This decision comes after Secretary Denis McDonough announced in July that VA would delay EHR deployments until January 2023 to ensure that the system’s issues had been resolved. During VA’s subsequent investigation at our current sites, several additional technical and system issues were identified – including challenges with performance, such as latency and slowness, problems with patient scheduling, referrals, medication management, and other types of medical orders.

Over the coming months, VA will continue to work closely with Oracle Cerner to resolve issues with the system’s performance, maximize usability for VA health care providers, and ensure our nation’s Veterans are served by an effective records system to support their healthcare. During this “assess & address” period, we will correct outstanding issues—especially those that may have patient safety implications—before restarting deployments at other VA medical centers.

“Right now, the Oracle Cerner electronic health record system is not delivering for Veterans or VA health care providers – and we are holding Oracle Cerner and ourselves accountable to get this right,” said Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Donald Remy, who has oversight over VA’s EHR program. “We are delaying all future deployments of the new EHR while we fully assess performance and address every concern. Veterans and clinicians deserve a seamless, modernized health record system, and we will not rest until they get it.”

While executing this “assess and address” plan, VA will continue to focus on the five facilities where the new system has already been deployed to ensure every patient is getting the world-class health care they deserve. In addition to the system review, VA is sending letters to every Veteran who may have been impacted by these system challenges in some manner, asking that if they have experienced a delay in medications, appointments, referrals, or test results, to contact VA through the call center or online. Once they reach out, these Veterans can expect a member of their care team to follow up with them within five business days to resolve the issue.

The modernized EHR will replace VA’s current Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) to document and support all aspects of Veteran health care. VA remains committed to building an EHR solution that will link with the Department of Defense’s health record system to create a lifetime of seamless care for service members and Veterans.

For more information about VA’s overall EHR modernization effort, visit https://www.ehrm.va.gov/.

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The launch at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System includes its VA clinics in Grove City, Marion, Newark and Zanesville, Ohio. The next two EHR system deployments are scheduled for June 11 at the Roseburg VA Health Care System in Roseburg, Oregon, and VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City, Oregon.

The latest EHR implementation follows earlier deployments at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, and its community-based outpatient clinics, as well as the West Consolidated Patient Account Center in Las Vegas, in October 2020, and at Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VAMC and its affiliated clinics in the Walla Walla, Washington, area on March 26, 2022.

“This electronic health record rollout is an important step in our progress toward a single instance of a medical record connecting VA, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard that will provide all our patients with seamless care from active duty to Veteran status,” said program Executive Director of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office Terry Adirim, M.D. “With each VA site that adopts this system, we gain momentum. The lessons we carry forward from site to site are refining our rollouts and improving end-user experiences.”

VA has made great strides with its new EHR program since the first system launch in the Pacific Northwest. In response to feedback and lessons learned, the department made several improvements, including adding more computer-based instruction to provide users with more flexibility and autonomy to meet their training needs.

Additionally, “super-users,” facility staff with advanced understanding of the system to support their peers, were identified and added to activities, such as system demonstrations, workshops and testing. Increased over-the-shoulder support is also now provided during “go-live,” the period when the medical facility transitions from VA’s legacy EHR system to the new one.

During a visit to Washington state last week, VA Deputy Secretary Donald Remy heard firsthand accounts of how the new EHR has enhanced the efforts of VHA employees. Remy spoke to a laboratory manager at Mann-Grandstaff, who told him the new system has improved efficiency and streamlined procedures. They are processing more lab samples than with the legacy system resulting in increased reliable outcomes.

These improvements were made to address some of the challenges with the program and VA remains steadfast to getting this right for Veterans and serving as a model for transformative health care innovation. Visit VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization program for information.

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By launching at Walla Walla and affiliated sites, VA marks another step toward health care transformation by modernizing the software that tracks and stores patient information.

The EHR system will replace the department’s current system, which is more than 30 years old, with a single platform shared with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard.

“This is a critical milestone in our efforts to support a lifetime of seamless care for service members from active duty to Veteran status,” said Program Executive Director of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office Terry Adirim, M.D. “This new electronic health record [system] will grant VA personnel access to patient records for service members and Veterans in a single system, enabling them to provide quick, safe and effective care for all Veterans.”

By adopting a common EHR system, VA health care providers will gain access to a Veteran’s entire medical record for care received at a DOD facility or a VA facility anywhere in the world. It also allows access to a single point of entry for participating community providers to request and access VA, DOD and USCG patient health care data needed for patient care.

The March 26 launch at Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial brings all VA clinics in the Walla Walla catchment area online with the new EHR system, including facilities in the following locations:

• Washington – Richland and Yakima.
• Oregon – Boardman, Enterprise and La Grande.
• Idaho – Lewiston.

The next rollout of the new EHR system is scheduled for April 30 at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System in Columbus, Ohio.

VA embarked upon a system-wide transformation of its electronic health record system in 2017. This is VA’s second deployment of its new EHR system. The first occurred in October 2020 at select sites in the Pacific Northwest, to include Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in Spokane, Washington, and its community-based outpatient clinics, as well as the West Consolidated Patient Account Center in Las Vegas.

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