A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official said the rollout of the Oracle Cerner EHR could be delayed further because of its research functionality and academic affiliations, FedScoop reported Feb. 22.
The VA pushed back the implementation of the EHR at its Ann Arbor, Mich., health system last week because of worries over how it would interact with medical research there.
"So there are many VA medical centers that are heavy with clinical research because of their academic affiliations," Shereef Elnahal, MD, the VA's undersecretary for health, told FedScoop. "And so those centers will need this research functionality. It's not just an issue with the Ann Arbor Hospital."
The EHR has been beset with problems since it started going live in October 2020, delaying its implementation by one to two years and costing tens of billions of dollars more than originally expected, the news outlet reported.