After an eight-month delay, the Veterans Affairs Department plans to restart its electronic health record and scheduling system overhaul in October, the agency announced Friday.
VA was ready to kick off two of three major, agencywide IT upgrades last spring but opted to delay those deployments first due to staff requests for additional capabilities and training, then due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In February, VA officials told Congress the agency was halting the initial deployment of its EHR system at Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, originally planned for March 28. Melissa Glynn, VA assistant secretary for enterprise integration, told a House committee that staff at Mann-Grandstaff reported frustration over not being trained on the full Millennium system, as VA and the vendor—Cerner—started training on an unfinished product missing core functionality.
“Earlier this month, our clinicians in the field identified and communicated critical requirements and capabilities that must be available prior to user training,” Glynn testified in February. “The secretary listened to this feedback and postponed training so that we will bring the system closer to 100% complete prior to commencing training.”
Initially, VA chose to postpone the rollout to July. Then COVID-19 hit, forcing mass telework for many VA employees and triggering the agency’s lesser-known mission: to act as the nation’s backup health care network in times of crisis.
In April, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie announced another indefinite delay to the EHR rollout as the agency dealt with the pandemic.
“The worldwide pandemic created by the coronavirus disease has shifted the overall priorities of the Department of ..
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