The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on Aug. 4 that it recently rolled out a new chatbot, VA ChatEHR, to assist VA staff using the new Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.
According to a VA press release, VA ChatEHR has answered over 53,000 questions from more than 8,000 users since April. VA said the tool aims to make the transition to the Federal EHR system smoother, guiding staff through system steps to complete tasks efficiently.
“VA ChatEHR has quickly become a reliable go-to source for VA staff to get answers to their questions about the Federal EHR, and it enables them to stay focused on providing timely, high-quality care to veterans,” the VA said. “The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot gives VA staff quick, accurate guidance to help them complete tasks in the system.”
In a LinkedIn post, VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence, who oversees the agency’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program, said the VA built the tool with feedback from VA clinicians and front-line staff.
“VA ChatEHR offers safe, accurate guidance pulled directly from approved workflows, policies, and training materials,” Lawrence said.
To protect veteran privacy and safety, the agency said that VA ChatEHR does not access veteran health records or assist with clinical decision-making.
VA resumed rollouts of the Federal EHR in April after pausing deployments in April 2023 alongside contractor Oracle Health – formerly Oracle Cerner – following concerns from users at early deployment sites. The agency said it has since fixed problems related to the initial rollout.
The Federal EHR go-lives in Michigan in April and in Ohio and Kentucky in June went smoothly.
VA Secretary Doug Collins told lawmakers in April that the agency’s EHRM rollouts have “been a success.” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., also vouched for the success of the rollouts in his home state, saying, “The reports have been very positive from the folks in Michigan.”
VA said that those recent deployments also illustrate how ChatEHR has been helpful to staff during the transition period.
“Staff at those sites leveraged VA ChatEHR thousands of times in the first weeks of using the new system,” the VA said. “Pharmacy staff noted that the tool supported them when questions involved tasks outside their usual work, such as patient registration. With immediate access to approved VA instructions, teams could adapt to new processes while continuing to provide expedient care to veterans.”
Under VA’s current 2026 schedule, the department has slated three Federal EHR deployments for August at Fort Wayne VAMC in Fort Wayne, Ind.; Marion VAMC in Marion, Ind.; and Richard L. Roudebush VAMC in Indianapolis. VA also plans October deployments at Alaska VA Healthcare System in Anchorage and Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC in Cleveland.