Top Senator Says Modernizing VA’s EHR ‘Is Not Optional’ – By Edward Graham (Nextgov) / Feb 13, 2023
After leading GOP lawmakers introduced legislation to terminate the deployment of VA’s new electronic health record program, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.—chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee—said upgrading the system “has to be done.”
The Democratic chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee signaled his support for VA to continue moving forward with its multi-billion dollar electronic health record modernization program, even as leading House Republicans have introduced legislation that would terminate the new system’s rollout unless significant changes are made to improve its deployment.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., indicated that technical and performance issues with the Oracle Cerner EHR system’s rollout do not undercut the fact that VA’s legacy health information system—known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA—needs to be updated.
“Make no mistake, modernization of the electronic health record is not optional—one way or another, it has to be done,” Tester said in an emailed statement to Nextgov. “And I will keep demanding results on behalf of every veteran and dedicated VA medical professional until we get this right.”
