As VA responds to COVID-19, Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization continues mission in ‘nonintrusive’ posture

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM) is currently reassessing and revising implementation timelines for its new electronic health record (EHR) system.

OEHRM is re-evaluating training and other scheduled activities at its initial deployment sites in the Pacific Northwest, so VA’s clinical personnel and medical resources can focus on caring for Veterans during this time.

VA is working closely with its contractor, Cerner Corp.; the Department of Defense (DOD); the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization Program Office; and other key partners to analyze COVID-19 impacts on the Electronic Health Record Modernization effort.

Meanwhile, VA and DOD rolled out the joint Health Information Exchange on April 18. This capability will allow VA, DOD and community health care providers to efficiently capture, access and share patient data in near real time and will likely aid in Veteran care in response to COVID-19.

OEHRM and Cerner were also poised to deliver the Centralized Scheduling Solution (CSS), a new patient appointment management component of the modernized EHR, to the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus, Ohio, in April. However, training on that system was postponed, so VA staff could focus on clinical operations related to COVID-19. As a result, VA is also reassessing the CSS deployment schedule.

For more information, see the following resources:

• VA’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• What Veterans need to know about coronavirus.