Electronic Health Records: Challenges with VA’s New System Call for Management Improvements

Veterans Affairs is in the process of replacing its IT system used to maintain veterans’ health records—and has deployed its new system to a few locations.

We testified that the new system has presented issues for some users. For example, many users said that they weren’t adequately trained to use the new system. Users also said that the pharmacy-related part of the system contributed to patient safety risks.

VA hasn’t established goals to assess user satisfaction with its new IT system. Until it does so, VA won’t have enough information to determine if the system can be deployed to additional locations.

What GAO Found

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) organizational...