Veteran Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Tuesday that his agency remains committed to deciding by this summer whether to overhaul or replace the electronic medical records system for VA hospitals, but he backed away from setting a hard deadline of July 1.
Speaking during a panel discussion on pioneering digital health technologies, Mr. Shulkin said the VA will look for a commercial provider for its hospital records system if the agency decides it needs one.
“We are moving towards planning a decision towards whether we’ll be sticking with VistA or moving towards a commercial project around July summertime, that is not the same as saying that we will, if we do decide to move to a commercial system, we would decide which system to use or process of how we will make that decision,” he said.
Mr. Shulkin avoided discussing how much a system overhaul would cost, saying the department’s first priority is to come up with a “strategic direction” for the VA and then focus on financing.
“I’m not spending a lot of time saying whether it’s $16 billion or $6 billion, or how much additional funds we need to truly fix the system,” he said.
The Veteran Affairs Department has been long criticized for its records and scheduling systems, which have caused backlogs and long wait times for treatment.
In the 1970s, the VA pioneered the electronic system VistA, which manages health care information for millions of veterans at VA centers and clinics across the country. Critics have charged that VA officials have neglected and failed to innovate the system, prompting the agency’s consideration of a commercial provider.
Mr. Shulkin criticized his department for lacking a clear vision for what its systems should do and said that it is preventing the agency from receiving money to upgrade VistA.
“In the past administration we were withheld all of our development money for VistA, and the reason is because we at the VA were not clear enough in articulating why we needed that money and the condition it was for,” the secretary said.
• Laura Kelly can be reached at lkelly@washingtontimes.com.
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