VA Making Incremental Improvements in New System but Needs Updated Cost Estimate and Schedule

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is making incremental improvements to its new electronic health record (EHR) system but still faces significant challenges. After pausing deployments in April 2023 due to user concerns, VA resumed planned deployments in December 2024. Despite implementing over 1,500 system changes, approximately 1,800 configuration requests remain unaddressed.User feedback indicates ongoing dissatisfaction, with 75% of surveyed users stating the system does not enhance efficiency. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommends VA update its life cycle cost estimate and schedule, given past delays and cost increases. While VA has established performance metrics, one remains incomplete. GAO emphasizes the importance of addressing these issues to ensure modernization success.

Medigy Insights

They conducted structured interviews regarding user feedback on the new EHR with similar questions in 2022.Of the users they interviewed in 2022 and 2023-2024, we did not detect a statistically significant association (either in a positive or negative direction) between rating levels across the two time periods for most questions. However, they detected a significant association with rating levels and interview year for one question about experience with the system. Specifically, users responded more negatively when asked “At this point in time, how does your experience in using the new EHR system compare to your experience using the new system in April 2023” indicating that experiences had worsened.

Continue reading at files.gao.gov

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