‘A really big deal’: Omaha VA to roll out new, streamlined health record system

OMAHA, Neb. —

Paul Lawrence, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, visited Omaha Wednesday, where he shared details about a new system for accessing medical records.

It’s called the Federal Electronic Health Record system.

“This is the largest rollout of electronic health record ever, ever, ever. This is a really big deal,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence calls the new system a digital accumulation of all the information a veteran needs.

He says it makes it easier for them to access care, anytime, anywhere.

“Whenever you go to a VA facility, you will log in. You see all your records, and you can get care anywhere. Right now, the saddest thing happens when someone leaves somewhere in the north, and they go to Florida for vacation, they get hurt and come into one of our facilities, and we have a hard time seeing their information,” said Lawrence.

He says the new system is maintained by Oracle and will utilize artificial intelligence to access information.

“AI doesn’t practice medicine. It essentially assembles and presents information faster, where doctors can do things with that information more quickly,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence says veterans should not notice a huge difference. He says the major changes will happen behind the scenes.

“What they will probably see is more time with their doctors, more eye contact, because the data I can see now is right now. Doctors are spending far less time staring at the computer screen and much more talking to our veterans,” said Lawrence.

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