Balderson, Bost seek accountability for flawed electronic health records system at Ohio VA center

U.S. Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Mike Bost (R-IL) seek accountability from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) following the death of two veterans that are possibly linked to the rollout of the new Oracle-Cerner electronic health records (EHR) system at the Chalmers P. Wylie Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus, Ohio.

“We write to express our grave concerns with the Oracle-Cerner EHR,” wrote Reps. Balderson and Bost in a Nov. 15 letter sent to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “When we visited the facility on Sept. 2, the staff thoroughly explained how the system has undermined healthcare delivery, safety, operations, and morale. The prevailing opinion is that the situation is unsustainable and the EHR should be removed as quickly as possible.”

The lawmakers noted that the two recent deaths of Columbus VA patients both involved EHR system errors, which may have been contributing factors. “These deaths are tragedies and demand your personal attention,” wrote the congressmen.

In a separate statement released on Nov. 16, Rep. Balderson pointed out that technology plays a vital role in improving health outcomes and reducing inefficiencies in any modern healthcare system.

“Unfortunately, the opposite appears to be the case at the Columbus VA clinic,” he said. “My colleagues and I are deeply concerned with how its new electronic health records system may be linked to disturbing tragedies, delays, and disruptions.”

The EHR system at the Wylie center in Columbus has been plagued by safety risks, technical problems, and high costs, according to the lawmakers’ letter, which noted that the two deaths involved different combinations of both system and human error that appear worsened by the EHR system being used there.

“Common sense dictates that the VA should pause its rollout, immediately fix the problems, announce new safeguards to ensure such incidents never recur, or abandon the botched technology altogether,” Rep. Balderson said. “The status quo is unacceptable; both our veterans and America’s taxpayers deserve answers.”

Toward that goal, the members requested that McDonough “get to the bottom of these patient deaths in Columbus as quickly as possible,” and answer several questions by Dec. 2, including details around both deaths, as well as what steps the VA and Oracle-Cerner are taking to ensure such events don’t reoccur.