As the Department of Veterans Affairs moves to accelerate rollout of its new electronic health records system, congressional leaders are demanding an update on the overall deployment plan and updated cost estimate.
The Republican and Democratic leadership of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs committees joined with leaders of the appropriations subcommittees that control VA spending to write VA Secretary Doug Collins as the department prepares to introduce the system to 13 new locations in 2026.
Referencing several reports by the Government Accountability Office that recommended the VA produce a new cost estimate before moving ahead with the program, the lawmakers said the information was needed to ensure program success.
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"Without a reliable cost estimate, VA risks budget overruns, schedule delays, and diminished congressional trust. Compliance with these laws, directives, and GAO recommendations is a critical step to ensuring EHRM's success and accountability," wrote the group, led by Sens. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., chairman and ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Now known as the Federal Electronic Health Record System and managed by Oracle Health, it originally was estimated to cost $10 billion, later revised to $16.1 billion. In 2022, the Institute for Defense Analyses estimated that the cost could increase to more than $50 billion over 28 years.
The VA announced in early January it would relaunch the program's rollout in Michigan in 2026. In early March, officials said they planned to deploy the system to nine more medical centers the same year.
According to a VA announcement Monday, the nine additional locations that will receive the system include: the Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Dayton and Louis B. Stokes [Cleveland] VA medical centers in Ohio; the Cincinnati VA Medical Center-Fort Thomas in Kentucky; the Fort Wayne, Marion and Richard L. Roudebush VA medical centers in Indiana; and the Alaska VA Healthcare System in Anchorage, Alaska.
The four sites announced in January included medical centers in Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit and Saginaw, Michigan.
"We are excited to bring veterans in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Alaska a modern medical record system that will result in improvements to care, coordination and convenience," Collins said in a news release Monday.
The lawmakers said the VA is required by law to provide cost estimates and, given that the program has been adapted and changed since the pause, old estimates are obsolete.
"This request aligns with persistent calls for transparency and accountability, ensuring that Congress can fully assess [the electronic health record modernization's] financial and operational readiness to safeguard veterans' and taxpayers' interests before further rollouts begin," the lawmakers wrote.
The group included Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairman and ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee; as well as Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark.; Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Rep. John Carter, R-Texas; and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the leaders of the Senate and House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations subcommittees.
The lawmakers requested a detailed schedule and a cost estimate by Sept. 30.
Related: VA's Electronic Health Records System May Require Lots of New Staff. The Cost Worries Lawmakers.
