“The VA is planning to restart its multibillion-dollar electronic health records overhaul with a rollout in October after months of delays, multiple sources tell POLITICO, and amid technical problems with one of its flagship initiatives.”
“The go-ahead, which was privately discussed with Congress in July, comes amid continued concerns over the viability of the project championed by Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser…”
“A VA spokesperson said that the department had no scheduling announcements to make.”
“One congressional source said the department’s estimates for the cost of physical upgrades is based on limited information from a handful of sites.”
“A VA spokesperson said the characterization was “not accurate,” though the spokesperson conceded that the department was “in the process of doing site surveys related to cabling and other network equipment…”
“Beyond the physical plant, there is concern that Cerner’s flagship HealtheIntent system is being used for a purpose it wasn’t originally intended for: moving data from the old VistA system to a new Cerner one. One congressional source said its effectiveness was an open question.”
“The VA dismissed this concern, claiming variously that it “migrated all its data over a year ago” but also saying the department this week successfully used HealtheIntent to move simpler data like patients’ demographic information for Cerner’s scheduling software, which is due to be rolled out at a Columbus, Ohio, facility…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA pushes on with troubled health data transformation – By Darius Tahir, August 6, 2020. POLITICO.
