{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-demands-fixes-after-scathing-oig-reports-prove-ehrm-system", "Newhouse Demands Fixes After Scathing OIG Reports Prove EHRM System Harmed Central Washington Veterans", "2022-07-14", "2022", "2022-07", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u2013 Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspector General released two final reports, titled: The New Electronic Health Record\u2019s Unknown Queue Caused Multiple Events of Patient Harm and Senior Staff Gave Inaccurate Information to OIG Reviewers of Electronic Health Record Training. These two reports cite specific issues related to the rollout of the new Electronic Health Record system in Walla Walla and Spokane and the harm it caused to veterans in Central Washington.\n\n\u201cThe details found in these reports are deeply disturbing. Our nation owes a debt to our veterans that we will never be able to repay. Providing them with high-quality medical care is the bare minimum,\u201d said Rep. Newhouse. \u201cThese reports highlight that the VA, and this administration, intentionally ignored reports showing that their system was putting our veterans\u2019 lives at risk. In some instances, the OIG reports cite specific instances where senior VA staff failed to fully implement training and evaluation programs for employees, inaccurately reported data, and failed to recognize and report multiple red flags. Today\u2019s reports further prove that the EHRM system, and its implementation, are deeply flawed. I will continue to work with my colleagues on the House Veterans Affairs Committee to fix these issues and ensure that our veterans receive the care that they need and deserve.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nThe first OIG report, The New Electronic Health Record\u2019s Unknown Queue Caused Multiple Events of Patient Harm, concludes, \u201cThe new EHR\u2019s unknown queue represented an element that ultimately led to thousands of orders for medical care not being delivered to the requested service, placed patients at risk for incomplete care, and caused multiple events of patient harm. Oracle Cerner failed to inform VA end-users of the existence of the unknown queue and put the burden on VA to identify and address the problem. While senior VA leaders were aware of the impact of the unknown queue, the current identification and ongoing remediation efforts continue to consume VHA staff resources. The OIG remains concerned that the mitigation process is an inadequate solution.\u201d You can read the full report here.\n\nThe second OIG report, Senior Staff Gave Inaccurate Information to OIG Reviewers of Electronic Health Record Training, concludes, \u201cTogether these actions misrepresented the true state of Change Management\u2019s plan to evaluate training, which its leaders later described as \u201cin its infancy,\u201d obfuscated potential issues with proficiency check data, and impeded the OIG staff\u2019s efforts to properly assess in real time how OEHRM was evaluating the new EHR training to ensure patient care and safety risks were minimized while meeting user needs. It also interfered with OHI\u2019s oversight of early training metrics, which was a critical task as the training results were to inform future user preparation across VHA for the EHR rollout.\u201d You can read the full report here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T02:49:02Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-demands-fixes-after-scathing-oig-reports-prove-ehrm-system"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.185972010716796, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}