A US spending watchdog has delivered another withering verdict on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to drag its health records program into the 21st century.

A [1]Government Accountability Office report released today confirms that the Veteran’s Health Administration has yet to act on more than a dozen earlier recommendations for the current multi-billion dollar effort. Some of the unresolved issues date back to 2020, raising concerns about the entire project.

Cat accused of wiping US Veteran Affairs server info after jumping on keyboard [2]READ MORE

The VHA operates one of the largest heath care systems in the US, supporting in excess of nine million veterans. According to the GAO report, its current "technically complex system" - the existing Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture - has been in operation for upwards of 30 years.

The system is costly to maintain, and "does not optimally support VA’s need to electronically exchange health records with other organizations, such as the Department of Defense (DOD) and community providers."

Multiple efforts to update the system have run into the ground.

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Following "unsuccessful attempts over two decades, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) undertook a fourth effort in 2017 — the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program — to modernize its legacy health information system."

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"At that time, the former VA Secretary announced that the department planned to acquire the Oracle Health EHR system," the report adds.

Yet this week’s report shows that a series of recommendations from the General Accountability Office "to improve cost estimating, schedule, program management, user adoption and satisfaction, and operational testing" have not been taken up.

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A report in May 2023 made ten "priority recommendations" to address "change management, user satisfaction, system trouble ticket, and independent operational assessment deficiencies."

So far, nine of these have yet to be implemented, while one has been partially implemented.

A further three recommendations, two of them priority, were made in March. The two priority recommendations "to update the cost estimate and schedule remain unimplemented." And these can all be filed with a further four open recommendations dating back to 2022, 2021 and 2020.

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The GAO’s report shows that the new EHR "modernized commercial system" was first deployed in 2020, with four further sites deployed in 2022.

"However, in 2023, it halted future system deployments due to feedback from veterans and clinicians that the new system was not meeting expectations," the report says.

[8]VA IT contract cancellation DOGE boasted about ... was due to end in 10 days anyway

[9]Palantir loves the smell of DOGE budget cuts in the morning

[10]Feds brag about hefty Oracle discount – licensing experts smell a lock-in

[11]Veterans Affairs reboots Oracle health records project for $330M

[12]Oracle Cerner bleeds jobs as Veterans Affairs project stalls

Deployments were scheduled to restart in this year, starting with four facilities. Nine further sites were penciled in for 2026, with 170 sites covered by 2031.

So far, it seems the GAO is finding it difficult to assess progress on the latest tranche of deployments.

From fiscal 2018 to Q2 fiscal 2025, the VA spent $13.84 billion on the EHRM program, $3.35 billion on IT infrastructure, and $1.48 billion on program management.

The GAO report points to a 2022 forecast that estimated total EHR modernization lifecycle costs would be $49.8 billion, including $32.7 billion for "13 years of implementation."

But, it continued, "Updating that estimate to reflect events over the last 2 years, such as the pause, is imperative to understanding the full magnitude of VA’s investment. Similarly, it is critically important that VA update its schedule to inform decision-making."

So no update has been forthcoming.

The records system is just one of many technology problems facing the VA, with the GAO highlighting issues tracking software procurement earlier this year.

The GAO also flagged up ongoing shortcomings with the department’s cybersecurity strategy earlier this month, though the department "generally met requirements."

Back in September, the GAO highlighted how the [13]VA could benefit from the use of AI . However, AI depends on quality data, and that is something the VA seems a long way from being able to deliver with confidence. ®

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[1] https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-26-108812/index.html?_gl=1*154gbxu*_ga*MjEwMzE2MTYwNC4xNzU4Njk4NzI4*_ga_V393SNS3SR*czE3NjU3OTU1NTYkbzE3JGcxJHQxNzY1Nzk2NDc5JGo1OSRsMCRoMA

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/05/hospital_cat_incident/

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[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/va_contract_cancellation_doge/

[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/06/palantir_loves_doge/

[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/08/gsa_oracle_deal/

[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/06/oracle_cerner_va_reboot/

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/16/oracle_cerner_job_losses/

[13] https://files.gao.gov/reports/GAO-25-108739/index.html?_gl=1*pyr5uq*_ga*MjEwMzE2MTYwNC4xNzU4Njk4NzI4*_ga_V393SNS3SR*czE3NjU4MDU2ODYkbzE5JGcxJHQxNzY1ODA1NzAzJGo0MyRsMCRoMA

[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/