Early use of the Department of Veterans' Affairs' artificial intelligence tools will help you decide which capabilities should be added to Virginia's new electronic health record systems, outlined in the updated AI strategy.
The plan, released Tuesday, stated, “By using more advanced technologies to automate and enhance specific clinical and operational tasks, “VA aims to become an industry leader in the use of effective, reliable, and secure AI tools.”
VA is in the process of resuming new EHR systems deployments at 13 health facilities in 2026 after suspending most of the software rollouts in April 2023. The outages have been slowed down by many issues that modernization projects include patient safety concerns, technical power outages and usability issues. The new software is being implemented in six of the department's 170 medical centers.
Tuesday's updated strategy noted that the division is ” undergoing major transformation” through the EHR modernization initiative and that there is “increasing corporate standardization” across the mission. However, VA's plans remained somewhat unclear about incorporating emerging technologies into new EHR software.
“Though these efforts are essential, AI often has use cases still emerging and we often don't know what should be standardized,” the strategy states. “VAs need to prioritize and enable innovation and agility, and quickly scale and standardize successful innovation.”
The VA previously listed 227 use cases in its 2024 AI inventory, most of which were competency that affected safety or rights due to its relationship with the department's healthcare operations. These include the use of several AI tools that help VAs identify and support veterans at high risk of suicide.
The new plan stated that these early use cases will help guide the wider deployment of VA extensions.
“VA is taking a dual-track approach by enabling early AI experiments while enabling these lessons to inform future standards,” the strategy states. “AI tools are validated and valued so they will be incorporated into EHR and many other information technology platforms through coordination between innovators and the teams managing today's systems.”
The updated AI strategy outlines VA's vision for using new features, with the department listing five priorities. Improved digital services for veterans. Enhanced clinical software; speed up billing processing. Upgrading customer support operations. Strengthening information management.
VA, in particular, uses and adoption of AI, will “begin to reconfigure EHRs as more adaptive, context-conscious co-pilots to support its clinical software, reducing the burden of management, allowing providers to focus more on patient care and document-focused.”
The strategy added that AI tools “enable interoperable applications that complement EHR native capabilities, and integrate with legacy and new EHRs to facilitate smooth migration.”
The reopening of VA's EHR modernization project is a priority for the Trump administration, with the faculty set to aim to deploy new software to all facilities and medical sites by 2031.
In a panel discussion last month, Dr. Neil Evans, executive director of the acting program at VA's electronic health record modernization integration office, said the focus of the ongoing modernization project relies on rapid and effective deployments, but added that a successful rollout means that departments can move to adopt next-generation technology.
“You have to do [the EHR rollout] “But that job is a fundamental job we have to do because it is a fundamental job we have to do, so we can continue to do it. “Let's continue to innovate and deliver technology,” says Evans, part of the roadmap. ”
