The Government Accountability Office told Congress that the Department of Veterans Affairs has not fully implemented 14 of 18 recommendations meant to fix its EHR modernization program.
GAO has issued 18 recommendations to VA since 2020 covering cost estimating, scheduling, program management, user adoption and system testing, according to testimony published Sept. 1. The watchdog designated 12 of those as priority recommendations because of their importance to future deployments, and none of the 12 have been fully implemented as of August 2026.
A March 2025 GAO report recommended VA deliver an updated cost estimate and detailed schedule for the program. Congressional appropriators asked for that information by Sept. 30, 2025, but VA has provided only a notional schedule and no cost estimate, GAO said. A separate May 2023 report made 10 priority recommendations on user satisfaction, system trouble ticket and independent operational assessment deficiencies.
A VA spokesperson told Becker’s the department “continues working with our oversight partners to resolve necessary recommendations,” pointing to strong performance at facilities already live on the system and preparation for upcoming deployments. VA said it has nearly tripled its Federal EHR footprint since early April, from six to 17 medical centers, and more than tripled its clinic count, from 26 to 91, with more than 29,000 clinicians treating over 515,000 veterans on the platform and zero outages in the past 12 months.
GAO’s testimony comes as VA works toward an accelerated timeline to deploy its Oracle Health EHR to roughly 170 facilities by 2031, following a multiyear pause that began in 2023.
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