[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":940,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"House appropriators on Thursday approved the Fiscal Year 2020 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies bill, including $1.6 billion for the VA\u2019s new Cerner electronic health record system.

The legislation, passed by the House Appropriations Committee, funds the VA, Department of Defense and other related agencies.

\u201cAfter at least a decade of congressional encouragement to DoD and VA to develop a single electronic health record, VA has completed a contract to acquire the same EHR that DoD is adopting,\u201d states the committee\u2019s report<\/a>. \u201cThe bill includes $1,603,000,000 for the EHR contract entered in 2018, and continues strict quarterly reporting of timelines, performance milestones, costs, implementation and change management.\u201d

Of the $1.6 billion appropriated to continue implementation of the Cerner system, the legislation provides $1,106,500,000 for the electronic health record contract, $161,800,000 for program management and $334,700,000 for infrastructure support.

In addition, the committee\u2019s bill continues the requirement for the Government Accountability Office to review the VA\u2019 s EHR modernization implementation\u2014which is currently estimated to cost a total of $16.1 billion\u2014so that Congress \u201ccan be informed of any problems at a point where they can be promptly and economically addressed.\u201d

Not surprisingly, members of Congress are insisting on strong oversight of the VA\u2019s acquisition of the Cerner system in light of its hefty overall price tag and 10-year deployment schedule.

Also See<\/b>: Senators call for more oversight of $16B VA EHR modernization<\/a>

The VA\u2019s acquisition program seeks to \u201cdevelop an interoperable electronic health record system that will access seamlessly the records of veterans in the VA system and those of the Department of Defense and of community providers,\u201d according to the bill.

Lawmakers noted in their legislation that the VA system is planned to be rolled out with the same timeline and geographic areas as DoD in order to realize cost efficiency savings.

The committee urged the VA to \u201cexplore and invest in modern, software-defined networking and hybrid cloud technologies to ensure that its EHR modernization network and IT infrastructure will effectively support the Cerner implementation and its subsequent use.\u201d

The committee also said that it supports veterans having \u201creal-time, seamless and portable access\u201d to their medical records, and it urges VA to develop, as part of EHR modernization, \u201cthe means by which veterans can have secure, portable access to their own medical records.\u201d

In addition, House appropriators encouraged the VA to \u201censure the new EHR initiative provides an open architecture that allows a governance and oversight process for administering access and support to deploy third-party applications, components and application programming interfaces to ensure longevity of the EHR platform and requests information on the EHR modernization architecture be included in quarterly reports.\u201d

At the same time, the committee said that it is \u201cconcerned about the pace at which implementation of cybersecurity best practices are occurring at the department, especially as VA and DoD continue to integrate electronic health information.\u201d As a result, legislators urged the VA to \u201censure that patient records being transferred from DoD to VA have the same level of security and data-level protections as provided by DoD.\u201d

The committee also indicated that it is \u201cconcerned about the significant amount of time clinicians spend on the current electronic health record documentation in their treatment of veterans, as well as their inability to easily incorporate such information from within the veterans\u2019 continuum of care, particularly the community care environment.\u201d

Lawmakers pointed out that the \u201cVA\u2019s ongoing efforts with EHR modernization and interoperability with the Department of Defense provide an opportunity to assess innovative technologies\u2019 ability to solve this challenge.\u201d","saveContent":"House appropriators on Thursday approved the Fiscal Year 2020 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies bill, including $1.6 billion for the VA\u2019s new Cerner electronic health record system.

The legislation, passed by the House Appropriations Committee, funds the VA, Department of Defense and other related agencies.

\u201cAfter at least a decade of congressional encouragement to DoD and VA to develop a single electronic health record, VA has completed a contract to acquire the same EHR that DoD is adopting,\u201d states the committee\u2019s report<\/a>. \u201cThe bill includes $1,603,000,000 for the EHR contract entered in 2018, and continues strict quarterly reporting of timelines, performance milestones, costs, implementation and change management.\u201d

Of the $1.6 billion appropriated to continue implementation of the Cerner system, the legislation provides $1,106,500,000 for the electronic health record contract, $161,800,000 for program management and $334,700,000 for infrastructure support.

In addition, the committee\u2019s bill continues the requirement for the Government Accountability Office to review the VA\u2019 s EHR modernization implementation\u2014which is currently estimated to cost a total of $16.1 billion\u2014so that Congress \u201ccan be informed of any problems at a point where they can be promptly and economically addressed.\u201d

Not surprisingly, members of Congress are insisting on strong oversight of the VA\u2019s acquisition of the Cerner system in light of its hefty overall price tag and 10-year deployment schedule.

Also See<\/b>: Senators call for more oversight of $16B VA EHR modernization<\/a>

The VA\u2019s acquisition program seeks to \u201cdevelop an interoperable electronic health record system that will access seamlessly the records of veterans in the VA system and those of the Department of Defense and of community providers,\u201d according to the bill.

Lawmakers noted in their legislation that the VA system is planned to be rolled out with the same timeline and geographic areas as DoD in order to realize cost efficiency savings.

The committee urged the VA to \u201cexplore and invest in modern, software-defined networking and hybrid cloud technologies to ensure that its EHR modernization network and IT infrastructure will effectively support the Cerner implementation and its subsequent use.\u201d

The committee also said that it supports veterans having \u201creal-time, seamless and portable access\u201d to their medical records, and it urges VA to develop, as part of EHR modernization, \u201cthe means by which veterans can have secure, portable access to their own medical records.\u201d

In addition, House appropriators encouraged the VA to \u201censure the new EHR initiative provides an open architecture that allows a governance and oversight process for administering access and support to deploy third-party applications, components and application programming interfaces to ensure longevity of the EHR platform and requests information on the EHR modernization architecture be included in quarterly reports.\u201d

At the same time, the committee said that it is \u201cconcerned about the pace at which implementation of cybersecurity best practices are occurring at the department, especially as VA and DoD continue to integrate electronic health information.\u201d As a result, legislators urged the VA to \u201censure that patient records being transferred from DoD to VA have the same level of security and data-level protections as provided by DoD.\u201d

The committee also indicated that it is \u201cconcerned about the significant amount of time clinicians spend on the current electronic health record documentation in their treatment of veterans, as well as their inability to easily incorporate such information from within the veterans\u2019 continuum of care, particularly the community care environment.\u201d

Lawmakers pointed out that the \u201cVA\u2019s ongoing efforts with EHR modernization and interoperability with the Department of Defense provide an opportunity to assess innovative technologies\u2019 ability to solve this challenge.\u201d","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

House committee appropriates $1.6B for VA EHR in FY 2020

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