At today's Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) questioned VA Secretary Doug Collins.
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00:00Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Mr. Secretary, we are delighted that you are here today, so thank you for your time.
00:08I do want to say I have been so impressed with the way that you have tackled the EHRM program and that rollout.
00:18You and I discussed this in our first meeting and in your confirmation hearing and when you were in Nashville,
00:26and thank you again for making the Nashville VA one of your first stops.
00:32And I know that you are planning to take the EHR program live, pardon me, in 13 additional facilities in 26.
00:47And I know previously we have had an issue with VA employees showing up for the training and then utilizing the system.
00:59So talk to me a little bit about how you're going to continue this rollout and then get the employees to actually use the system.
01:07I appreciate that, Senator.
01:10And I think one of the things is that we're looking at in this rollout, and I appreciate, and Senator Murray is no longer here, but we talked about this.
01:16This rollout is being done in a sense.
01:19When I found the system, basically the VA side of the house was sort of we're not going to do anything and we're going to make it all individualized.
01:26And then you had Oracle side that was saying we could just finish this in a short amount of time.
01:31So what we've done is we've actually now said put the onus back on Oracle to actually provide what they're supposed to provide.
01:38And we've also cut down on our side the amount of delay that really caused the initial problems in their rollout,
01:45where we had six different locations doing six different things.
01:48So we've taken eight or nine committees that were all having to touch stuff before they could get back to a decision
01:53and cut that down to one committee that then can communicate directly with Oracle to get this started.
01:58Dr. Lawrence, which I appreciate everybody on the dice who helped get him through, is our deputy.
02:04He is now in place to actually take care of and work, oversee that, and we're bringing in others right now.
02:09And I've committed to him to whatever help he needs to hire to bring in to make sure that our system is safe
02:14and useful for our clinicians to make sure that they have that.
02:17And so far we've seen that actually occurring as we go forward.
02:21So I'm looking forward to it.
02:22Okay.
02:23And then the employees that were instructed to go through the training,
02:27they've shown up and done the training?
02:30As far as I know, Senator.
02:32Okay.
02:32That is great.
02:34And then let's see.
02:37How many employees have been released from the VA to date out of your totals?
02:45Would this be out of the probationary firings?
02:47It's about 1,000.
02:49About 1,000.
02:50Yeah.
02:50Okay.
02:51That is helpful.
02:53I want to ask you about the budget.
02:57The President's budget came out last week.
03:00And how do you view the resources that are in there for modernizing the VA?
03:08And can you give me some examples of how you're going to use these resources moving forward
03:16so that the VA is more responsive and in a more timely manner for our vets?
03:21Yes.
03:22I think the budget that was presented by the President is actually one that fulfills the commitment
03:26that we've talked about, about making sure our veterans are taken care of.
03:29And I think that's the big issue here when you look at the increases.
03:32And for all of the folks who've basically been saying and accusing us of, you know,
03:37going to cut health care and cut benefits and cut all this, it doesn't add up when you look
03:43at the budget itself, which has an increase either on base budget or also using TEF funds as well.
03:48So what we're looking at is how do we then use that combined with the efficiencies we're finding,
03:53you know, either through our contracts or through our employee base to make sure that we're putting
03:57more of those resources to our research, toward our clinical care, toward our front part.
04:03Also toward our, and I know this is a concern from yours, is also toward community care.
04:07It's how we actually balance the two needs.
04:09So these are going to provide the resources we need.
04:12It also provides enough money to continue the health record management system too.
04:16And then how do we shorten the time that it takes for approval to move into community care?
04:23I just left a meeting with our rural hospitals, and they are willing to be a provider.
04:31And it is so much more convenient for our veterans to get the health care that they have earned
04:37and to get it in their communities when they want it, where they want it, at their convenience.
04:45And I think that community care is something that should be moved on today.
04:50Yeah, it is, and we are doing that.
04:52I've made it clear to every staff that I meet, and especially in our hospital,
04:56that community care is part of the law.
04:57Mission Act is there if they meet the qualifications.
05:00And also if there's always a catch fall that the doctor sees that they could get better care
05:03in the community, they can actually do that.
05:05What we have found in the last few years is that actually, and through memos and others,
05:09has actually been not encouraged.
05:11There was an encouragement to keep everything in the VA.
05:13So we're actually moving forward with those kind of things.
05:17What we're also finding, though, is there are a lot.
05:20We have a community care group right now that is actually looking at how we do community care,
05:24and I'm looking forward to seeing their findings here in the next week or so.
05:27But what we've actually found is some roadblocks that are being put in by our own processes
05:32to not get people where they need to go.
05:35So that's something that's very important to me, and we're going to continue to look at it.
05:38Well, I'm going to continue to work on that issue, and I appreciate your attention to community chair.
05:46Senator Rono.
05:48Thank you, Mr. Chairman.