Senator Murray Statement on VA’s EHR Reset

Senator Murray: “I hope this reset means real results, but in the meantime, I’ll continue working with my colleagues to pass legislation that implements the kind of aggressive oversight needed to fix the current EHR system while also making clear that the contract negotiation process should put in place the types of incentives and penalties to ensure these kinds of failures never occur again.”

(Washington, DC) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) announcement that future deployments of its Electronic Health Record (EHR) would be halted in order to prioritize improvements at the five sites that currently use EHR.

“I’ve said for quite some time now that VA should halt deployment of its EHR program in Washington state so that officials can focus their time and energy on fixing the program where it already exists like in Spokane and Walla Walla, based on feedback from VA clinicians on the ground. I’ll say it again: getting it right for VA providers and for veterans who are already counting on this program to work has to be the top priority.

“I hope this reset means real results, but in the meantime, I’ll continue working with my colleagues to pass legislation that implementsthe kind of aggressive oversight needed to fix the current EHR system while also making clear that the contract negotiation process should put in place the types of incentives and penalties to ensure these kinds of failures never occur again.”

Senator Murray recently helped introduce comprehensive legislation with Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) that would require VA to implement a series of EHR reforms to better serve veterans, medical personnel, and taxpayers. Their bill would restructure, enhance, and strengthen the entire EHR program while also mandating aggressive reporting to Congress to increase oversight, accountability, and transparency following a series of challenges with the system and program, including those found in VA’s recent EHR Sprint Report and a review from the Government Accountability Office.

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