VA responds: Veterans deserve better than fearmongering | Opinion

There is an old saying that those who don’t read the news are uninformed, and those who do are misinformed. Such is the case with two recent Star guest commentaries, which were published just weeks after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs successfully deployed the federal electronic health record, or EHR, system on April 11 at four Michigan facilities in Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit and Saginaw.

Both commentaries seemed to pine for the “good old days” of the VA’s outdated records system. But here’s the truth: VistA, the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, is 40 years old, fragmented and increasingly expensive.

Assessment after assessment confirms that maintaining this system would be cost-prohibitive, not to mention increasingly difficult to use because its outdated code is no longer compatible with most commercial systems. Our veterans would be left behind, unable to access the latest health care technology and services. Is this what our nation’s veterans deserve?

Meanwhile, the April 11 go-live in Michigan was the VA’s largest simultaneous deployment, bringing the modernized EHR system to more than 200,000 veterans and more than 10,000 new users. The deployment was a complete success. We know that from our own internal assessment, and from the fact that the liberal media wrote almost nothing about it.

The real story of the VA’s new EHR system is a story of success that offers veterans:

• The seamless, hassle-free transfer of military health records among the VA, Department of War and other federal partners.
• The integration of health information from private sector facilities into the VA’s care for veterans.
• Medical appointments in which VA doctors and nurses spend more time with patients and less time struggling with outdated technology.
• Less time undergoing duplicative tests because previous test results can’t be found.
• An increased ability of VA facilities to share best medical practices with each other.
• Improved continuity of care when veterans transfer among facilities, or need emergency care at facilities they’ve never visited before.

The commentaries also noted that only a handful of VA facilities are using the modern EHR system after several years. We agree that there were missed opportunities, but whereas the Biden administration stopped deployments and struggled to address issues, the Trump administration has prioritized solving problems and aggressively re-deploying the new and improved system. The federal EHR will be available at 13 new sites in 2026 alone.

Scaring veterans through irresponsible fearmongering might be a fun pastime for some, but it’s no joke at the VA. The shocking and baseless accusations made in these pieces will only end up discouraging veterans from seeking the care they’ve earned.

Rather than listening to scary stories, veterans should listen to the current VA employees at the 10 medical centers and 55 clinics where the new EHR has been deployed. This system is working, and under President Donald Trump’s leadership, the VA is finally delivering on the promise we made to veterans more than a decade ago.

Paul Lawrence is Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.