ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS: VA Needs to Identify and Report Existing System Costs
Abstract
VA provides health care services to approximately 9 million veterans and their families and relies on its health information system--VistA--to do so. However, the system is more than 30 years old, is costly to maintain, and does not fully support exchanging health data with DOD and private health care providers. Over nearly 2 decades, VA has pursued multiple efforts to modernize the system. In June 2017, the department announced plans to acquire the same system--the Cerner system--that the Department of Defense is implementing. VA plans to continue using VistA during the departments decade-long transition to the Cerner system. GAO was asked to summarize its report that is being released today which discusses, among other things, (1) the extent to which VA has defined VistA and (2) the departments annual costs to develop and sustain the system. In preparing the report on which this testimony is based, GAO analyzed documentation that defines aspects of VistA and identifies components to be replaced; and evaluated the reliability of cost data, including funding obligations associated with the development and sustainment of VistA for fiscal years 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 25, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1174087
Entities
People
- Carol C. Harris
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office