North Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner rocked headlines this past year amid billing software concerns, its CEO's untimely passing and its contracts with federal agencies.
Here are 10 of the biggest stories about Cerner this past year, as reported by Becker's Hospital Review.
1. Wisconsin health system blames Cerner software for $16M in losses
Fond Du Lac, Wis.-based Agnesian Healthcare filed a lawsuit Sept. 15 against Cerner, claiming issues with its revenue cycle management software caused the system to lose $16 million. Agnesian alleges it began experiencing "pervasive errors" in patient billing immediately after going live on Cerner's RCM system in August 2015. Agnesian says the problems caused it to spend time and money to manually process patient billing statements and resulted in a significant backlog of patient claims for reimbursement. Read more.
2. Cerner CEO Neal Patterson, 67, dies from cancer complications
Cerner Chairman and CEO Neal Patterson died July 9 after an ongoing battle with soft tissue cancer. Cerner named Cliff Illig — company co-founder and vice chairman of the board — chairman and interim CEO. Mr. Patterson and Mr. Illig co-founded the company in 1979. Read more.
3. Epic, Cerner hold 50% of hospital EHR market share: 8 things to know
KLAS released a report in May that examined acute care EMR purchasing activity in the U.S. from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2016, and found Epic held 25.8 percent of the U.S. acute care hospital market share, with Cerner (24.6 percent) and Meditech (16.6 percent) coming in a close second and third. What's more, 13 of 23 contracts for integrated delivery networks (multi-hospital organizations) went to Epic. Read more.
4. In leaked audio, Jared Kushner says VA-Cerner decision happened in '2 weeks'
In August, Becker's reported White House Adviser Jared Kushner told Congressional interns the Department of Veterans Affairs arrived at its decision to replace its legacy VistA system with Cerner in two weeks. A leaked hour-long recording of the address revealed some of the VA's decision-making process. Read more.
5. Amazon's cloud poised to strike deal with Cerner, sources say
Amazon Web Services, the e-commerce giant's cloud business, reportedly had plans to announce a partnership with Cerner in November. Although discussions are still in their final stages and no official announcement has been made, the partnership will initially focus on Cerner's population health product, HealtheIntent, according to sources familiar with the matter. Read more.
6. Texas hospital encounters billing, cash flow issues after Cerner go-live
Medical Center Health System in Odessa, Texas, went live on its new Cerner EMR system April 1 to simplify patient billing and meet federal regulations for record keeping. However, Becker's Hospital Review learned an independent consultant's report detailed problems related to the software conversion, including billing issues. Read more.
7. Cerner impersonation scheme leader sentenced to 12 years in prison
Albert Davis, the leader in a fraud scheme that established a fake company impersonating Cerner, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay part of the restitution costs. Mr. Davis helped create a fake company by the same name of the EHR vendor and was able to swindle a Texas hospital out of $1 million by "selling" it an MRI. Read more.
8. DOD reveals Cerner implementation timeline
During a March Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing, the U.S. Department of Defense presented an updated timeline for its Cerner rollout. The deployment will follow in a series of waves, which began in February and will proceed through 2022. Read more.
9. VA secretary announces Cerner as next EHR: 6 things to know
In June, VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, said the agency selected Cerner as its systemwide EHR. Dr. Shulkin originally stated it would take up to six months to award its contact with the EHR vendor, but that self-imposed deadline has passed and there has yet to be a finalized contract. Read more.
10. Cerner, Allscripts win top EHR ranking from Black Book, Epic left off
In February, Becker's reported a Black Book survey that listed Cerner as the top EHR vendor for hospital chains, systems and integrated delivery networks. It also named Cerner the No. 1 vendor for community hospitals with 1010 to 250 beds. While Allscripts and Evident made Black Book's rankings, Epic did not. Read more.