Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4245, the Veterans' Electronic Health Record Modernization Oversight Act of 2017. This is not just a transition to a commercial EHR. If successful, it will be a transformation of how the VA delivers and manages healthcare to 9 million veterans. But the path to achieving a seamless, interoperable health record is far from clear. Much has already been said about the program's price tag: nearly $16 billion over 10 years. It is a gigantic management exercise, involving thousands of people. It is also an immense challenge to document clinical processes, maybe for the first time, that doctors and nurses have been performing for years, and reengineer them. H.R. 4245 would ensure that the committee gets access to this program's key performance reports and contractual documents. It would also require the VA to notify us when significant negative events occur. The time to enact legislation is now. The VA awarded its primary contract to the Cerner Corporation at the end of last week. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member Walz for spearheading this effort. I also appreciate Jack Bergman and Ann Kuster, the chairman and ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, for their work on H.R. 4245, and the oversight spade work that they do every day. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 4245, and I reserve the balance of my time.”