VA’s New Electronic Health Record System Update

The new Oracle Cerner EHR system will standardize how Veterans receive care across VA facilities and allow the sharing of Veteran medical records across VA and with the Department of Defense (DOD), U.S. Coast Guard and participating community health care providers. The new EHR includes a revamped online patient portal, called My VA Health.

Why modernize our EHR?

• Our providers and staff need access to a modern technology platform that provides improved access to each Veteran’s health record
• EHR modernization will give providers seamless access to a Veteran’s entire health record
• The EHRM project is one of the largest government transformation efforts ever undertaken, but it will provide the VA with a commercial, state-of-the-art, electronic health record
• The new EHR will also provide full interoperability with the Department of Defense and our Community Care Partners
• The EHR’s new tools and cutting-edge analytics will help to improve patient outcomes

Why the delay in rolling out EHR at the Aleda E. Lutz VAMC and other VAs?

• On October 13, 2022, the Department of Veteran Affairs announced it was delaying upcoming deployments of the Oracle Cerner EHR until June 2023 to address challenges with the system and make sure it is functioning optimally for Veterans and VA health care personnel.
• During this period of process improvements, the VA will correct outstanding issues, especially those that may have patient safety implications before restarting deployments at other VA medical centers.
• To learn more, refer to the press release sent out from Washington: VA extends delay of upcoming electronic health record deployments to June 2023 to address technical and other system performance issues

“Despite the pause in rolling out the new EHR system, we continue to prepare by adding staff, offering training and staying in the ready as we near our “go-live” date scheduled for June 17, 2023,” stated Roy Samsel, Assistant Medical Center Director and the executive leadership member for Saginaw’s Cerner Oracle Change Leadership Team. “We look forward to having this new system to create a lifetime of seamless care for our nation’s heroes.”

The Aleda E. Lutz VAMC in Saginaw, Michigan operates an 81-bed skilled nursing and rehabilitation Community Living Center.  It provides care to over 40,126 Veterans in a 35-county geographic area, from mid-Michigan to the Mackinac Bridge.  Veterans can also receive care at one of our nine VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics located throughout Michigan.   More information about this VA can be found at www.va.gov/saginaw-health-care/. 

Tara Scheuer, Public Affairs Officer

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