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| VA Scraps Troubled Computer System | ||||||
| 2004-07-27 | ||||||
EFL:The Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it is scrapping a hospital's troubled new computer system because of problems that have delayed surgeries, prompted congressional investigations and led to the resignation of several top officials.
The agency is phasing out Bay Pines VA Medical Center's use of the computer system called the Core Financial and Logistics System, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi said in a statement. The system was in use at the hospital as a pilot project to see how it worked before it was expanded to the rest of the VA system nationwide.
Principi said Bay Pines will return to its previous computer system in October. A committee of senior VA officials will make recommendations about the program's future, he said.
An agency spokesman said he could not say whether any money spent on the failed system would be recovered.
The total project was to have cost $472 million.
The computer system was installed last fall at Bay Pines as the first test site. Bay Pines is the fifth busiest hospital in the VA system and officials later conceded they never should have tested the system there. Hospital employees were not fully trained in the system, and difficulty in using it led to suppliers not being paid, a shortage of surgical supplies and delays for some operations. Five VA officials, including the hospital's chief of staff, have quit or been reassigned since February due to problems at Bay Pines.
Congressional investigators found the company awarded the contract for the system, BearingPoint, was paid more than $200,000 as an incentive bonus for keeping the Bay Pines computer project on schedule even though employees were not properly trained to use it. BearingPoint officials declined to comment Tuesday. | ||||||
| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 Penguin - Is the PA system homebrew or off the shelf? Here's the best system I've ever seen. It simply rocks and has an amazing feature list. Yeah, I happen to know the people who wrote it and sell it, but I have no financial stake. I was just around (in Bangkok) when it was being designed - they took over 2 years to design it - i.e. they did it right. No surprise: it's a helluvalot cheaper than homebrew and 10x more capable. I know (read: lusted after) the woman who runs the consortium that owns Bumrungrad Hospital in BKK and also know the guy who eventually became Prez of the Company. Hardcore pros. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-07-27 9:06:24 PM |
| #4 They spend 492 MILLION dollars to develop a system of their own? How STUPID! There are lots of existing systems out there which can fulfill the job or be esily adapted to fulfill the job for *much* less (lets say at about 10% of that price tops). I just got to say two words: PORK BARREL ! ! ! ! |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-07-27 6:23:22 PM |
| #3 From my extensive patient experience, I would say that the IT system at the VA in Palo Alto, CA works great. It is much better than Stanford Hospital's IT system, another place where I have extensive patient experience. I was an IT Director for a semiconductor company that implemented an Oracle ERP system in 2000, so I understand the pain of large software implementations. |
| Posted by: penguin 2004-07-27 6:10:39 PM |
| #2 Hospital employees were not fully trained in the system, and difficulty in using it led to suppliers not being paid, a shortage of surgical supplies and delays for some operations. That is precisely the sort of testing you want. It will show more of the weak points |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-07-27 6:10:23 PM |
| #1 Didn't somebody tell them not to spill coffee into the keyboard? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2004-07-27 6:00:31 PM |