The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs has responded to allegations regarding the oversight of the EHR progress reports submitted by Cerner.
The OIG investigated allegations that Cerner had submitted invoices totaling around $5.8 million without adequately detailed progress reports between October 2019 and March 2020.
The OIG found that the progress reports did contain detailed information, and that the allegations were not true; however, the Sept. 6 advisory found that the VA lacked established timelines for contractors to submit corrections to insufficient progress reports.
VA requested that Cerner resubmit the report with corrections for 18 out of 48 Cerner progress reports reviewed by the OIG, and Cerner complied, but the VA provided no specific timeline for these corrections.
Due to this, the OIG expressed concern that these delays could limit the VA's ability to monitor contractors' progress accurately and in a timely manner.
The OIG has now requested for the VA to outline any actions it plans to take to enhance the review process for deliverables in future contracts.