{"id":69502,"date":"2019-10-17T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-17T08:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/10\/17\/continuity-of-medical-care-for-veterans-jeopardized-by-va\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:10:27","slug":"continuity-of-medical-care-for-veterans-jeopardized-by-va","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/10\/17\/continuity-of-medical-care-for-veterans-jeopardized-by-va\/","title":{"rendered":"Continuity of medical care for veterans jeopardized by VA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 1982, the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have been trying to create a simple, interoperable system that could transfer patient information for service members transitioning from the DoD into the VA health care system. This process has been anything but smooth, starting with paper medical records being attached to gurneys each time a patient was moved to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2019\/07\/30\/va-failed-to-reliably-track-spending-on-electronic-health-record-system\/\" target=\"_blank\">squandering of hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> on numerous attempts to create an electronic health records (EHR) system that could work in both agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Until June 2017, the VA used the same EHR system for nearly 40 years, the Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture (VistA). It is an open source platform that permits modifications by health care information technologists based on the perceived needs of each clinic or medical center. Unfortunately, this led the VA to customize the VistA EHR system in each facility without any centralized planning. It also caused difficulties for the VA and the DoD to provide interoperable health care management to service members and veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2019\/07\/31\/va-migrates-health-records-for-235-million-veterans-ahead-of-integration-with-the-militarys-system\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3139743.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA, DoD tout major progress in effort to join electronic health records systems<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are eyeing the end of the summer for significant advances in their efforts for a new, joint electronic health record, a move that both bureaucracies have made the long-term centerpiece of medical reforms for their patients.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VA finally decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/opa\/pressrel\/pressrelease.cfm?id=2914\" target=_blank>phase out the VistA EHR<\/a> and adopt the DoD\u2019s new EHR system, known as MHS GENESIS. This 10-year, $10 billion process to house all patient data for both the VA and the DoD in one common platform will help enable seamless care between the two agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a sign of progress in this efforts, on July 29, 2019, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextgov.com\/it-modernization\/2019\/07\/va-migrates-235-million-veteran-patient-records-cerner-data-center\/158786\/\" target=_blank>VA transferred 23.5 million veteran patient records<\/a> to the shared Cerner Data Center, a critical milestone that will enable the transition of these records into the new EHR system. But, like many other well-intended federal programs, all is not well with the interoperability of all veterans\u2019 health records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Aug. 21, 2019, the VA Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oversight.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/oig-reports\/VAOIG-18-01214-157.pdf\" target=_blank>the results of an audit <\/a>regarding the digitization of medical records for veterans at Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities. The OIG found that as of July 19, 2018, there was a significant backlog of \u201cpaper documentation that measured approximately 5.15 miles high and contained at least 597,000 individual electronic document files dating back to October 2016.\u201d The scanning of medical documents was not always subject to the proper reviews, including quality and legibility. This failure to provide up-to-date information puts \u201ccontinuity of care at risk\u201d and \u201cmakes it challenging to ensure [patients] receive accurate diagnoses and timely care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The OIG recommended that the VHA take steps to improve the management of scanning activities with sufficient resources and staffing to ensure \u201cappropriate quality assurance monitoring.\u201d That includes the creation of an adequate training program for personnel who scan and index medical records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018 (MISSION Act), veterans are now allowed to seek medical care not just through VA medical facilities, but also through telehealth virtual options and community health care providers. This was a welcome and much-needed change to the delivery of health care to veterans, but the additional treatment options have also made the transfer of EHR information more complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/commentary\/2019\/08\/13\/va-moving-to-deliver-electronic-health-record-modernization\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5384829.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA moving to deliver electronic health record modernization<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Veterans Affairs will continue to resist the pressure to rush the process and stay focused on doing electronic health record modernization right, says the VA secretary in this commentary.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VHA has both a massive backlog of medical records and insufficient resources to ensure the accuracy of the medical records that have been and are waiting to be transferred. Unless patient information is 100 percent accurate, there is no assurance that the care veterans receive as they transition from DoD healthcare to VA healthcare will be what they need and deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials should take the advice of the VAOIG and move quickly to resolve the issues raised in the report. Otherwise, the lengthy and expensive process to move all patient data to the Cerner Data Center will become much longer and more costly, to the detriment of the nation\u2019s veterans and taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Deborah Collier is director of technology and telecommunications policy for Citizens Against Government Waste.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Editor\u2019s note: This is an Op-Ed and as such, the opinions expressed are those of the author. If you would like to respond, or have an editorial of your own you would like to submit, please contact Military Times managing editor Howard Altman, <\/i><a href=\"mailto:haltman@militarytimes.com\"><i>haltman@militarytimes.com<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the switch to a new electronic health records system, the VA must do more to ensure medical documents are properly scanned, says the author of this commentary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":73,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[73,101,26,14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[6744],"class_list":["post-69502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-opinion"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4RWJXDA4JVHSXMRVOYDHWTSY6Q","arc_canonical_url":"\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/10\/17\/continuity-of-medical-care-for-veterans-jeopardized-by-va\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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