“The Department of Veterans Affairs will be implementing sweeping changes to its electronic health records modernization program, including updates to its timeline and reorganization of its oversight and leadership structure.”
“The VA’s EHR rollout plan has undergone revisions over the past year in light of concerns from lawmakers about the program’s cost and implementation progress.”
“Since then, VA has released a roadmap designed to better foster efficiency, allocation of resources and timely implementation of the program. VA Assistant Secretary for Enterprise Integration Guy Kiyokawa and Acting Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and CIO Neil Evans outlined the changes in the roadmap to reporters Dec. 1.”
“’VA is refining EHR governance and management structures to establish additional rigor, oversight and collaboration. A change management strategy combined with organizational restructuring and an enhanced governance model ensures a more collaborative partnership and integration of the EHR deployments,’ the report said.”
“Most notable among these changes will be sweeping reforms to upper-level EHR leadership, with VA replacing its Office of EHR Modernization executive director position (currently held by John Windom) with a program executive director of EHRM integration, beneath whom will report an executive director of the Office of the Functional Champion, executive director of the program management office and EHRM deputy CIO responsible for overseeing separate aspects of the EHR rollout.”
“Terry Adirim, the Defense Department’s acting assistant for health affairs, will serve in the newly formed program executive director role and VA’s highest-ranking EHR executive.”
“The newly empowered Office of the Functional Champion role will focus on fostering communication, feedback and knowledge sharing between central VA technologists and on-the-ground support staff and clinicians that work at individual care centers…” Read the full article here.
Source: VA Overhauls EHR Rollout Schedule, Leadership Structure – By Adam Patterson, December 3, 2021. GovernmentCIO.
