A watchdog has found that the Department of Veteran Affairs' Oracle Health EHR system has had scheduling errors and pharmacy-related coding problems, which have led to patient safety incidents.
According to two March 21 reports released by the VA's Office of Inspector General, the agency found that a system error in the Oracle Health EHR software installed at the Columbus-based VA Central Ohio Healthcare System was a factor in the unintentional overdose of a patient in 2022.
In another report, the OIG stated that the five VA medical facilities that have installed the Oracle Health EHR system have identified additional EHR scheduling issues. These issues, identified by VA medical center employees, include the displaced appointment queue not operating correctly, potentially leading to appointments not being rescheduled.
Another issue identified by employees is that it is hard to share information between providers and schedulers.
"Before the EHR is deployed at a facility, Oracle Health provides facility staff with general training on how to use the system," the report reads. "However, many schedulers indicated the training was not sufficient to prepare them to use the EHR scheduling system for their daily duties."
This comes as the VA is looking to resume the Oracle Health rollout at additional VA medical centers after the deployment was paused in April 2023 due to ongoing problems.