IT warfare: Crappy computer system put disabled veterans at risk

Officials at the California Department of Veterans Affairs recently went before a legislative oversight committee to account for a $28 million computer system that never worked and put the health care of 2,200 veterans at risk.

During the August 10 hearing, Assembly members heard testimony about failures in the state’s Enterprise-wide Veterans Home Information System, or Ew-VHIS. The program was created to digitize medical records for the men and women living in California’s special homes for disabled veterans.

In 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs began expanding its number of veterans’ homes from three to eight. The Ew-VHIS was built to ensure a smooth continuum of care for former service members.

A state audit found the Ew-VHIS program offered anything but an effective method of care.

“Our report concludes that the California Veterans Administration paid $28 million for the implementation of a system that failed to meet the needs of our veterans,” State Audit Principal Tammy Lozano told the oversight committee, adding that glitches in the software caused veterans to be shorted on their medications or not receive their meds at all.

The auditor’s findings also noted that CalVet leadership failed to track the system once it was up and running, and was unaware of its constant problems until 18 months after medical workers began reporting them.

Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin pressed witnesses about the software company contracted to build the system. “Why was this vendor chosen?” the Thousand Oaks Democrat asked. “It doesn’t seem like this vendor was qualified.”

Members of the California Department of Technology testified that the unnamed software company in the report submitted one of only six bids to the state to build the Ew-VHIS. The other five tech companies with proposals were ultimately disqualified for various reasons, leaving the one option.

CalVet Secretary Vito Imbasciani told Assembly members that a potential crisis was averted for veterans living in the homes because on-site medical workers noticed problems with the prescriptions and got their patients medicine from other sources.

This week, CalVet Deputy Secretary Paul Sullivan echoed that the Ew-VHIS’s problems never escalated to a worse-case scenario.

“No one was hurt,” Sullivan told SN&R. “And that’s really a credit to the professionalism of the clinical teams working inside our veterans homes.”