WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) – ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee – today released the following statement regarding three reports recently released from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning issues with the deployment of the new Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program:

“I am alarmed by three recent Office of Inspector General reports regarding the VA’s failure to report billions of dollars of costs, continued misrepresentations provided to Congress regarding inaccurate cost estimates and the gross inadequacy of employee training on the new electronic health record system. All three reports present a disturbing pattern of executives in VA’s Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization playing fast and loose with the truth.

“I commend Secretary McDonough for pausing the Electronic Health Record Modernization program to attempt to solve the severe problems that have been identified and expect Secretary McDonough to make the changes required to create a culture of accountability and get this important program back on track. I look forward to hearing how he plans to address the problems outlined in these reports next week.”

The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee is holding a hearing titled, “VA Electronic Health Records: Modernization and the Path Ahead,” next Wednesday during which Secretary McDonough will testify.

VA OIG Reports released concerning EHRM:

• The report titled, “Training Deficiencies with VA’s New Electronic Health Record System at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington,” was released on July 8 and can be accessed here.
• The report titled, “Unreliable Information Technology Infrastructure Cost Estimates for the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program,” was released on July 7 and can be accessed here.
• The report titled, “Deficiencies in Reporting Reliable Physical Infrastructure Cost Estimates for the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program,” was released on May 25 and can be accessed here.

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