Federal bills address flawed health records linked to deaths at VA medical centers

Back in October of 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs began testing a new Electronic Health Records system at the VA Medical Center in Spokane and at satellite clinics in Wenatchee and Coeur d'Alene.

The transition has not gone smoothly. The system has had a myriad of problems, including delays in care and prescription errors.

Last month, the VA told members of Congress that problems with the system have been linked to six cases of "catastrophic harm," meaning “death or permanent loss of functioning not related to natural course of the patient’s illness or underlying condition.” Those six cases include the death of four veterans.

Faced with such fatal errors and tragic consequences, Congress is stepping in.

Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate have introduced bills to try to find a way to address the ongoing problems. But these potential solutions all fall along partisan lines without consensus on how exactly the government should intervene.

Orion Donovan-Smith, the legislative reporter for the Spokesman Review, explained what these different bills are designed to accomplish.

On the House side, Republicans have presented options to stop the rollout of the new electronic records system until local leaders at each location give it the green light. House Democrats have broader bills that look at how the VA manages contracts like the one with Oracle-Cerner, an international provider of health information technology services based in Kansas City, trying to prevent problems like this from happening in the future.

On the Senate side, Republicans have put forth a bill to have the VA certify in writing that the system is safe before launching anywhere else. Senate Democrats have a bill that also requires certification that the system is safe, along with renegotiating the contract with Oracle-Cerner.

For now, the VA has paused any further roll-outs of the new electronic records system. The director of the VA regional office that covers Ohio and Michigan said that they would postpone what had been the next scheduled launch this summer in Saginaw, Michigan.

For Donovan-Smith, the main question continues to be, "What VA will do to support veterans and providers at the hospitals and clinics that are already using this new system."

Soundside reached out to Sen. Patty Murray, Rep. Dan Newhouse, and Rep. McMorris-Rodgers for their thoughts on the different solutions that have been presented. Reps. Newhouse and McMorris-Rodgers were not available by the time of broadcast, but Sen. Murray's office provided the following statement:

“Senator Murray believes that the legislation she introduced alongside Chair Tester and Senator Brown delivers the kind of aggressive oversight needed to fix the current EHR system while also putting in place the necessary reforms to overhaul the contract negotiation process and ensure these kinds of failures never occur again. With that in mind, Senator Murray is ready to work with Senator Moran and anyone else to make sure VA’s providers can do their jobs and our veterans can get the high quality of care they have earned.”

You can listen to the entire conversation in the audio above. As always, Soundside would like to know YOUR thoughts on these matters. You can leave a voicemail message at 206-221-3213, or send an email or voice memo to soundside@kuow.org.