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California State Auditor Report Number : 2015-121

California Department of Veterans Affair]
The State Paid Nearly $28 Million for a Flawed System That Fails to Meet the Needs of Its Veterans Homes


Appendix A


Comparison of the California Department of Veterans Affairs’ Estimated and Actual Costs for the Enterprise‑Wide Veterans Home Information System

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee asked us to determine the estimated and actual costs, as well as the estimated and actual timelines, for the California Department of Veterans Affairs’ (CalVet) Enterprise‑Wide Veterans Home Information System (system) project. Table A.1 on the following page presents CalVet’s estimated and actual costs for implementing this system.

As shown in Table A.1, CalVet initially estimated the costs to implement the system in its feasibility study report (FSR) at just under $34 million. CalVet increased its estimate as the project progressed. However, the actual costs of implementation, as of the completion of its post‑implementation evaluation report in June 2015, were lower than its estimate, at roughly $27.9 million. Although the cost of the project was nearly $9 million less than the last approved special project report (SPR), CalVet implemented much less functionality than it initially planned for and that was approved in its FSR and subsequent SPRs. Specifically, as discussed, because of the functionality problems that staff encountered during implementation of the system at the first few veterans homes, CalVet indicated that staff either did not receive training or received training on a minimal number of components for the ADL Clinical module functionalities at the Fresno, Redding, and Yountville homes; the ADL Clinical module is a main module of the system through which the homes manage electronic health records. According to their administrators, two of the homes continue to use paper processes to document resident medical information, while a third home uses the previous system, Meditech. Therefore, CalVet spent $27.9 million for implementation of a system that has not been fully implemented at all of the homes, and it did not fulfill one of its primary goals for the project—a fully integrated system of care in which the system used at any home could seamlessly operate with the other homes and in which veterans would receive consistent care throughout the homes—and therefore, does not meet the needs of the veterans homes.

Table A.1
Estimated and Actual Costs for Implementation of the California Department of Veterans Affairs’ Enterprise-Wide Veterans Home Information System
Project Document Document Date Estimated Costs Estimated Completion Date
Feasibility Study Report December 2006 $33,982,315 December 2010
Special Project Report #1 August 2008 35,469,331 June 2012
Special Project Report #2 November 2010 37,311,098 October 2013
Special Project Report #3 October 2012 36,744,638 April 2014
    Actual Costs Actual Completion Date
California State Accounting and Reporting System Reports (CalSTARS) NA 27,914,733* June 2015

Sources: Documents referenced in the table column titled Project Document and the respective approval letters, if applicable, for these documents.

NA = Not applicable.

* Costs recorded in CalSTARS are from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2015. Costs include CalVet’s and the system contractor’s settlement agreement amount of $350,000.

In June 2015 the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) submitted its post-implementation evaluation report to the California Department of Technology in support of its request to consider the project complete and to terminate project reporting.


Comparison of CalVet’s Estimated and Actual Timelines to Implement the System

Table A.2 presents CalVet’s estimated and actual dates for completing major project milestones to implement the system. CalVet initially estimated the project schedule in the FSR and updated the estimated dates in the subsequent SPRs. CalVet extended the overall project schedule in each of the SPRs. Specifically, although CalVet originally expected to complete the system (final acceptance) by December 2010, the system was still not complete in January 2015, when, as we described in the Audit Rsesults, CalVet and the California Department of Technology agreed to close the project. Several factors contributed to project delays. For instance, CalVet’s initial request for proposal (RFP) was delayed because of changes that were made to the project scope, such as the decision to implement the system at the Fresno and Redding homes. In addition, CalVet issued a second RFP with updated system requirements after its initial RFP failed to generate any responsive proposals. CalVet also delayed the implementation of the system at the Chula Vista home to provide additional support to some of the pilot homes that were struggling with certain complex functionalities of the system. Finally, CalVet postponed the implementation of the system at the Fresno and Redding homes because of delays in the opening of those homes.


Table A.2
California Department of Veterans Affairs’ Enterprise-Wide Veterans Home Information System Timeline Comparison
  Estimated Completion Dates  
Major Milestones Feasibility Study Report
December 2006
Special Project Report #1 
August 2008
Special Project
Report #2 
November 2010
Special Project Report #3
October 2012 
Actual
Completion Dates
Solution procurement March 08 June 09 December 10 January 201 December 2010*
User acceptance testing March 09 April 10 September 11 June 12 June 2013*
Implementation at headquarters NI NI January 2012† August 2012† May 2012*
Implementation at the Veterans Homes:
Barstow  September 10 March 12 January 2012† August 2012† May 2012*
West Los Angeles  April 10   August 2012
Lancaster April 09 June 2010† May 2012
Ventura April 09   July 2012
Chula Vista July 2010 January 2012 March 12 March 13 June 2013‡
Redding NI April 11 July 13 November 2013 November 2013§
Fresno NI July 11 September 13 November 2013
Yountville December 10 June 12 April 13 November 2014
Final acceptance December 10 June 12 October 2013 November 2014 January  2015ll
Post-implementation evaluation report (PIER) NI June 13 October 2014 November 2014 June 15

Source: California Department of Veterans Affairs’ (CalVet) feasibility study report, special project reports (SPR), the PIER, Enterprise-Wide Veterans Home Information System Implementation Contract (implementation contract), and Enterprise Wide Veterans Home Information System deliverable acceptance documents.

I = Not indicated.

* Dates differ from those presented in CalVet’s PIER. The date for solution procurement differs because CalVet used the effective date of its implementation contract, as noted in SPR 3, and we used the date that the Department of General Services approved the contract. The date for user acceptance testing differs because CalVet used the date the system contractor submitted the corresponding deliverable, as noted in SPR 3, and we used the date that CalVet accepted the deliverable. The date for the implementation differs because CalVet was unable to provide supporting documentation for the dates it used. Therefore, we relied on the date that CalVet accepted the deliverable.

In SPR 1, CalVet determined it would implement the system in the homes located in West Los Angeles, Lancaster, and Ventura as a pilot implementation to validate the system before statewide roll out. In SPR 2, the pilot implementation was reduced to include CalVet headquarters and the home located in Barstow. In SPR 3, the pilot implementation was expanded to include headquarters and the homes located in Barstow, West Los Angeles, Lancaster, and Ventura.

Because CalVet did not have a deliverable acceptance document for the implementation in the home in Chula Vista, we relied on the dates CalVet listed in its PIER.

§ According to the PIER, the implementation at the homes located in Fresno, Redding, and Yountville was not fully completed. Specifically, while the financial modules were implemented, the clinical modules—by which the homes manage electronic health records—were never implemented at these homes.

ll In January 2015, CalVet and the California Department of Technology mutually agreed to close the Enterprise-Wide Veterans Home Information System project.



Appendix B

An Expanded View of Enterprise‑Wide Veterans Home Information System Use by the California Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Homes

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee asked us to determine the level of Enterprise‑Wide Veterans Home Information System (system) use within the California Department of Veterans Affairs’ (CalVet) veterans homes. Table 3 on page 23 provides an overview of when CalVet implemented the system at its headquarters and each of the eight veterans homes as well as the extent of the system modules in use at each of those locations. Table B provides an expanded view of those data.


Table B
Enterprise-Wide Veterans Home Information System Module Use by Location and Date of Implementation

Components

Headquarters,
May 2012

 

Barstow,
May 2012

Chula Vista,
June 2013

Fresno,
November 2013

Lancaster,
May 2012

Redding,
November 2013

Ventura,
May 2012

West
Los Angeles,
May 2012

Yountville,
November 2013

ADL Clinical
Software designed to address critical functions of providing long-term care by capturing and managing patient information.

1.  Rehabilitation (Rehab) Touch

NA

 

F

F

NI

NA

F

NA

F

F

2.  Rehab Editor

NA

 

F

F

NI

NA

NI

NA

F

F

3.  Care Plans

NA

 

F

F

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

4.  Virtual Body

NA

 

P

P

NI

F

NI

P

N

NI

5.  Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

NA

 

F

N

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

6.  CNA Reports

NA

 

F

N

NI

F

NI

P

P

NI

7.  CNA Assignments

NA

 

F

P

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

8.  Progress Notes

NA

 

F

F

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

9.  Shift Reports

NA

 

N

N

NI

F

NI

F

N

NI

10.  Assessments

NA

 

P

P

NI

F

NI

F

P

NI

11.  Rehab Assessment

NA

 

F

N

NI

NA

NI

NA

F

NI

12.  Vitals

NA

 

F

N

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

13.  Order Entry

NA

 

P

N

NI

N

NI

N

N

NI

14.  Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR)/ Electronic Treatment Authorization Request (eTAR)

NA

 

N

N

NI

N

NI

N

N

NI

15.  Minimum Data Set (MDS)

NA

 

F

F

F

NA

F

NA

F

F

16.  Clinical Dashboards

N

 

P

N

NI

P

NI

P

N

NI

17.  Quality Assurance

NA

 

NA

NA

NI

NA

NI

NA

NA

NI

18.  Infection Control

NA

 

N

F

NI

F

NI

F

P

NI

19.  Allergy Management

NA

 

F

F

NI

P

NI

F

F

NI

20.  Diagnosis Management

NA

 

F

F

NI

F

NI

F

F

P

21.  Facility Reports—
 Clinical/Order Reports

F

 

P

P

NI

P

NI

F

P

NI

22.  Precautions

NA

 

F

F

NI

N

NI

F

P

NI

23.  Forms

N

 

F

P

NI

P

NI

F

P

NI

ADL Financial
Software used to support third-party billing, Medi-Cal, Medicare, accounts receivable, transaction history, withdrawals and charges; making, tracking, and controlling financial events.  

24.  Admissions, Discharge, Transfers (ADT) Registration

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

25.  ADT History

F

 

F

F

F

P

F

P

F

F

26.  Census Actions

NA

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

27.  Census Control

NA

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

28.  ADT Corrections

NA

 

F

F

F

N

F

F

F

F

29.  Trust Funds

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

30.  Cash Receipts

NA

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

31.  Cash Receipts—
Veterans Affairs (VA) Per Diem

P

 

P

P

P

P

F

P

P

F

32.  Online Receipts

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

N

F

33.  Batch Receipts

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

34.  Rating Calculation

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

35.  Paysources

F

 

F

F

P

P

P

F

P

F

36.  Medicare

NA

 

F

F

P

P

P

F

P

F

37.  Insurances

F

 

F

F

F

N

F

F

F

F

38.  Rehab Module

NA

 

F

F

NI

N

NI

N

N

F

39.  Ancillary Charges

NA

 

F

F

P

N

P

F

P

F

40.  Professional

F

 

F

F

N

N

N

N

N

F

41.  Wait List

NA

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

42.  Billing

F

 

F

F

N

P

N

F

N

F

43.  Pre-Billing

P

 

P

P

F

N

F

F

P

P

44.  Off Hours Admissions by Nurses

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

45.  Forms

NA

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

NI

46.  Dashboards

F

 

P

P

F

N

P

N

P

NI

47.  Immunizations

NA

 

F

P

NI

F

NI

F

F

NI

48.  VA Per Diem Charges

P

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

49.  VA Per Diem Cash Receipts

F

 

N

N

N

N

F

N

N

F

50.  Veterans

P

 

F

F

F

P

F

F

F

F

51.  Ledgers

F

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

52.  Medical Diagnosis

F

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

53.  Reports

F

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

54.  MDS Data

P

 

F

F

P

NA

P

NA

P

F

55.  Recurring Charges

N

 

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

56.  Errors Tracking

P

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

57.  TAR Authorizations-
Medi-Cal TARs

P

 

F

F

N

NA

N

NA

N

P

58.  Expected Income and Budget

F

 

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

N

59.  End Period Process

F

 

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

F

Dynamics
Financial accounting and business management software that automates creation and management of accounting data and workflow. Used to augment ADL Financial to support financial management. The specific component used is for purchasing and inventory.

60.  Purchasing and Inventory

N

 

F

P

F

F

F

F

F

F

GeriMenu
Software used for resident meal planning to help facilities run their nutrition departments more efficiently.

61.  Resident Meal Planning

NA

 

P

P

F

N

NI

N

F

P

Documentum
An enterprise content management system used to house and  manage  electronic documents.

62.  Document Management

N

 

F

N

NI

N

NI

F

F

NI

Framework LTC
Pharmacy management software designed for long-term care and institutional facilities.

63.  Pharmacy Management

NA

 

F

F

NI

N

NI

F

F

F


Source: California Department of Veterans Affairs’ (CalVet) system use chart provided by the system final project manager, and confirmed or updated by staff at headquarters and the eight homes, draft system architecture design document, and the CBORD Group Inc. Gerimenu website, and system contractor’s response to the request for proposals.

F = The veterans home indicated it fully used this module.
P = The veterans home indicated it partially used this module.
N = Although CalVet implemented the module, headquarters or the veterans home indicated it did not use it.
NI=CalVet did not implement the module at the veterans home.
NA= Although these modules were available for use, staff at headquarters or the homes indicated the components marked NA were generally not applicable for their operations.




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