The Department of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it may resume agency-wide adoption of its new electronic health records system next summer, after it was placed on hold in April due to problems involving patient health and safety and frustration among users.
VA officials told members of Congress that introduction of the Oracle Cerner system across 166 additional hospitals could resume in 2024 if the department makes progress on several goals, including a successful rollout in March at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Illinois.
The House Veterans Affairs Committee and a House Appropriations subcommittee scheduled hearings this week to receive updates on what originally was supposed to be a $10 billion Oracle Cerner Millennium records system, now used at just five VA sites in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio.
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The department is aiming to build a system that is user-friendly to staff members and veterans, has no negative impact on operations, and performs 100% of the time, Dr. Neil Evans, acting program executive director at the VA Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office, told members of the House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies subcommittee.
“The path to restarting is to sustain a positive trajectory. We do not need to get to perfection,” Evans said. “On…