(The Center Square) – Delays, cost overruns and inefficiencies have plagued the nation’s largest health care system, according to a new report from a Congressional watchdog.
The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to strengthen its information technology management to better serve veterans and protect taxpayer dollars according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
The GAO found that despite progress in modernizing its systems, the VA continues to face delays, cost overruns, and inefficiencies in its IT projects. These issues affect critical services for veterans, including healthcare, benefits, delivery, and records management.
The VA has obligated more than $21 billion for several IT products, systems, and services between fiscal years 2022 and 2024, according to the GAO report.
The department’s budget request for fiscal year 2025 totaled $6.2 billion for the Office of Information and Technology, which includes more than $4.5 billion for operations and maintenance and almost $1.7 billion for staffing and administrative support. Included is $960,000 for new development.
Key areas in the 2025 budget request include $134.5 million for infrastructure readiness, $97.8 million for supply chain management, and $51.9 million for the Financial Management Business Transformation (FMBT) program.
The department continues to spend billions on IT modernization, including efforts to overhaul its health records system and the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). However, the GAO flagged significant risks, such as unclear timelines and incomplete testing, which delayed full implementation.
The VA included a separate funding request of $894 million for the Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program. This is the VA’s fourth attempt and one of the department’s most significant IT modernization efforts yet.
The report highlights the burden on taxpayers, showing poorly managed projects that have led to millions in unnecessary spending.
The agency stated that the replacement efforts continue to be affected by management issues and recommends the establishment of clear performance metrics and better coordination throughout departments.
The department has historically continued to face challenges when it comes to the department’s efforts to modernize its IT systems, which raised questions about the efficiency and effectiveness of the department’s operation as well as its ability to deliver “intended outcomes needed to help advance the department’s mission,” the GAO report stated.
The VA also faces challenges with its core financial system, which is 30 years old and unable to integrate with other IT programs. This results in inefficient operations and the need for manual workarounds while lacking the ability to provide real-time integration between financial and acquisition information throughout the department.
The VA is currently implementing the Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS) to update the department’s core financial system after two previous attempts and millions in cost.