WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs launched its new electronic health record system March 26 at Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington.
By launching at Walla Walla and affiliated sites, VA marks another step toward health care transformation by modernizing the software that tracks and stores patient information.
The EHR system will replace the department’s current system, which is more than 30 years old, with a single platform shared with the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Coast Guard.
“This is a critical milestone in our efforts to support a lifetime of seamless care for service members from active duty to Veteran status,” said Program Executive Director of VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office Terry Adirim, M.D. “This new electronic health record [system] will grant VA personnel access to patient records for service members and Veterans in a single system, enabling them to provide quick, safe and effective care for all Veterans.”
By adopting a common EHR system, VA health care providers will gain access to a Veteran’s entire medical record for care received at a DOD facility or a VA facility anywhere in the world. It also allows access to a single point of entry for participating community providers to request and access VA, DOD and USCG patient health care data needed for patient care.
The March 26 launch at Jonathan M. Wainwright Memorial brings all VA clinics in the Walla Walla catchment area online with the new EHR system, including facilities in the following locations:
- Washington – Richland and Yakima.
- Oregon – Boardman, Enterprise and La Grande.
- Idaho – Lewiston.
The next rollout of the new EHR system is scheduled for April 30 at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System in Columbus, Ohio.
VA embarked upon a system-wide transformation of its electronic health record system in 2017. This is VA’s second deployment of its new EHR system. The first occurred in October 2020 at select sites in the Pacific Northwest, to include Mann-Grandstaff VAMC in Spokane, Washington, and its community-based outpatient clinics, as well as the West Consolidated Patient Account Center in Las Vegas.
Visit VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization program for information.
###
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
More from the Press Room
News Releases
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that Veteran trust in VA outpatient care has increased to 91.8% — up from 85.6% in 2018 (the first year since VA began conducting this survey).Veteran trust has increased during each of the past six years.
News Releases
The Department of Veterans Affairs will launch the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, May 31 — to help more than 40,000 Veterans experiencing severe financial hardship avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes.
News Releases
The Department of Veterans Affairs has enrolled 401,006 Veterans in VA health care over the past 365 days — 30% more than the 307,831 it enrolled the previous year. This is the most yearly enrollees in at least the past five years at VA, and nearly a 50% increase over pandemic-level enrollment in 2020.
