NAVAPD fully supports VA’s decision to delay further deployment of the new electronic health record until known issues are addressed.

Congress has repeatedly had concerns with the Cerner software that will replace VA’s legacy CPRS system that works on VISTA architecture. The project cost is $16 billion. The new electronic health record will allow VA and DOD to have access to the same health records providing a seamless medical record starting at enlistment and extending through post military life.

Last year, Congressional Leaders and the OIG received numerous reports of problems with the initial rollout of the Cerner system at the Mann-Grandstaff VA in Spokane, WA and continued reports of problems putting patient safety at risk as the Cerner system was rolled out to additional medical centers in Walla Walla, WA and Columbus, OH. Some Congressional Leaders have even suggested that VA halt or even trash the project. The OIG cited issues with insufficient training, gaps in training support and issues with user role assignments in their review. The OIG says there are still serious safety issues regarding patient medications and mental health flags that have not yet been resolved.

Puget Sound VA Healthcare System (American Lake and Seattle) was up next in the deployment cycle with their scheduled go live date of August 2022. They will now have their deployment delayed until March 2023.  VA Portland Healthcare System (Portland and Portland-Vancouver VA medical centers) will also see their implementation of the Cerner system delayed from November 2022 to April 2023.  Boise, ID is scheduled for a go live date of July 2022. After this deployment there will be a pause until 2023 for the next scheduled deployment. VA Leaders hope this pause will allow time for Cerner and VA to work out any unresolved or unexpected issues.

To do this VA is refining their governance and management structure to add additional oversight to the process. The deployment delay will allow Cerner to address issues already identified and to address system reliability, degradation and outage issues. Additional oversight is being provided by the new Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office.

NAVAPD’S Postion:

NAVAPD believes that until and unless the Cerner system can perform reliably, sustain a high degree of performance without degradation or outage issues, and that staff are properly trained with enough time to practice on the new system, VA should be overly cautious in its’ continued rollout of the new record system.

NAVAPD believes patient safety must be the absolute priority. As clinicians, we are here to take care of the veterans.  Physicians and Dentists cannot do that using an unreliable, outage prone system that degrades patient health data to the point where it is considered (or may be considered) corrupted. We applaud VA’s decision to delay further deployments until Cerner can prove that it can perform at the level Physicians, Dentists and other clinicians need and expect.

NAVAPD asks if you are using the new electronic health record, are training on it, or are scheduled for an immediate future roll out, that you give us your feedback and insight.  You may always contact us at opscood@navapd.org.  Thank you for all you do to ensure the health and safety of our nation’s veterans.