I have talked to a congressional staff person who works for Ranking Member Tim Walz

[Nancy Anthracite]

He called me, much to my surprise, and said the only information they are
receiving, except from me, is that VistA needs to be replaced. He said they
need to hear from others, besides me, who will tell them the other side of the
story.

He is Christopher.Bennett at mail.house.gov. His engagement with me is a big
surprise. As many of you know, I have been trying to get the attention of
people on "the Hill" without much success. He works for the ranking member of
he House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Tim Walz. Please write to him. The
House Committee on Veterans Affairs has been particularly vocal about their
desire to have the VA replace VistA and even try to force it to happen if the
VA management comes to a different conclusion.

One thing that is apparent is that these folks that will be voting on this and
even within the VA think that Epic or Cerner will solve their
interoperability problems. They also think that they can just write into a
contract that all the veterans data will be put into the new record system and
that all of those problems and medical IT problems in general will be just
about over.

I pointed out that all record systems are having interoperability issues, not
just VistA and not just with the VA and DOD. I pointed out the standards for
interoperability are also lousy. I explained Epic is in the crosshairs for
interoperability issues but I did not think it was just an Epic issue or just
a VistA issue. It is a system wide issue.

Christopher said that he needs to be able to use names but that whistle-
blowers can be protected. If you are concerned about revealing who you are,
please let him know and he will not reveal your name, but also, what you tell
him will not be of as much use to him if he can not use your name. At least
he will be hearing it from someone besides me.

I don't regard this as whistle-blowing, only expressing your opinion, but some
may feel they need protection. At one point someone from the staff of the
committees on Veterans Affairs told me the identities of those who spoke up
could be protected by speaking to those in the Investigations Subcommittee.
There is a new head of the investigations subcommittee, at least for the
house, so I don't know that that will still apply, but I will ask if people
could contact that subcommittee in confidence.

If you work for the government, as a US Citizen you have a right to speak
after hours but not speak on behalf of the US Government to express your
opinion. This is a link to information about what government employees are
allowed to so with Congress.

https://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/lops/GMP-0029LOPS.pdf

He felt that I was accusing VA and GAO officials of lying. This is not the case
at all. I just feel that they are not well informed and that those who are
briefing them are not well informed. I would like to see us inform them! Many
of us have been steeped in issues related to electronic medical records for
years and have a lot of information to offer them.

I have been pushing hard for the VA to hire and train more in-house staff to
both replace and support contractors as a money saving and time saving measure
for improving VistA. He pointed out they could not hire any new government
employees and I suggested that an Electronic Medical Record has to do with
patient safety so maybe there could well be and exception. He also felt it
would be an inordinate expense and take a long time to hire and bring people
on board. I suggested they revive the internship program to get things
rolling. I pointed out that contractors are paid much more than VA employees
and that it would save money for failed contracts and make things progress
much more quickly. At the very least, they should embed more contractors LONG
TERM with VA employee teams.

I will send information out later about a spread sheet I am making with the
contact information for staff of Congress that are tasked with briefing their
members on matters about Veterans Affairs. I hope you can use it to spread
the word further than Christopher.


Nancy Anthracite

[Nancy Anthracite]

Pass this around, please!

Nancy Anthracite