Evergreen Reporter

Washington, D.C. – On May 31, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committees, pressed VA Deputy Secretary nominee Tanya J. Bradsher about how she will oversee implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) modernization and ensure that feedback from veterans and providers—specifically at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane and Jonathan M. Wainwright in Walla Walla, where EHR is currently deployed—is being listened to and taken into account.

“I want to start by talking about what I know will be a large focus for you if confirmed to this role–that is, the Electronic Health Record modernization,” Murray said. “The staff in Spokane and Walla Walla, where EHR has been deployed, has really worked hard and tirelessly to learn this new system—and as you know, it has really put a strain on providers and on our veterans. They are the current experts on this system. But I continue to hear from people on the ground, in my communities, that their feedback is not being taken into account or even heard.”

“In this role, you will have the responsibility to oversee EHR implementation and make sure we get this right. How will you ensure that our veterans themselves, and the providers, are being heard and their feedback is actually taken into account during this modernization effort?,” Murray asked Bradsher.

“I agree with you: our clinicians have not seen the results of their comments come back and executed within the electronic healthcare record,” Bradsher said. “The Deputy Secretary is ultimately responsible for the electronic health care record, and if confirmed, that responsibility will fall fully on my shoulders… we have to ensure that our veterans get the healthcare record they need… First and foremost, going out, boots on the ground, is how I’ve always led. Go to all five sites, listen to our veterans, do listening sessions, along with listening to our clinicians.”

“We have the opportunity now—with the reset of the five sites—to make sure that we’re able to incorporate those recommendations, enterprise-wide and ensure that we hold [Oracle Cerner] accountable so that those changes actually happen,” Bradsher said.

Next, Murray asked Bradsher to articulate how, if confirmed, she would use her oversight role during the reset period to improve EHR and make sure VA can deliver the care veterans deserve.

“We have much stronger—30 times stronger—penalties…in the new contract,” Bradsher replied, referencing VA’s renegotiated contract with Oracle Cerner, which went into effect on May 16th, and noting that the new contract is really five one-year contracts, rather than one five-year term, like the previous contract negotiated under the Trump Administration. “That allows us to hold them accountable each year, and to make sure that we set those markers that we need for them, and then go to the next contract,” Bradsher said. “The changes that we will make don’t just benefit VA, they’ll also benefit DoD, and being able to ensure—especially with the outages, we’ve had… issues with consistency and keeping the system up—we now have much tougher penalties for those outages.”

“As you know, I will be in very close touch with you on this as we work through it, but I just want to make it very clear: staffing cuts are unacceptable, and I hope and expect for there to be a timely resolution to the concerns on the ground from the providers that we’re hearing about,” Murray said, referencing recent reports of potential staffing cuts at Spokane’s VA medical center.

Murray also asked Bradsher about how she will work to ensure that VA is accessible to women veterans, who make up nearly 17 percent of Active-Duty military forces and 19 percent of National Guard and Reserves, and account for over 30 percent of the increase in veterans enrolled in VA health care over the past five years. Murray asked Bradsher to elaborate on how, if confirmed, she will use her role to make sure that VA is accessible and responsive to women veterans.

“Even this nomination hearing right now is historic,” Bradsher replied. “And if confirmed to serve as Deputy Secretary, I would take reaching out to all veterans first and foremost, but especially for our women veterans–I have met so many women in the last couple of years who don’t recognize their own service, who minimize their time… so one of the things is being creative, reaching out to platforms that VA has not tapped into before. And I hope if given the opportunity, that would be first and foremost, is doing that outreach.”

Senator Murray has been conducting oversight on the flawed EHR rollout in Washington state since the Trump Administration first negotiated the contract with Cerner (later acquired by Oracle), and at every point in the process since then. Murray has consistently pushed VA on its failed implementation of EHR—conducting oversight, holding the administration accountable, and calling on VA to halt deployment of EHR until they get it right in Washington state. In her role as Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, VA, and Related Agencies, Murray met recently with Oracle Cerner to discuss the issues VA providers face when using the EHR system and to get to the bottom of what can be done to fix the system.

In March of last year, Senator Murray demanded a pause of the Cerner Electronic Health Record system rollout in Washington state, citing patient safety risks, and demanding the concerns laid out in reports from the VA Office of Inspector General – and previous reports over the last two years – be resolved before the EHR program is deployed at any other sites in Washington state. In October 2022, following Senator Murray’s push, VA announced it would delay the rollout of the Oracle Cerner EHR system at VA Puget Sound Health Care System until after June 2023. Since then — in April 2023 — VA announced that future deployments of EHR would be halted in order to prioritize improvements at the five sites that currently use EHR, including Mann-Grandstaff in Spokane and Jonathan M. Wainwright in Walla Walla.

In the omnibus appropriations bill that passed in December of 2022, Senator Murray secured critical language to ensure accountability and transparency from VA in its implementation of the Electronic Health Records Modernization. In March 2023, Murray helped introduce comprehensive legislation that would require VA to implement a series of EHR reforms to better serve veterans, medical personnel, and taxpayers. The bill would restructure, enhance, and strengthen the entire EHR program while also mandating aggressive reporting to Congress to increase oversight, accountability, and transparency.

Original source can be found here.