“An executive from Cerner — the health IT company in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $16 million medical records project — tried to assure members of Congress this week that the project is “on the right track” with the VA set to go live with pilot sites in less than a year.”
“But during a House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization hearing Tuesday, federal lawmakers indicated they are increasingly concerned about the lack of governance between the VA and the Department of Defense as it also rolls out Cerner’s electronic health record (EHR).”
“The VA signed a deal with Cerner last May to move from the VA’s customized Vista platform to an off-the-shelf EHR to align the country’s largest health system with the DoD, which has already begun integrating Cerner’s MHS Genesis system. DoD signed its $4.3 billion contract with Leidos in 2015 for a Cerner EHR system.”
“The VA said in March it plans to pilot initial operating capabilities of its new Cerner EHR platform in March 2020 across three sites in the Pacific Northwest…”
“The VA and DoD opted for a single, common system but ‘after nine months of haggling and jockeying for power a suitable single, common management structure has still not yet emerged,’ said Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization. ‘The departments have refused to share virtually any information with Congress,’ he said.” Read the full article here.
Source: Lawmakers fear lack of governance of DoD-VA EHR project will derail progress – By Heather Landi, June 5, 2019. Fierce Healthcare.
