{"id":25145,"date":"2017-11-15T16:13:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T16:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/11\/15\/va-asks-for-quick-funding-fix-to-start-10-year-medical-records-overhaul\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:28:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:28:46","slug":"va-asks-for-quick-funding-fix-to-start-10-year-medical-records-overhaul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2017\/11\/15\/va-asks-for-quick-funding-fix-to-start-10-year-medical-records-overhaul\/","title":{"rendered":"VA asks for quick funding fix to start 10-year medical records overhaul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans Affairs officials say it will take 10 years to fully match their electronic medical records with the military\u2019s system, but they need nearly $800 million by the end of the year or else risk taking even longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That rush was met with skepticism from House appropriators on Wednesday, who noted that billions have already been invested in the department\u2019s records modernization efforts with mixed results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe number of years and dollars wasted in reaching this point is unsettling,\u201d said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., chairman of the appropriations panel\u2019s Veterans Affairs subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At issue is VA\u2019s decision this summer to shift veterans\u2019 electronic medical records to the same system used by the Defense Department, potentially ending a decades-old rift in information sharing between the two bureaucracies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House officials hailed the move at the time as bringing common sense to federal operations and simplifying lifelong medical care for members of the military. VA officials are currently negotiating contract details with Missouri-based Cerner Corp., which signed a similar deal with defense officials in 2015 to work on the MHS GENESIS records system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon deal is expected to cost at least $4.3 billion. Initial roll out of the new system began this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VA Secretary David Shulkin told lawmakers on Wednesday that in order to keep pace with that military work \u2014 and create some cost savings \u2014 his department needs to move ahead with parts of the work before the end of the year. That means reprogramming $782 million in other department funds for the work, a request VA officials filed last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s enough blame on both sides with the Defense Department and VA for how we got to this point,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom my perspective, maintaining the status quo is not acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t