WASHINGTON, D.C. — Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson joined the Veterans Affairs Chairman, Mike Bost, in introducing H.R. 592, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Electronic Health Record Modernization Improvement Act. The legislation is intended to further protect veterans' access to quality healthcare.
If passed, the EHRM Improvement Act outlines criteria to prevent the VA from implementing their new Electronic Health Records system at the Boise VA Medical Center until the system configuration is correct for the site, the staff and infrastructure on the site are adequately prepared, and confirmed that the EHR will not have adverse impacts on wait times, patient safety or quality.
The bill would also prevent the VA from starting "go-live" preparation activities until the system is certified to have a 99.9% uptime for at least four months, and all improvements listed on the contract for the developers have been completed.
The EHR was originally scheduled for roll-out at the Boise VAMC in June 2022, but is now delayed to sometime in 2024.
Congressman Simpson's concerns about the EHR system stem from problems experienced and documented from the original deployment in Spokane.
"This bill is an important step in ensuring the EHR is safe and effective before it is implemented at another VA facility," said Simpson.
