In response to the reports, the VA said it would work with the Office of the Inspector General over the next year to improve planning and coordination. The independent cost estimate will take into account these IT and physical infrastructure upgrades.

To ensure better transparency of the project’s life cycle costs, Mrvan and his Republican colleagues on the subcommittee introduced, in July, the VA Electronic Health Record Transparency Act, reported Federal News Network. Under the legislation, the VA must regularly report its EHR expenses until the project is completed, including direct and indirect costs for implementing the electronic record, whether they come from the Veterans Health Administration or IT accounts.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic initially delayed the project, but work on it resumed in August 2020, with the VA updating its previous schedule with updated timelines for deploying the system. A further six-month delay for deploying the system was initiated in July 2021 following training failures, data migration problems, and concerns over patient safety at the first go-live site in Spokane, Washington.

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