VA Indiana EHR Deployments Show ‘Model Works’

The Department of Veterans Affairs deployed its new electronic health record system to three facilities in Indiana Thursday, marking the latest step in the department’s accelerated nationwide rollout.

The latest deployments include the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis, the Fort Wayne VA Medical Center and the Marion VA Medical Center. Indiana represents the third wave of EHR deployments since VA restarted its rollout in Michigan in April, followed by Ohio in June.

“It’s a transformational moment for VA healthcare,” VA Deputy Secretary and Acting CIO Paul Lawrence said at the launch ceremony Thursday in Indianapolis, Indiana.

“Going live in Michigan was the restart, and for the naysayers out there, Michigan proved we could do it right. …  Some wondered if Michigan was a fluke, but two months later, Ohio delivered, and those deployments proved Michigan wasn’t just a lucky break — they proved the model works,” he said. “Today we’re celebrating momentum. Consider this: before Secretary Collins arrived, the electronic health record had been deployed in just six sites over the course of five years. By the time I leave Indiana, we’ll have had 11 successful deployments in just under five months.”

EHR Deployments Gather Momentum

As the rollouts progress, they become easier, Lawrence told GovCIO Media & Research. He noted there was some concern about the Michigan EHR launch in April. However, after its successful launch, the VA built on that momentum to help with subsequent regional rollouts in Ohio and now Indiana.

Another benefit of the rollout is increased communication among VA facilities preparing to transition to the new system.

“What’s happening is everybody’s talking to everybody else,” Lawrence said.

Staff at facilities awaiting their EHR deployments are contacting colleagues at sites where the system is already operational, visiting those facilities and sharing information about how the technology works in practice. Lawrence cited pharmacists in Minneapolis who connected with colleagues in Ohio to learn about the system and begin preparing ahead of their own deployment.

“They’re learning faster than we can train them by calling their friends,” he said.

Input from Super Users

VA is also relying on a network of EHR “super users” to support employees and provide feedback during deployments.

About one in every 10 VA employees involved in a deployment is designated as a super user, Lawrence said. These employees receive additional EHR training and develop expertise in how the system supports their particular clinical or operational areas.

Each facility selects its own super users based on their familiarity with the system and expertise in specific medical practices. During deployments, they help colleagues troubleshoot problems and answer questions in real time.

VA also brings several groups of support personnel to deployment sites, including Oracle adoption coaches, specialized medical practitioners and “pay-it-forward” staff from facilities that previously transitioned to the system. Super users provide another layer of on-the-ground support.

“Over and over again, it’s the super users that are jumping in to answer the questions when someone gets stuck or can’t remember something. They’re here, you know them. … they’re proving invaluable, and that investment has really paid off,” Lawrence said.

Preparation Pays Off

Each EHR deployment is the culmination of nearly two years of preparation, said Neil Evans, program executive director for VA Electronic Health Record Modernization.

That work includes technical and infrastructure upgrades as well as preparing thousands of employees to use the new system to care for patients.

“We spend almost two years preparing technical preparations, infrastructure here at the medical center and at associated clinics, working with all of the staff who will be adopting the electronic health record, working through what the change is going to look like, familiarizing them with the solution,” Evans said.

This work is also coupled with learning labs, where staff can meet with their teams and practice using the solution.

AI Tools Support VA Staff

The department is also deploying AI-powered tools to help clinicians and other employees use the system more efficiently, including Ambient Scribe and ChatEHR.

Ambient Scribe is a tool that dictates and records patient-clinician conversations and converts that information into medical notes. This saves clinicians time otherwise spent generating these notes instead of helping other patients.

ChatEHR is an AI-enabled chatbot trained on validated information about the federal EHR, Evans said. The tool incorporates VA training materials, quick-reference guides and tip sheets, giving employees a faster way to find information that previously required searching through files on shared drives.

“Now end users can go to ChatEHR and we can get you some statistics,” he said. He added that adoption of the tool “has been quite impressive.”

As VA moves toward a single enterprise EHR nationwide, Evans said the department will have additional opportunities to leverage AI capabilities embedded within the system.

Planning for 2027 and Beyond

As the VA launches the EHR across facilities in 2026, it is already laying the groundwork for 2027 and following years.

Renovation needs related to EHR vary by facility, but typical construction work includes electrical upgrades, improvements to HVAC systems, new horizontal data and communications cabling and physical space for telecommunications and data center hardware.

VA officials told GovCIO Media & Research the department anticipates obligating approximately $400 million for additional EHRM-related construction throughout the remainder of fiscal year 2026 and is on track to complete all necessary renovations prior to upcoming deployments.