Noteboom The Law Firm

VA’s Outpatient Scheduling System Flawed

July 19, 2010 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has spent the last 9 years and $127 million developing a contemporary outpatient scheduling system to no avail. According to Government Accountability Office (GAO), if the VA does not cure critical managerial problems, their next attempt will most likely fail as well.

This outpatient scheduling system was known as the Scheduling Replacement Project. Over the last year, the VA cut numerous IT programs as a result of a department-wide reassessment of its technology programs. The Scheduling Replacement Project was one of the programs to fall under the axe.

The VA's scheduling system was last updated in the mid-1980's. Had everything gone according to plan, the VA would have had a nationwide fully updated scheduling system by June 2006 at a cost of $59 million. Instead, the VA spent $65 million alone with a private contractor to develop the necessary software to update the system. The VA laid down an additional $62 million on:

• Project planning;
• Management;
• Development; and
• Hardware.

Due to its failure to successfully develop their system, the VA launched HealtheVet Scheduling as a replacement system. This did not, however, repair what caused the failure of the first project, according to the GAO. If the problems plaguing the Scheduling Replacement Project are not fixed, the chances of ever developing a fully functioning scheduling system are very unlikely. The GAO recommended the VA make 6 changes:

• Have a competitive contract bidding process;
• Establish and follow best practices for developing and managing project requirements;
• Follow an earlier VA guidance regarding system testing;
• Improve the process for monitoring project status and performance;
• Encourage staff to communicate project risks to their higher-ups; and
• Make sure the department and contractors follow the recommendations of VA oversight boards.

The VA desperately needs a new outpatient scheduling system. The VA will most likely implement most of the report's recommendations. Fixing the baseline problems at the VA will make it much more likely a proper scheduling system will be developed.