Deputy Secretary Lawrence visits Milwaukee VAMC, provides update on electronic health record to improve care for Veterans
By David Walter, Public Affairs Specialist
A new electronic health record system is well on its way to being implemented at the Milwaukee VA, with one of VA’s top-ranking officials offering nothing but praise for the work taking place.
“I was very impressed with the team … and the work they are doing to get ready,” said Paul Lawrence, deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. “Overall, I’m very positive that they will go live on time in January … and Veterans will continue to get great care here.”
Lawrence spent all day Wednesday at the Milwaukee VA, meeting with dozens of employees, from leadership down to front-line workers, who have been working earnestly over the past six months to institute the new system. Plans call for it to go online in Milwaukee on Jan. 16, 2027.
Check out the videos of VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence's visit to the Milwaukee VA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGotlAeBoGo&t=10s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhDKkbhuNpc
Milwaukee is one of the early adopters of the new system, known as the federal Electronic Health Record, or EHR, a major initiative moving forward under the leadership of VA Secretary Doug Collins. VAs in Michigan and Ohio went online earlier this year, and VAs in Indiana are just a few months ahead of Milwaukee.
Better care for Veterans
When completed, the EHR will have all of Veterans’ health records — from their time in the military to all interactions with VA health care and participating community care providers — in one place, easily accessible by VA health care providers.
This will eliminate redundant testing and questions for Veterans about their medical history, Lawrence said.
“For Veterans, they should see better care from our doctors because they’re no longer looking at the computers and hunting for information, but talking to them directly,” Lawrence said.
Feedback from VAs that have already implemented the EHR has been overwhelmingly positive, Lawrence said.
“Veterans are happier, providers are happier, and we’re seeing improvement in the way medical care is provided,” he said, saying Veterans under the new system have found it easier to communicate with their providers and to manage prescriptions.
Work behind the scenes
While implementing the EHR is a massive undertaking for VA facilities, nearly all the work is behind the scenes. Lawrence noted that Veterans should see little effect on them directly, and they won’t have to jump through new hoops as the transition occurs.
“Ideally, it should be seamless,” he said. “(Veterans) will come to the facilities and see signs (for the new EHR), but they don’t have to do anything. They really won’t see any difference, except for what we hope will be more time where doctors talk to them directly.”
VA has been working for years to implement the new EHR, but complications arose a couple of years ago and the project was put on hold until the bugs could be ironed out.
Once taking office with the new administration, Lawrence began spearheading the implementation drive while also speaking directly to Veterans through video messages, online connections and interactions with news media.
He’s made it his goal to personally visit VAs as they work through the implementation, making sure each facility is on track for a successful launch.
Baseball theme
To better unite the VA employees working on the project, each facility adopts a theme and a mascot. At the Milwaukee VA, the theme is baseball — considering the medical center’s proximity to American Family Field and the Milwaukee Brewers — and the mascot is Rally B-EHR, a bear sporting a Brewers jersey.
As a self-proclaimed “huge baseball fan,” Lawrence said he immediately connected with Milwaukee’s theme.
“I talked all day about how great the Brewers are,” he said. “I’m so confident in your (Milwaukee VA) team that I’m not so certain I’ll be back before January. However, when the Brewers are in the World Series, I will come back.”
He said he’s seen the positive effects of the themes and the mascots at other facilities that have already gone live. And the feedback from those sites has been so positive that facilities farther down the rollout road — there are 170 VAs across the country, and the rollout timeline stretches to 2031 — are itching to get started.
“This is a very important project,” he said. “It’s really going to change how care is provided to our Veterans.”