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DoD-VA Hospital’s IT Problems Could’ve Led to Deadly Prescription Mix-Ups for Injured Veterans

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently discovered considerable problems with the information technology (IT) systems at the North Chicago Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center joint Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital. The problems were so significant, the hospital was forced to hire 5 pharmacists to check all prescription data by hand in order to guarantee the safety of the hospital's patients.

The DoD-VA joint hospital is a 5-year study to determine if DoD and VA hospitals can be combined. Part of the project includes integrating health IT systems so every clinician can access the DoD electronic health record system (AHLTA) and VA Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) records.

The Application Virtualization and Hosting Environment application was developed specifically for the joint hospital's integrated health IT record system. The software application was supposed to give complete access to all "critical medical and clinical systems," which included more than AHLTA and VistA.

The single interface was supposed to allow for multiple functions. In addition to registering patients into both systems, clinicians would be able to:

• sign into both systems simultaneously;
• order tests, prescriptions, and x-rays from either system; and
• post updates in both systems.

Last December marked the first live month for patient registration and sign-on. Due to the VA and DoD failing to produce an "integrated project plan," and because more on-site testing was required, the order system was delayed indefinitely. The GAO found the system struggled with managing test orders in large batches.

The system's inability to control the large orders forced the need for the additional pharmacists. Potential harmful interactions between prescriptions were a major concern because the two systems were not integrated. Therefore, prescriptions were being issued from both systems.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.