Inside the VA's EHR Modernization: A Closer Look at the New Discussion Draft of Legislation
Since the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched its most recent attempt to modernize its electronic health record (EHR) system in 2020, the initiative has been plagued with numerous setbacks and budget overruns. Given the issues faced, lawmakers recently introduced a new discussion draft of legislation that would increase oversight of the VA’s efforts.
The draft defines specific responsibilities in the execution of the EHR modernization program, ensures covered contracts include language prohibiting covered information from being monetized, sold, or misused by any contractor or subcontractor, and implements several baseline, metric, and reporting requirements. It would also require the conducting of enterprise inventories of core clinical and business practices and the comparison of workflows against relevant healthcare industry best practices. Furthermore, it would require VA to incorporate its Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning Value model, as well as any other relevant methodology, into its quality metrics.
Should the policies in the discussion draft become law, IT companies would do well to market solutions for evaluating metrics to VA for its EHR program. The department will also want solutions to monitor and control variations from established baselines. Vendors and partners selling analytical and automation solutions will be in demand.
Even if the draft does not result in any formal legislation, its existence is further demonstration of Congress’s concerns with the VA’s EHR modernization. The program has suffered from low morale; discuss any ways you can aid in reducing workloads and employee stress, in addition to helping better estimate costs as the program has faced budget overruns.
When selling to VA targeting EHR, specify how you will protect personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive health data. While data security clauses already exist, this bill would strengthen said requirements. There are federal protections on healthcare data, and customers will always be interested in data privacy and security when it comes to patient information. Stress your dedication to patient privacy and data protection.
While this is a discussion draft of legislation, it does demonstrate lawmakers’ concerns regarding the ongoing issues faced by VA’s EHR modernization program and lawmakers’ interest in this topic suggests the EHR program will continue presenting additional opportunities in the future. Modernization is always a process, and this initiative will certainly offer opportunities well into FY26.
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About the Author:
Gabriel is a Sr Market Insights Data Analyst at TD SYNNEX Public Sector whose work focuses on using quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide actionable insights to TD SYNNEX’s vendors and resellers in the public sector.
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