The Veterans Administration is gearing up to implement its Oracle electronic health record system at medical facilities in five states starting next year, as confirmed by the agency on Monday.
WHY IT MATTERS
The VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office has identified nine medical facilities that will go live on the Oracle Health EHR:
– Cincinnati VAMC-Fort Thomas in Fort Thomas, Kentucky
– Chillicothe VAMC in Chillicothe, Ohio
– Cincinnati VAMC in Cincinnati, Ohio
– Dayton VAMC in Dayton, Ohio
– Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC in Cleveland, Ohio
– Fort Wayne VAMC in Fort Wayne, Indiana
– Marion VAMC in Marion, Indiana
– Richard L. Roudebush VAMC in Indianapolis, Indiana
– Alaska VA Healthcare System in Anchorage, Alaska
In addition to these locations, the VA had previously announced plans to deploy the new EHR at four Michigan VA facilities – Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw – bringing the total number of deployments to 13.
The agency aims to have the new EHR system fully deployed across all medical facilities by 2031. Seema Verma, Oracle Health and Oracle Life Sciences executive vice president, had outlined plans to expedite system deployment at the remaining 164 VA healthcare facilities during a briefing with lawmakers in February.
THE LARGER TREND
Last month, the VA revealed its intention to adopt a market-based approach for selecting sites for new EHR deployments. The agency will consult with regional and local VA medical leaders, VA clinicians, and Oracle Health before finalizing additional deployment locations.
VA Secretary Doug Collins emphasized the organization’s commitment to accelerating progress on this critical initiative, stating, “We can and will move faster on this important priority.”
However, the VA recently terminated several EHR modernization contracts, including essential data integrity work needed to accurately identify patients and link their clinical records. This setback was a result of anomalies in patient identifiers between the VA and the Department of Defense, which led to failed EHR alerts and potential harm to veterans in 2022.
ON THE RECORD
In a statement, VA Secretary Doug Collins expressed excitement about the upcoming deployment of the Oracle EHR system in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Alaska. He emphasized the benefits of a modernized medical record system, highlighting improvements in care, coordination, and convenience for veterans.
“The Federal EHR is integrated across all VA and Department of Defense components, enabling seamless data exchange and enhancing care, safety, and customer service for patients,” Collins stated.
Andrea Fox, senior editor of Healthcare IT News, can be reached via email at afox@himss.org. Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS Media.
