The Government Accountability Office has provided recommendations to the Department of Veterans Affairs on how the VA could modernize information technology systems such as its electronic health record to aid in interoperability with the Defense Department.GAO said Wednesday it also suggested the VA develop goals and metrics as a basis to determine what both departments’ modernized electronic health records systems have achieved and also address the shortcomings of the Veterans Benefits Management System planning and implementation.
Auditors reported DoD and VA have engaged in several near-term strategies to expand interoperability but no metrics established to define the goals of the efforts.
The study also found out that strategies to address reported IT limitations, manual processes, and staffing challenges were planned for deployment in fiscal year 2018.
GAO said the VA needs to show further management attention to cost estimates, system availability and technology defects to help the development and implementation of the VBMS.
