Two Department of Veterans Affairs’ senior staffers responsible for training employees of the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center to use the agency’s Cerner Millennium electronic health record system gave inaccurate data to inspectors reviewing the implementation of the software, according to a report conducted by the VA’s Office of Inspector General.
The report was initiated after OIG investigators reviewing the rollout of the first commercial EHR system at Mann-Grandstaff in Spokane, Washington in October 2020 experienced “significant challenges” in receiving detailed information about efforts to train staff on the new software, as well as data on staffers’ proficiency with the new program…
While the report cleared the two senior staffers of intentionally misleading OIG’s inspectors, it found that “the leaders’ lack of due care and diligence resulted in misinformation being submitted” to investigators assessing the EHR training process.
OIG found that the senior staffers submitted data to investigators which suggested that 89% of employees passed their proficiency tests in three attempts or less, without disclosing that the reported figure excluded all failure data. The error resulted in the proficiency check pass rate being more than double the actual rate of 44%. The report faulted the senior staffers for “failing to recognize red flags and confirm accuracy prior to reporting the revised results.” OIG also found that the Change Management leaders submitted a slide to investigators describing a training evaluation plan without disclosing that it was a draft version that had not been approved for use… Read the full article here.