U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, MD, addressed Congressional frustration with the VA's EHR system during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing May 3, according to Federal News Radio.
The proposed VA budget for fiscal year 2018 provides the system with $4.4 billion in discretionary funding, representing a 6 percent increase from the previous year. However, some Congressmen at the hearing were skeptical of the budget increase due to challenges the VA has faced in recent years.
A key frustration included funds the VA has spent on developing VistA, its current homegrown EHR, which has displayed a range of issues in recent years — including not being interoperable with the U.S. Department of Defense.
"The VistA system is something that, frankly, VA should be proud of," Dr. Shulkin said, according to Federal News Radio. "It invented it. It was the leader in electronic health records, but, frankly, that's old history. We have to look at keeping up and modernizing the system."
Dr. Shulkin will decide whether the VA will move its EHR to a commercial platform in July.
"Every time we sit up here and talk to people at this table, we always keep asking the same question," said Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., according to Federal News Radio. "You could be the best VA Secretary of all time if you solve this problem."