U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin, MD, said the VA will award Cerner a contract for the health system's EHR within the next month, according to Federal News Radio.
The update follows Dr. Shulkin's initial announcement the VA would implement Cerner as its systemwide EHR during a news briefing in June. At the briefing, Dr. Shulkin said he had signed a "determination and findings" form to allow the VA to issue a direct solicitation to Cerner
In June, Dr. Shulkin also specified it may take the VA up to six months to finalize its plan for obtaining the Cerner EHR system.
"We are keeping on the timeline that we talked about. We're marching forward," Dr. Shulkin said at a Sept. 27 Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, according to Federal News Radio. "We released to Congress, to you, a 30-day notice of award of a contract."
Dr. Shulkin also provided an update on the VA's strategic IT plan at the hearing, which includes migrating or halting 240 of the department's 299 ongoing projects. After ending these projects, which comprise 80 percent of the department's IT development portfolio, the VA will shift surplus funding to the EHR, according to Federal News Radio.