VA officials said Wednesday they were opposed to legislation — including a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. — because of the potential for "significant operational burden.” 

VA officials said Wednesday they were opposed to legislation — including a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. — because of the potential for "significant operational burden.”  Jemal Countess / Getty Images

VA opposed to new electronic health record requirements, but open to more major acquisition review 

VA officials told lawmakers Wednesday that they oppose proposed oversight standards for the department’s new electronic health record modernization program.

Officials from the Veterans Affairs Department pushed back on Wednesday against legislation that would impose stringent requirements on the department’s beleaguered electronic health record modernization program, but voiced support for a proposal to increase oversight of major acquisition projects moving forward. 

Testifying before separate House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs panels on Wednesday to discuss a raft of proposed bills, VA officials acknowledged the need to improve the department’s acquisition processes but stopped short of supporting codified improvement metrics for the implementation of its new Oracle Cerner EHR system.

VA’s multi-billion dollar program to modernize its legacy health record system has faced intense congressional scrutiny since it was first rolled out in 2020, with lawmakers criticizing patient safety incidents, cost overruns, technical glitches and performance issues associated with the new EHR software’s deployment.

Although the department and Oracle Cerner extended the program’s contract in May, VA previously instituted a pause on future deployments of the new software in April as part of a “larger program reset” to address issues with the new system.

During Wednesday’s full Senate committee hearing, Dr. Miguel LaPuz — VA’s assistant under secretary for health for integrated veteran care — pushed back against separate proposals from the committee’s top Democrat and Republican that would set new certification requirements for any future deployments of the Oracle Cerner software. 

LaPuz told lawmakers that the department “is committed to continued improvement” of the EHR modernization program and added that “we strongly caution against enacting requirements that may address today's situation but could create unintended outcomes in the future.”

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. — who chairs the committee — introduced the EHR Program RESET Act in March to “restructure, enhance and strengthen the entire EHRM program while also mandating aggressive reporting to Congress to increase oversight, accountability and transparency.”

A bipartisan group of House members — led by Reps. Mark Takano, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Mike Bost, R-Ill., the panel’s chairman — introduced a House companion to Tester’s bill in April. 

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. — the committee’s ranking member — also introduced legislation in March that would limit the department’s deployment of the new EHR software at additional VA medical facilities until officials certify a series of “system stability improvements.”

Moran noted his bill’s similarities to Tester’s legislation during the hearing and said it “suggests to me that we can find a path forward working together.”

In his written testimony, LaPuz said VA did not support Tester’s legislation “because many of the bill’s provisions reduce managerial flexibility and create a significant operational burden.” 

He also wrote that Moran’s proposal to limit deployments of the EHR system until VA meets set performance metrics does not, in part, “consider the current EHRM program reset and infrastructure activities that necessitate continued engagement given the implementation lead time.”

Despite the department’s opposition to imposing stricter requirements on future deployments of the Oracle Cerner EHR system, VA officials who testified during a House Veterans’ Affairs Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee hearing expressed an openness to revamping the department’s approach to overseeing, managing and approving major acquisition programs moving forward. 

Those sentiments were conveyed in response to a Democratic-led proposal to establish a formal board to regularly review VA’s major acquisition programs and conduct meetings throughout program phases to ensure that project requirements are being met. 

Lewis Ratchford — VA’s chief security officer — told the subcommittee in his written testimony that “VA supports this bill, if amended” to, in part, address some technical language around “the dollar value for major acquisition programs.”

The bill — the Acquisition Review Board Act — was introduced by Reps. Frank Mrvan, D-Ind., ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., ranking member of the Technology Modernization Subcommittee. 

Mrvan said the legislation was influenced by “several struggling IT modernization projects at the VA,” including the department’s EHR modernization program.

“Programs have been allowed to flounder, go off task, lag in schedule and result in cost overruns because there have been no formal checks and balances within the VA,” he said, adding that the bill “will provide a structure for those checks and balances.”

Angela Billups, executive director of VA’s Office of Acquisition and Logistics, told Mrvan that the legislation would help improve the department’s acquisition process by “filling a critical gap that we have right now” when it comes to the leadership and oversight structure needed to keep major projects on track. 

“One of the reasons why we really appreciate this legislation is because anytime you get ready to spin appropriated fund dollars for the purposes of a program, someone has to start that business case,” Billups added. “Someone has to present that in a way so that the leadership — meaning the deputy secretary and the secretary — really understands how these programs are going to impact VA and the overall VA mission.”

NEXT STORY: CDC rolls out new COVID-19 website

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.