The Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to extend its contract with Oracle Health for another 11 months to replace its electronic health records, citing the need to support system improvements and manage costs. The agency had previously extended the contract by one month in May as negotiations focused on achieving greater predictability. The years-long rollout of the EHR has been challenging, with patient safety and technical issues. Cerner was acquired by Oracle for over $28 billion to replace the VA’s legacy EHR, VistA, in 2018. However, implementation has been slow, with only six medical centers transitioning to the Oracle system and facing issues with downtime, increased costs, and errors related to patient harm.
Many doctors, nurses, and VA employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the EHR’s performance, with less than one in five believing it allows them to provide high-quality care. The agency halted new EHR implementations for over a year to improve reliability and performance, except for the launch at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center that moved under Oracle’s system in March. Secretary Denis McDonough aims to resume deployments from Oracle’s EHR by the end of fiscal year 2025, while Oracle Health and Life Sciences executive Seema Verma described the system as operational across the Department of Defense as an “important milestone.”
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https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/veterans-affairs-ehr-contract-extended-oracle/719046/
