Mrvan Opening Statement for Technology Modernization Subcommittee Hearing on EHRM

Press Release

Congressman Frank J. Mrvan convened his first in-person hearing today as the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. The hearing is entitled Moving Forward: Evaluating Next Steps for the Department of Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) Program.

A video of the hearing is available here and the text of the opening statement as prepared for delivery is below.

Good afternoon and welcome to our first in-person Subcommittee event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today we meet to discuss the status of the Department of Veterans Affairs $16 billion Electronic Health Record Modernization program, and the recently announced changes to its deployment and governance structures.

In March of this year, Secretary McDonough informed Congress that he was pausing the roll-out of EHRM and conducting a top-to-bottom strategic review of the program. We received an initial report from that review last week. I must say that while the report proposes some bold changes, it raises more questions than it answers. I was hoping to have the Secretary here today to explain the new path forward for EHRM, but unfortunately, he was unable to join us. I am hopeful that Doctors Clancy and Matthews can shed some light on VA's plans in his absence.

Dr. Clancy, I want to sincerely thank you for your leadership as the Acting Deputy Secretary over the last seven months. Your passion for VA and our veterans is obvious and commendable. I would also like to congratulate the new Deputy Secretary, Mr. Donald Remy, who was sworn in earlier this week. I look forward to meeting with him in the near future and working together to ensure that the EHRM program is a success.

Since our last hearing on this program, in April, there have been three rather concerning reports from VA's Inspector General. One of the IG reports discusses how VA and Cerner failed to provide sufficient training to the employees at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane. Staff have indicated that the training they received was more focused on pushing buttons, rather than any real understanding of how to operate the new system. I expect to hear today how VA intends to improve the training before this program is deployed to any other facilities.

This report also highlights how VA failed the employees of Mann-Grandstaff and its associated clinics. I want to applaud and thank the front-line leaders and staff at those facilities. It is because of their heroic efforts, in truly unheard-of circumstances, that no veterans were harmed during this transition. We are all grateful for their hard work and dedication. Without them we would be having a very different conversation today.

The two other reports highlight VA's failure to conduct a reliable life cycle cost estimate for the program. Specifically, they cite the costs of modernizing VA's physical infrastructure and IT infrastructure. I am aware that many of these costs are not a direct result of VA's modernization effort. They are more of a symptom of decades worth of neglected infrastructure. However, you can't put a modern EHR on an aging IT infrastructure, and you can't update IT infrastructure in an aging VA facility without making improvements. These issues must be addressed and the costs must be accounted for as part of the EHRM project.

Secretary McDonough testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week that VA is working to develop a more reliable cost estimate. I support these efforts. Congress, our veterans, and the American people deserve a full accounting of these costs.

To ensure accounting transparency, I plan to introduce the ""VA Electronic Health Record Transparency Act of 2021." This bill mandates complete accounting and reporting of all expenses related to the EHRM project, including infrastructure costs and consultants.

I thank all the witnesses for appearing today and for your work on this incredibly important project, and I look forward to hearing your testimony.

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