Federal News Network.
