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Rep. Susie Lee Presses VA Officials on Delayed EHRM Rollout, More Uncertainties VA Must Address

March 5, 2020

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (Nev.-03), chair of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, led a hearing on the subcommittee's continued oversight of the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) project being jointly implemented by Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DoD).

When a servicemember transitions from active duty to civilian life, their health records move with them from DoD to VA health care system. The goal of the EHRM project is to improve and optimize that transition to VA health care system, ultimately improving veteran care.

On February 10, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie announced VA's plans to delay the "go-live" of the EHMR roll-out at it's first site in Spokane, Wash. Today's hearing was the most recent in a string of hearings held by the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization to oversee the implementation of EHRM.

Chair Lee expressed her and the committee's frustrations at VA's lack of transparency in regard to the progress of EHRM implementation:

"While I have always maintained that getting it right is more important than meeting a deadline, it is equally important that VA remain transparent about its progress or problems.

"As the Subcommittee reviewed what happened between November 20 and February 10, when the Secretary told me the project was delayed, it has become clear that there were issues with the direction that VA was headed.

"As early as December, facility staff that participated in testing were expressing concerns about the state of product development.

"The concerns were compounded at super-user training in mid-January when staff were confronted with a system that was not what they expected and a frustrating training process. Yet, despite being briefed by VA on January 17, the Subcommittee was not made aware of these issues.

"This is hardly transparency."

She emphasized that there is not one specific area of implementation that the VA needs to address, and expressed overarching concerns about leadership, readiness, and infrastructure:

"There are several other issues that I want to get to the bottom of today. The overarching issue I see is a lack of communication between VA and its staff; VA and Cerner; and VA with external stakeholders, including veterans, and obviously with Congress.

"In addition, there are lingering concerns about staffing, infrastructure, and readiness, which according to the testimony of the Office of Inspector General remain serious issues to resolve."

In her closing remarks, Chair Lee recognized the positive efforts VA has made in recent months, which they highlighted today, but ultimately looked forward to what needs to be accomplished by the revised EHRM implementation "go-live" date, scheduled for July 2020:

"I just want to thank you for your service and commitment to our veterans and our country for taking on what is an incredibly complex project. I hope we continue to have the transparency we need to provide the proper oversight for this project. I especially appreciate that the VA listened to personnel on the front lines who had some concern about safety.

"I know we spoke about making sure we get this right instead of meeting a deadline. We have four months before this July date. What are our plans to meet that, and to make that a realistic deadline?

"We have four months, to build, to test, to train. We look forward to seeing the plans the you're providing, and I hope that this will be the beginning of an honest and transparent dialogue back and forth. This is an incredibly important project not just for VA, but for health care across this country."

BACKGROUND: In November, 2019, Chair Lee led a hearing on the HVAC Subcommittee on Technology Modernization's continued oversight of the EHRM project being jointly implemented by VA and DOD. Leadership and accountability at both agencies continues to be a concern for Chairwoman Lee, as VA and DoD did not yet to materialize a comprehensive plan for EHRM management and implementation.

Before the August 2019 recess, the Subcommittee held two hearings on the implementation of the electronic health records (EHR) systems at the VA and DoD. On June 4, 2019, the Subcommittee examined the implementation from the perspective of the three prime contractors for the VA and DoD programs, Cerner, Leidos, and Booz Allen Hamilton. On June 12, the Subcommittee heard from the VA and DoD directly about the implementation and had an opportunity to address key concerns—especially joint governance and infrastructure.

Additionally, the Subcommittee held a hearing on September 26, 2019, on the future of VA scheduling and the Cerner Scheduling Solution. On October 30, 2019 the Subcommittee, in conjunction with the House Armed Services Committee, held a roundtable to discuss the state of EHRM at both DoD and VA.

In June 2019, the House of Representatives adopted three amendments introduced and supported by Rep. Lee to improve EHRM implementation by clarifying and enhancing the role of the VA and DOD Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) joint program office responsible for EHR implementation. The amendments would create specific implementation milestones to ensure accountability and provide greater assurance that clinical and patient needs of our veterans guide the EHR implementation.