News: VA to pause EHR implementations for at least six months

After a strategic review found a wide array of problems with the first go-live site, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has paused implementation of its new EHR to additional sites for at least another six months.

This comes after an already planned pause in April and an audit showing the implementation would likely cost between $1 billion and $2.6 billion more than originally estimated.

The current EHR in the first go-live site of Spokane, Washington, still has bugs and the department has “a plan to fix the system.” During the hearing for the EHR modernization program, committee members grew increasingly noticeably frustrated and agitated because they felt that the implementation has not proved effective, Federal News Network reported.

The VA remains optimistic it can set a new deployment schedule by the end of calendar year 2021. The department will review the state of the physical and IT infrastructure at each of its facilities, and those facilities that are at the greatest state of readiness will deploy the new EHR next.

Editor’s note: Federal News Network’s coverage of this hearing can be found here. Previous ACDIS coverage of the VA EHR implementation program can he found here and here. The July/August edition of the CDI Journal covers the topic of technology and can be found here.