The U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs says it’s going to full deployment of the Federal Digital Well being Report system at 9 further medical amenities, bringing the overall to go reside in 2026 to 13, with full deployment of the EHR in any respect VA medical amenities as early as 2031.
The 9 further VA amenities can be introduced later this 12 months following planning classes amongst officers from VA’s Digital Well being Report Modernization Workplace, regional and native VA medical leaders, VA clinicians, and EHR vendor Oracle Well being.
A brand new Authorities Accountability Workplace (GAO) report notes that the VA made quite a few system enhancements through the pause, but it surely says extra could be finished. For instance, it hasn’t up to date price estimates to contemplate the pause and the adjustments it made in that point. VA additionally hasn’t up to date the rollout schedule. With out these, VA could not have the ability to correctly finances or know if the rollout is progressing because it ought to, GAO stated.
VA is starting early-stage planning to deploy the Federal EHR system to 4 Michigan amenities — Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw — in mid-2026.
The VA has stated it has seen crucial enhancements to the EHR system throughout a pause in deployments introduced in April 2023, which has helped the system higher serve veterans and clinicians — and resulted in improved veteran belief in any respect websites that use the EHR.
“We paused deployments of the EHR for greater than a 12 months and a half to hearken to Veterans and clinicians, perceive the problems, and make enhancements to the system,” stated VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher, in a press release. “On account of these efforts, veteran belief and system efficiency have improved throughout the board. Now, we’re prepared to start planning for brand spanking new deployments in 2026 — whereas persevering with to enhance in any respect present websites.”
VA stated that down occasions have declined and that clinician and employees satisfaction with the Federal EHR has elevated every year since 2022 — together with will increase in settlement in worker surveys with the phrases “the EHR is accessible after I want it” and “this EHR permits me to ship high-quality care.”
The GAO report stated that concerning consumer suggestions, whereas VA’s 2024 surveys present enchancment since 2022, they proceed to replicate basic dissatisfaction with the brand new system. For instance, as of September 2024, 75 p.c (1,247 of 1,670) of customers disagreed or strongly disagreed that the brand new system made them as environment friendly as attainable.
VA stated it’s pursuing a market-based strategy to website choice for its deployments going ahead. This can allow the division to scale up the variety of concurrent deployments, whereas additionally enabling employees to work as effectively as attainable.
VA will undertake a typical baseline of merchandise, workflows, and integrations aligned with subject-matter-expert suggestions. The standardized nationwide baseline will guarantee profitable Federal EHR implementation, speed up deployments, simplify decision-making, and help future optimizations.
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