Senate Committee Chair Supports VA’s Electronic Health Record System Rollout

Sen. Jon Tester, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, has expressed support for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ rollout of a new electronic health record system despite Republicans pushing legislation seeking to terminate the EHR deployment over technical and performance issues.

Lawmakers have criticized the Oracle Cerner system since its deployment began in 2020, citing concerns related to its cost and performance and patient safety. The VA’s Office of Inspector General released a report in July 2022 revealing a flaw in the EHR system that directed clinical orders to what was described as an unknown queue, causing multiple events of patient harm, Nextgov reported.

Rep. Matt Rosendale, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, introduced legislation proposing to halt the use of the new system at all VA medical facilities and require them to continue utilizing the legacy health information system called Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture.

Tester acknowledged the issues surrounding the new EHR but he emphasized that the modernization effort is not optional.

The Oracle Cerner system is designed to be interoperable with the Department of Defense’s EHR system called Military Health System Genesis built on the Cerner Oracle Millennium platform. While MHS Genesis also faces similar criticisms, the DOD is confident that the EHR deployment will be completed in 2023.