While developing interoperable EHR systems between the Department of Veteran Affairs and Department of Defense "carries risk," Cerner executive Travis Dalton said progress is being made on the project, according to Military.com.
The VA formed a 10-year partnership with Cerner in 2018 to develop and deploy an EHR across its care network. The contract is worth $16 billion. The DOD is also under contract with Cerner, which aims to develop and rollout the agency's new EHR by 2022.
"This undertaking is immense. It carries risk, and we don't take the challenges lightly," said Mr. Dalton, Cerner's president of government services, at a June 4 House Veterans Subcommittee on Technology meeting, according to the report. In addition to collaborating with the DOD to support interoperability between the agency's two systems, Mr. Dalton added that the VA must deploy the new EHR across 117 care sites and train more than 300,000 agency employees.
Last month, lawmakers expressed concerns over the VA and DOD's progress on the project, specifically over delays. The DOD initially began deploying its new EHR system at select facilities in February 2017 before postponing the rollout to 2019 due to various technical and workflow issues. The agency now plans to go live on its new Cerner-supported EHR in September.