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Today, Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared at the start of the subcommittee’s first oversight hearing to examine the consistent problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) Program and what needs to be done to get this project on the right track to better-serve veterans and VA employees.

Good afternoon.

The first Technology Modernization Subcommittee Hearing of the 119th Congress will come to order.

I want to thank the witnesses for being here today to discuss the Electronic Health Record Modernization program.

Before we get to the business of today’s hearing,

I would like to congratulate my fellow Midwesterner, Representative Nikki Budzinski from Illinois, on becoming the Ranking Member of this Subcommittee.

Your position as Ranking Member is a testament to your hard work for veterans and the goodwill you have built with your colleagues on both sides of the aisle.

I look forward to working with you and the minority staff on behalf of the millions of veterans who depend on VA’s information technology for their health care and benefits.

Our work will not always be easy, but our mission is critical.

That is why I am deeply honored to Chair this Subcommittee and lead the House’s oversight over VA’s I.T. systems, infrastructure, and modernization projects.

I served in the Army for 22 years before retiring and becoming one of the thousands of veterans in Michigan that receives their health care and benefits from VA.

I get my health care from the Battle Creek VA Medical Center.

I used the Montgomery G.I. Bill to pay for college.

I understand what veterans in Michigan, and all across the country, need and expect from VA.

I am going to use my leadership position to make sure that VA’s I.T. systems are working for veterans and employees, and ultimately, making VA a more effective organization.

Whether you are making a primary care appointment, filing a disability claim, or applying for education benefits,

None of that happens successfully without good and reliable I.T. systems.

The most important of which is VA’s Electronic Health Record, the backbone of VA’s health care operations.

The Electronic Health Record Modernization program is VA’s project to replace its homegrown electronic health record system with a commercial-off-the-shelf EHR from Oracle.

This Subcommittee has spent hundreds of hours over the last several years conducting oversight over this program and exposing its problems, and while I’m new to the conversation, I understand how important it is for us to get this right.

These consistent problems include: system outages, patient harm, poorly functioning technology, budget overruns, reduced patient volumes, and more.

Because of these problems, former Secretary McDonough put the program in an indefinite pause in April 2023 to give VA and Oracle time to fix a long list of problems with the system.

Secretary McDonough decided right before Christmas that VA was going to start the program up again in the Spring of 2026 at Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw in my home state of Michigan.

Two years ago, VA told this Committee they had a lot of homework to do before they put this system in another medical center.

Now VA is getting ready to turn in their homework.

I appreciate the opportunity to have met with both Oracle and VA several times before this hearing to discuss the problems that have plagued the system for years.

While I am not convinced that they have fixed all the problems,

I am hopeful that VA and Oracle can show this Subcommittee that some good has come out of the last two years.T

As the new Chairman of this Subcommittee, I am going to examine the facts and make my own judgements based on what progress has been made.

Here are some of the facts.

First, VA is nearly 7 years into the original 10-year contract, and the Oracle EHR has only been implemented in less than 4 percent of medical centers.

Second, according to the latest surveys, 69 percent of users are dissatisfied with the system.

75 percent of users believe the system does not maximize their efficiency.

Third, Congress has not received a schedule nor an up-to-date cost estimate to evaluate this program’s current state with.

The only independent cost estimate we can rely on for what it will cost VA to implement this program is already 3 years old and was 32.7 billion dollars.

That’s more than double VA’s original estimate of 16.1 billion dollars.

Given these facts, VA needs to demonstrate how this system has improved and explain why this program can succeed before starting the program up again.

I have confidence in the Trump administration and Secretary Collins to right the ship for veterans and their families.

Thank you all, again, for being here today. I look forward to your testimony.

With that, I yield to Ranking Member Budzinski for her opening statement.