Press Releases

Today, Chairman Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.) released the following statement after Secretary Shulkin announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would join the Department of Defense in implementing Cerner as its electronic health records system:

“I am encouraged by the announcement the department will finally move toward a 21^st Century health records system. As chairman, my top priorities will be to ensure a seamless transition for veterans to ensure there are no delays in care, and to provide oversight so that tax dollars are spent wisely. Despite spending more than a billion dollars in hopes of achieving interoperability, VA’s antiquated IT systems have stood between veterans and the care they deserve for far too long, which is why the very first hearing I held as chairman was to assess VA’s IT landscape. I will continue to closely monitor this process and partner with President Trump and Secretary Shulkin to reform VA.”

On February 7, 2017, Chairman Roe held a full committee hearing entitled, “Assessing the VA IT Landscape: Progress and Challenges”. During this hearing, Chairman Roe urged VA to act “deliberatively and objectively” when making the decision to retain or replace VistA. You can read Chairman Roe’s opening statement from the February 7 hearing here.