The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says “failure is not an option” as it plans to resume its Oracle Health EHR implementation at 13 medical centers in 2026.
Success will require strong communication and collaboration among VA staffers, as well as continued input from veterans, said Deputy VA Secretary Paul Lawrence, PhD, during a December EHR project update.
“This isn’t a technology project; this is a transformation project,” Dr. Lawrence said in the video. “When this is done, our ability to provide world-class care to our veterans is going to change significantly. It’s going to give us the power to draw on the new advances in technology — the latest, cool AI stuff that everybody’s dreaming about.”
The VA paused the EHR rollout in 2023 to address technical and patient safety concerns.
“We know as an organization, failure is not an option here,” said Rick Ivnick, acting strategic planner for the VA’s Office of EHR Modernization. He asked Dr. Lawrence: “So what keeps you up at night related to the federal EHR? What gives you pause?”
Dr. Lawrence said he wants to ensure the agency has the “feedback mechanisms” in place so VA staffers can quickly report any issues they’re having using the platform to the deployment team or the Office of EHR Modernization.
He also hopes to change the narrative that the EHR isn’t functioning properly. “We have to stop revisiting things that took place in 2019 and 2020,” he said. “The system works really well. We are making enhancements. We are making improvements. We are not fixing problems.”
Oracle Health is continuously updating the software with new code and configurations and moving more capabilities to the cloud, he said.
Dr. Lawrence said he would also like to see veterans take ownership of the platform — for its promise both to them and future veterans.
“My request is, please continue to be as deeply involved as you are and understand what we’re doing,” he said. “This is the beginning of a journey, and you’re going to look back one day and say, ‘Wow, what happened in 2026 … I was part of this journey that set VA on a path that … really brought great things.’ We continue to need [veterans’] help. We continue to need their feedback and insights and their ideas.”
