Tanya Bradsher, the White House’s nominee for the role of deputy secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said that if confirmed, she would push for a “boots-on-the-ground” approach to help address issues with the deployment of a new electronic health record system and use feedback from the five VA sites that are using the EHR platform, Federal News Network reported Wednesday.
“We have the opportunity now, with the reset of the five sites, to make sure that we’re able to incorporate those recommendations enterprise-wide, because we can’t have five different records,” Bradsher, who currently serves as chief of staff at VA, said Wednesday at a Senate VA Committee hearing.
“We need to have enterprise-wide changes, and ensure that we hold Cerner-Oracle accountable so that those changes actually happen,” she added.
In mid-May, VA renegotiated its EHR system modernization contract with Oracle Cerner a month after the department halted deployments of the platform as part of a program reset.
If she clinches the VA role, Bradsher said another top priority is advancing the implementation of the PACT Act, which seeks to expand the eligibility of veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service to VA health care and benefits.
