Metro East Sun

Rep. Tom Barrett, the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, addressed ongoing issues with the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) Program during an oversight hearing. The hearing aimed to assess persistent challenges and necessary steps for improvement.

Barrett opened by acknowledging Rep. Nikki Budzinski from Illinois as the new Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, commending her dedication to veterans and bipartisan cooperation. He expressed his commitment to ensuring VA's IT systems function effectively for veterans and employees.

The EHRM program seeks to replace VA's current electronic health record system with a commercial-off-the-shelf solution from Oracle. However, it has faced numerous setbacks, including system outages, patient harm, technological malfunctions, budget overruns, and reduced patient volumes.

Former Secretary McDonough paused the program indefinitely in April 2023 to address these issues. Plans are underway to resume implementation in Spring 2026 at several Michigan medical centers.

Barrett noted that VA is nearly seven years into its original ten-year contract with Oracle but has only implemented the system in less than four percent of medical centers. User dissatisfaction remains high, with 69 percent expressing discontent and 75 percent indicating inefficiency.

Congress lacks an updated schedule or cost estimate for evaluating the program's progress. An independent estimate suggests costs could reach $32.7 billion—double VA’s initial projection.

Barrett emphasized the need for VA to demonstrate improvements before resuming operations and expressed confidence in Secretary Collins and the Trump administration’s ability to resolve these challenges.

"Thank you all, again, for being here today," Barrett concluded before yielding to Ranking Member Budzinski for her statement.