The Department of Veterans Affairs’ health information modernization effort is far from complete, GAO has said in calling for improved project planning and oversight.
The VA’s Veterans Health Administration launched its HealtheVet modernization initiative in 2001 to improve the system it uses to care for over five million vets.
As of June it had eight major software development projects underway, including, for example, a project to further develop the "health data repository," a database of standardized health data.
This database, which is currently operational, is not yet complete and additional types of health data remain to be standardized and added to the repository, according to GAO-08-805.
It said application projects are also currently in development, including one that’s still in the planning stage, and two are being pursued to enhance current systems, prepare them for transition to HealtheVet, and develop new applications.
From 2001 through fiscal 2007, VA reported spending almost $600 million for these eight projects and their time frame for completion has been extended from 2012 to 2018.
The department has a high-level strategy for HealtheVet but it does not have a comprehensive project management plan to guide the remaining work, GAO said.
It said the work involved is ambitious, in that the department plans to replace the 104 applications in its current medical information system with 67 modernized applications, three databases, and 10 common services such as general software functions.
However, without an integrated plan that includes independently validated cost estimates, VA increases the risk that HealtheVet could incur cost increases and continued schedule slippages and not achieve its intended outcomes, GAO said.
