Morning Headlines 2/18/13

Veterans Affairs CIO Roger Baker Plans to Resign

VA CIO Roger Baker announces his resignation in an internal VA memo, leaving as his legacy a reputation for accountability and oversight. However, as he walks away, he leaves behind a faltering VA/DoD iEHR program, a $260 million GI Bill claims processing project which has grown to double its original budget and has yet to achieve its desired result, and a separate $500 million disability claims process automation project that has slowed the approval process for disability claims to a rate slower than when the work was done manually on paper, pushing an already ballooning backlog of disability claims to historic levels.

Monitor blasts Rotherham’s EPR programme

Rotherham General Hospital halts its Meditech 6.0 implementation due to issues with coding, patient booking, staff acceptance, and usability. Rotherham, one of the first NHS sites to select an EHR system outside of the National Programme for Information Technology, went live on the system last summer, two years behind schedule.

Hospital ready to ditch £30m computer system

The Royal Berkshire Hospital is preparing to walk away from its $46 million Cerner Millennium install due to a higher than anticipated TCO after budgeting $2.5 million per year but spending closer to $8.5 million. CEO Edward Donald has announced plans to meet other NHS trusts using Millennium to form a united front.

Bellevue Hospital Reopens Trauma Service After Brief Computer Outage

Two weeks after reopening from damage sustained during Hurricane Sandy, Bellevue Hospital was again forced to close its doors and divert trauma patients due to an electrical problem that briefly shut down its computer systems.