During a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee business meeting, Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) was named chairman of the newly established Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. The subcommittee will provide oversight of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) electronic health records transition and other enterprise technology modernization projects.
“I am honored Chairman Phil Roe has entrusted me with leading the subcommittee and I look forward to serving our country’s veterans in this capacity,” said Banks. “Service members and veterans deserve a seamless, lifetime medical record and an electronic health record system that supports the highest quality care.
“The goal is worthy and the strategy incorporates years of recommendations by technical experts, most recently the Commission on Care. However, I have no illusions about the challenge confronting VA in this monumental undertaking. I am committed to asking the tough questions and challenging the bureaucratic status quo. Veterans and taxpayers expect nothing less.”
Background
The subcommittee will oversee technology modernization projects at the VA, principally the $15.8 billion, 10-year electronic health record modernization program which will replace the department’s legacy EHR system with the commercial Cerner Millennium EHR. This is the largest EHR transition effort in the country and one of the largest IT contracts in the federal government. Congressmen Conor Lamb (D-Pa.), Jack Bergman, (R-Mich.), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) and Scott Peters (D-Calif.) will also serve on the subcommittee.
