Scottsbluff, Neb.-based Regional West Health Services is planning to implement an Epic EHR system, the Star-Herald reported Jan. 30.
Mel McNea, the interim CEO of the health system, delivered a presentation during a forum hosted at the Gering Civic Center about the changes coming to Regional West. One of those changes was about reaching a settlement with Oracle, previously known as Cerner, regarding the implementation of the health system's EHR software.
Mr. McNea stated that the hospital managed to settle for a $6 million payout, a substantial reduction from Oracle's initial demand of $15 million. The CEO said he could not disclose more of the lawsuit's details due to the terms agreed upon during the settlement.
With this, Regional West will now be moving to implement an Epic EHR system.
"It doesn't solve everything, but it's a lot better on the rev cycle," Mr. McNea said at the presentation. "It's a lot better for physicians to document and for nurses to document."
This comes after the health system was downgraded to "BB-" by Fitch in July. Ongoing cost pressures and problems associated with the Oracle EHR implementation contributed to the two-notch downgrade from "BB+," according to Fitch.