Tester, Moran, Leading Push for More Transparency In VA Health Records Project

WASHINGTON —Sens. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., are leading a bipartisan effort to increase transparency surrounding the Department of Veterans Affairs Electronic Health Record Modernization program.

This past summer, the VA’s Office of Inspector General released a series of reports raising concerns about the ongoing program.

Specifically these reports raised red flags about the rising costs associated with the deployment of the program and reporting on how it’s going.

Tester and Moran’s VA Electronic Health Record Transparency Act is intended to hold the department accountable and increase transparency by requiring the VA Secretary to submit periodic reports to Congress regarding the costs, performance metrics and outcomes of the project.

“As chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I remain laser-focused on making sure the VA electronic health record project delivers real value to department medical staff and the veterans they serve,” Tester said in a written statement. 

“This commonsense bill is part of our ongoing push to increase accountability and transparency of this new program,” he said.

“The VA, and consequently our nation, has invested a great deal of time and money into the VA Electronic Health Record Modernization program,” Moran said in an accompanying statement. 

“The potential benefits of this program are tremendous, but we have to get it right,” he said.

“This legislation ensures the VA is providing the proper transparency throughout the EHRM implementation to better allow this committee to conduct oversight during the deployment process to ensure veterans receive the care they deserve and hold the VA accountable for taxpayer dollars.”

Co-sponsors of the legislation include Sens. John Boozman,R-Ark., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Bill Cassidy, R-La., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Mike Braun, R-Ind.

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