The Department of Veterans Affairs is pushing back against Senate-introduced legislation that calls for the creation of a third-party committee to oversee the VA's Cerner EHR installation, Kansas City Business Journal reports.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., introduced the legislation April 16. The bill calls for an EHR Advisory Committee of 11 members, which would operate separately from the VA and U.S. Department of Defense.
Teresa Boyd, assistant deputy undersecretary for health and clinical operations at the VA, testified before the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on May 23 saying that the advisory committee is unnecessary, according to the report.
"There are already multiple avenues for robust congressional oversight, including regular briefings and congressional hearings on the progress of the [EHR] modernization effort, engagement with (the Government Accountability Office), regular statutory reporting requirements and responses to congressional inquiries," Ms. Boyd said.
Ms. Boyd also added that an 11-member advisory committee would be complicated and "distract attention and resources from [the VA's] core EHR [modernization] efforts and partnerships."
The VA partnered with Cerner in May 2018 to develop and deploy an EHR across its care network. The $16 billion contract extends 10 years.