Congress Demands No More iEHR Delays

The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense have come under fire this past year over their botched development of the integrated electronic health record system, which resulted in a go-live pushback and a doubling of overall costs. The myriad implementation setbacks have prompted Congress to finally put its foot down.  
 
Under the new defense authorization bill, the two departments will have just about a month to develop a plan for interoperable digital health records.
   
By the end of January, the two departments will have to provide Congress with "a detailed plan for the oversight and execution of the interoperable electronic health records with an integrated display of data, or a single electronic health record." Then they’ll have almost three years, by the end of 2016, to actually deploy a "modernized electronic health record software supporting clinicians of the Department," as directed in the $625 billion 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House and was expected to pass the Senate before lawmakers adjourn for recess Friday, Dec.13.