The state of Illinois Procurement and Policy Board found no violation in the University of the Illinois Health's EHR contracting process at a hearing May 28, a spokesperson for the state of Illinois told Becker's Hospital Review.
In September, UI Health voted to move forward with a $62 million EHR deal it awarded to Epic. However, Cerner filed the protest with Illinois' chief procurement office for higher education four months later alleging the bidding process was unfair and tainted by a possible conflict of interest. It also claimed its bid was $1.5 million lower than Epic's and included all implementation costs.
Epic Founder and CEO Judy Faulkner refuted Cerner's protest and demonstrated several reasons why Cerner's protest should be denied and the contract be upheld in a May 16 letter to the Illinois Procurement Policy Board.
"There is nothing in the record to suggest any conflict of interest or improper conduct," she wrote. "Therefore, the award of the contract should stand."
At the May 28 hearing, the procurement board found no conflict of interest, and UI Health is approved to move forward with the $62M deal it awarded to Epic.
"We are very pleased with the decision of the procurement board and their recognition that there was no conflict of interest in this procurement," UI Health CEO Mike Zenn said in a statement to Becker's. "Throughout the process, we adhered strictly to the state’s procurement code to ensure the state’s resources would be properly and optimally utilized."
"We are very much looking forward to implementing the new EHR system which will enable enhanced clinical and financial performance by migrating the hospital to a platform used by most other academic medical centers. The new system will let us care for patients more efficiently and allow our staff to work most effectively to provide excellent patient care," he added.
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