Once again the VA has failed to be there for its customers, our Veterans. The Department was set to begin the new Electronic Health Records system this week. Instead they have decided that they are only 80 percent of the way there and that healthcare providers in the VA system need more training to have a better roll out of the new system.
“The VA inked a $10 billion contract with Cerner in May 2018 for a 10 year rollout of an EHR system it’s co-developing with the Defense Department.” says the article. Congress has also stated that it wants a slow and proper roll-out of the system. For a Department known for having it’s patients kill itself in the parking lots of it’s facilities, due to lack of care, sooner-then-later might need to be a priority.
This isn’t the first delay in service from the Department. They have consistently assured lawmakers that they are on track only to change their minds at the last minute. The question to ask here is what is being done with the $10 billion to create this system? It is time for the VA and it’s contractors to start hiring competent healthcare and information technology specialists to create the system needed? According to the VA themselves there is a shortage of 45,000 employees, https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5104
To put that into context, that is the entire student body at FSU or the entirety of the Coast Guard, a military service worth of employees not being hired and needs unmet.
The VA has been behind the curve on this since they first annouced implementing this in 2017. The VA needs to be able to hire professional employees, then get the training and implementation of the new software done, maybe then they can regain some of the trust lost with its Veterans.
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 