(The Center Square) – Donald Remy, deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), had an opportunity this week to see for himself the troubled rollout of the electronic health records system at a Spokane medical center.
The system went down for 45 minutes during Remy’s tour of the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center on Monday along with Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane.
She has long called for a review of the system that was created by Cerner Corporation and sold to the VA for $16 billion to replace the old records system.
“I cannot emphasize enough just how important it was for him to come to Spokane and see firsthand the complications caused by the new electronic health records system, said Rodgers on Tuesday morning.
Remy was told that, on at least two occasions, local veterans had their medications mistakenly stopped due to a problem with health records. One of these veterans was hospitalized after heart medication was dropped off the list in records.
“The continued problems with the new system – pharmacy and prescription errors, unannounced shutdowns, a growing backlog of tickets needing attention – have caused veterans and care providers an unacceptable amount of stress and frustration,” said McMorris Rodgers. “On top of that, incessant delays in restoring 24-hour urgent care access at Mann-Grandstaff have further undermined veterans’ confidence that they will have access to care when and where they need it most.
She told Remy that veterans deserve a system that works for them, and she was going to keep up the fight to ensure they got it.
During their visit, Rodgers and Remy met with nurses and clinicians, as well as representatives from Cerner.
When asked if he was confident in the new electronic health records system, Remy told VA staff and reporters, “I’m confident in our people; they are a resilient lot, and they are focused on success.”
“We look at this electronic health record as a vehicle to improve access and outcomes for our veteran community, and what I saw today was a group of people that are committed to that result,” he added. “And I recognize that there have been challenges and impediments along the way, but they’ve overcome them.”
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