The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a second selection period for an electronic health records modernization contract with Oracle Health. It’s an 11-month extension, “with an emphasis on improving financial accountability and performance,” according to the VA.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
The agency said it is focused on calculating the number of new extensions, with the expectation that Oracle will achieve “two key goals” for the struggling EHR program:
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Supports value-added services such as system enhancements and optimizations.
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Achieve better predictability in hosting, deployment, and maintenance, while staying mindful of financial responsibility.
“These goals align with and facilitate VA’s reset efforts to resume site deployment in FY 2025,” officials said. “VA will continue to evaluate and align future options with the best path forward for its Federal EHR modernization.”
The new selection phase represents a continuation of VA’s work to improve the Federal EHR for veterinarians. The agency noted that six VA health care facilities are already operating on the new system. The contract will also authorize deployment and pre-deployment efforts at new locations during fiscal year 2025, “when VA determines reset goals have been met.”
In 2023, VA renegotiated its Oracle Health contract from a five-year term to five one-year terms – which allows for more frequent evaluation of program progress on an annual basis. The agency said it has “significantly increased accountability across many important areas, including reducing outages and incidents, addressing clinician requests, improving interoperability with other healthcare systems and increased interoperability with other applications.”
In its own brief press release, Oracle Health said the new contract extension is “a testament to the progress Oracle and the VA have made” in EHR modernization, which has not been without its challenges. knowledge and failures in recent years.
“Our most recent deployment at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Healthcare Center in North Chicago, IL exceeded expectations,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager. and demonstrate what can be done as we continue to develop other VA facilities.” Oracle Health and Life Sciences, in a statement.
Oracle Health said it is focused on helping VA standardize workflow, training and IT management across the country, while also facilitating more streamlined coordination and interaction with DOD, Coast Guard and other agencies. other federal agencies. The company is also prioritizing flexibility to help VA facilities adopt new tools to improve the usability and security of EHR systems.
THE TREND IS GREATER
VA first announced the deal with Cerner to replace the aging VistA system seven years ago this month — then-President Donald Trump promised that the new EHR would solve the above data exchange problems. nationwide for the agency “once and for all”.
Since then, however, rolling out the system, starting with facilities in Washington State, has been challenging to say the least — even if there have been some useful lessons learned along the way. presently.
Since the beginning of 2021, the agency has been conducting a strategic review of the modernization program following implementation challenges, missed deadlines and other delays.
Since then there have been several reports from the VA OIG showing instances where this system contributed to patient harm.
After pausing to reset and recalibrate the rollout in 2023, it was announced this April that the rollout would resume in 2025.
However, recent OIG reports continue to demonstrate significant and dangerous configuration challenges with EHRs.
And just this month, Bloomberg reported on an internal survey at the VA that found widespread clinician dissatisfaction with the system..
“There is a trend toward improvement, but most users still report negative experiences,” VA researchers wrote in the unpublished report.
These issues and many others have drawn intense scrutiny from members of Congress — many of whom continue to call for much stricter oversight of VA’s $16 billion contract with Oracle Health.
ON PROFILE
“This announcement is a testament to VA’s commitment to putting the best interests of Veterans, VA providers and taxpayers first while maximizing benefits,” said VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher. resources in a financially constrained environment”. .
“Execution of the second option phase of the contract allows VA and Oracle Health to continue to advance reset and future deployment goals,” she said. “VA remains committed to holding ourselves and our vendors accountable to addressing the challenges of Federal EHR implementation and moving forward effectively.”
“VA’s intention to continue implementation into the next fiscal year is an important milestone that reflects the hard work our collective teams have done to improve the system today, as well as the confidence in our collective ability to continually evolve the EHR over time to meet demand.” of both doctors and patients,” Verma added.
Mike Miliard is the executive editor of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
