VA Improving Electronic Health Record Modernization Effort After GAO Criticism

A senior Department of Veterans Affairs official on Thursday revealed that the vast majority of high-priority datasets that are being transferred to two platforms forming the backbone of the Electronic Health Record Modernization effort has already been standardized. The uniform transfer of data to the Cerner Millennium and HealtheIntent platforms has required the EHRM Integration Office to make positive adjustments to its processes, FedScoop reported Thursday.

Speaking at an AFCEA health information technology event, Acting Deputy Chief Information Officer Laura Prietula said the agency has had painful lessons about not standardizing its data. She added that the insights gained from previous shortcomings are not limited to the data models themselves but also to some processes or policies that needed to be changed.

The EHRM Integration Office continues to clean and curate data via its Vx130 platform, which migrates data from VA’s legacy VistA system to Cerner‘s platforms, and is in the process of ensuring the right metrics and instrumentation are in place, she explained.

Prietula further said that once all medical center data has been transferred to the cloud, the VA will have operational awareness and will be able to make performance evaluations based on its clinicians’ experiences. Additionally, the EHRM is also improving data entry practices to ensure inputs are not omitted in cases where when the information is not immediately available.

Recently, the Government Accountability Office came out with a report saying the VA failed to ensure that data transferred during the rollout of its new EHRM platform met clinicians’ needs. The watchdog said in its report that the department failed to sufficiently monitor the accessibility, accuracy and appropriateness of clinical information as it was transferred in segments from one system to another.