Senators Patty Murray, Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown are pushing for an overhaul of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Electronic Health Record Modernisation (EHRM) programme following a series of “catastrophic harm” incidents, including four veteran deaths, linked to patient safety issues with the system. Their legislation would restructure, enhance and strengthen the EHRM while mandating aggressive reporting to Congress to increase oversight, accountability and transparency.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program is facing a major overhaul. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Tester (D-MT), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are leading a legislative push to reform the EHRM program, which would restructure, enhance, and strengthen the program while mandating aggressive reporting to Congress. The Senators are set to introduce a comprehensive bill that would require VA to implement a series of EHRM reforms.
The VA’s EHRM program has been facing significant challenges, including patient safety issues, since its launch. In a recent briefing, VA officials informed the Senate committee staff of six “catastrophic harm” incidents, including four veteran deaths, linked to patient safety issues with the EHRM. As a result, Senators Murray, Tester, and Brown are calling for aggressive oversight, accountability, and transparency to ensure that the EHRM program is working for providers and keeping patients safe.
The legislation proposed by the Senators would require VA to create metrics to guide whether and how VA should go forward with the new EHR at additional VA facilities and require additional resources to support those facilities. It would also require VA and EHR vendor Oracle Cerner to fix the technology features connected to patient safety found in VA’s March 2023 Sprint Report.
The legislation also proposes that VA should not implement the new EHR at additional VA health facilities until the data at the existing facilities demonstrates an ability to deliver healthcare to veterans at standards that surpass metrics using VA’s VistA system, or that meet national health operations standards as determined by the Under Secretary for Health. This would ensure that the EHRM program is meeting national standards before being implemented at additional VA health facilities.
Additionally, the legislation would require VA to select a lead senior negotiator and leverage other federal agencies and independent experts to offer strategies for managing aggressive EHR contract negotiations with Oracle Cerner to protect taxpayers and veterans. It would also require VA to develop an alternative “Plan B” strategy for a new EHR in the event Oracle Cerner will not agree to new contract terms that protect taxpayers and increase accountability.
To prevent future programs with poor contracting, oversight, management, and planning from occurring, the legislation would also reform major VA acquisitions. It would add healthcare experts with proven experience implementing EHR deployments to the VA Advisory Committee to advise VA leaders on potential strategies on how to improve VA EHRM’s implementation.
In addition, the legislation would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to report to Congress quarterly on steps it is taking to fix DoD information technology systems, including those which are outdated and are negatively impacting VA’s ability to deliver healthcare, benefits, and other services, including through the Oracle Cerner EHR. This would ensure that the DoD is taking steps to address any issues that may be impacting the VA’s ability to provide quality care to veterans.
Top members of the House VA Committee have also recently introduced bills that would set a higher bar for the Oracle-Cerner EHR’s performance. These bills would further increase oversight, accountability, and transparency of the EHRM program.
The VA’s EHRM program is critical to providing quality care to veterans. It is essential that the EHRM program is reformed and improved to ensure that it is working for providers and keeping patients safe. The legislation proposed by Senators Murray, Tester, and Brown would provide the necessary oversight and accountability to ensure that the EHRM program is meeting national standards and providing quality care to veterans.
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