After investing nine years and $127 million, the Department of Veterans Affairs still doesn't have a modern outpatient scheduling system, and a second try at building one may fail unless the department fixes significant managerial problems, a federal audit has found.

The Scheduling Replacement Project was one of dozens of IT programs the VA killed last year after a department-wide review of its technology infrastructure. The VA had spent $62 million on project planning, management, development and hardware, plus $65 million for a contractor, Southwest Research Institute, to develop software that was supposed to replace a scheduling system that dates to the mid-1980s. The entire project was to have cost $59 million and be deployed nationwide by June 2006, the Government Accountability Office says in a report to Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The VA subsequently launched a new initiative, dubbed HealtheVet Scheduling, to build a replacement scheduling system, but hasn't fixed the problems that led to the previous project's demise, auditors found. According to the GAO, "the Scheduling Replacement Project had weaknesses in these areas that, if not addressed, could derail the department's current attempt to deliver a new scheduling system."

To prevent another failure, the GAO is recommending the VA make six key changes:

• Have a competitive contract bidding process;
• Establish and follow best practices for developing and managing project requirements;
• Follow an earlier VA guidance regarding system testing;
• Improve the process for monitoring project status and performance;
• Encourage staff to communicate project risks to their higher-ups; and
• Make sure the department and contractors follow the recommendations of VA oversight boards.

VA officials have agreed with most of the report's recommendations, according to Federal Computer Week.

To learn more:
- see this Federal Computer Week story
- read the GAO audit report (.pdf)

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