The VA's new medical records system has gone haywire. Congress is alarmed

[usonian]

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/21/the-vas-new-medical-records-system-has-gone-haywire-congress-is-alarmed-00107655

By BEN LEONARD
07/21/2023

The Veterans Affairs Department’s fumbling effort to replace its decadesold electronic health records system has strained its relationship with Congress to the breaking point.

Anger about the project — billions over budget, tied to at least four veterans’ deaths, and now, on pause — is responsible for a spate of bill introductions, some aiming to shut the project down, others to boost oversight and accountability. The problems also led Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley to hold up a confirmation vote on President Joe Biden’s nominee for one of the VA’s top posts.

Key lawmakers, including Senate Veterans Affairs Chair Jon Tester (D-Mont.), are trying to give the VA one more try to get it right after the department halted the system rollout this spring and renegotiated its contract with the vendor, Oracle Cerner.

“Modernization of the electronic health record is not optional — one way or another it has to be done,” Tester told POLITICO. “I will keep demanding results.”

Lots more at Politico.
Oh, and by the way:
Oracle (a.k.a. Larry Ellison, a big Trump fan and fund raiser) bought Cerner a while back, and by "coincidence"

[SalamanderSleeps]

1. Isn't Shulkin the guy that even Republicans were pissed at?

[usonian]

2. Good luck if you can make sense of this:

Shulkin — who also served as a high-ranking VA official for President Barack Obama — opted to delay finalizing the Cerner contract to make sure there was a proper approach to data-sharing and integrating it with the Pentagon system, he said.

But Trump ousted Shulkin in late March 2018, leaving the future of the Cerner deal in question.

I don't know the term of VA head, whether or not Trump appointed him, nor why he dumped him, especially after the glowing praise for the deal (actually, it was glowing praise for himself, so what else is new?)

Perhaps others have better insight into this.

[GP6971]

3. The current VA Secretary is Denis McDonough

and was appointed by Pres Biden early on.

Shulkin was ousted by tfg, but he's the one that picked Oracle Cerner.

Before I retired my company wanted to centralize their operating system and we tested Oracle and SAP. Both sucked for our service orientated business. So I'm sure the VA is having a hard time.

[Tetrachloride]

5. behold

a voice of experience

looking forward to more

[Tetrachloride]

4. There are database experts in many industries

Maybe their opinion is worthwhile especially if they are able to see the data