Veterans Affairs
Trump nominates Ryan Cote to serve as VA’s new IT chief
Cote previously served as the Department of Transportation’s CIO for two years during the first Trump administration.
VA is overlooking accessibility requirements when procuring IT, watchdog says
VA’s Office of Inspector General said the agency “did not establish a control environment that makes accessibility a priority” when it acquires new systems.
Funding for further EHR deployments ‘vitally important,’ VA secretary says
VA Secretary Doug Collins said failing to modernize the agency’s electronic health record system “hurts our community care process because our doctors cannot communicate with the community [or] our doctors internally.”
Lawmakers demand review of VA’s AI-driven contract cuts
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Angus King, I-Maine, said the use of AI to identify agency contracts for termination “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.”
VA needs to better plan appointment scheduling modernization, watchdog says
The Government Accountability Office said VA “has not yet determined how the modernized and updated products used for scheduling will interface and be used to pull and combine the data” from its current VistA electronic health record system and the new Oracle Health software.
Lawmakers propose digital delivery option for GI Bill documents
Bipartisan legislation seeks to provide veterans and their beneficiaries with the ability to receive electronic correspondence about their GI Bill education benefits.
VA official touts progress on EHR modernization project
The agency is undertaking “a no-fail mission to deliver a Federal EHR at every VA medical center by 2031,” VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence said.
Draft proposal looks to put EHR reform measures back on the table
Draft legislation put forward by GOP members of the House Veterans’ Affairs panel reconsiders EHR oversight and governance proposals that were removed from the Dole Act before it was signed into law in January.
Democrats raise alarm over AI-driven contract cuts at VA
Connecticut Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said DOGE’s use of an AI tool resulted in the “wholesale slashing” of VA contracts.
VA-based DOGE associate gets ‘the boot’ after publicly discussing his work
Sahil Lavingia detailed in a personal blog how the reality of hunting inefficiencies at the Department of Veterans Affairs was not what he had expected.
VA now has ‘100% visibility’ into its software license inventory, official says
Jeff VanBemmel, director of end user operations at VA’s Office of Information and Technology, told lawmakers that the department’s total inventory of software licenses includes 4,433 commercial off-the-shelf products and another 224 software-as-a-service offerings.
House bill wants VA to pilot cloud-based medical supply management system
The bipartisan proposal from Reps. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., and Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., would direct the agency to test the system at one VA medical facility before potentially expanding it out further.
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VA hopes to use next year’s EHR rollouts to gain momentum for faster deployments
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins said VA is hoping to deploy its new EHR system at 20 to 25 new medical facilities in 2027 as it pursues an accelerated deployment timeline.
VA must ‘put onus back on Oracle’ to right EHR deployment, secretary says
VA Secretary Doug Collins told lawmakers he’s focused on addressing internal problems “that really caused the initial problems in the rollout.”
VA tech panel’s top Democrat worries layoffs will harm EHR rollout
Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., is concerned that staffing vacancies, coupled with the department’s reduction in force plans, will put “more pressure onto the VA to execute on an expedited calendar for implementation” of its new EHR system.
Report: Veteran suicide prevention increasingly looks to use AI, digital capabilities
A report published by the RAND Corporation found that 17% of active veteran suicide prevention programs are already using AI, with 37% of proposed programs planning to do so.
Spending and workforce cuts will harm VA’s modernization work, Democrats say
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., said cuts across VA are forcing the department “to decide between keeping staff on the floor, and investing in expensive equipment that may sit idle without enough personnel to operate it.”
House Dems ‘extremely concerned’ VA workforce cuts will further hit researchers
Ten members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee are calling for VA Secretary Doug Collins to provide additional information about how term-limited researchers are being affected by workforce reduction efforts.
VA names 9 medical facilities that will receive new EHR in 2026
The department said it plans to deploy the modernized electronic health record at a total of 13 sites next year following a pause on most rollouts of the software that was instituted in April 2023.
VA needs updated cost estimate and rollout schedule for EHR, watchdog says
The Government Accountability Office said VA is making “incremental improvements” to its new electronic health record system during an operational pause on additional deployments but added that “much more remains to be done.”
