The Department of Veterans Affairs is putting a pause on its $16 billion Oracle Cerner EHR rollout as it looks to renegotiate a contract with Oracle that was originally signed in 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported April 14.
Officials from the VA are meeting with Oracle, who acquired Cerner in June, to change its contract with the company.
"I'm pleased to see the secretary is renegotiating," said U.S. Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., a ranking member on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. "I'm reluctant to see the current contract canceled if there's no Plan B."
VA Secretary Denis McDonough said he hopes to see more accountability from Oracle Cerner in the new contract.
Oracle officials told Congress that the EHR system would be made easier to use, but it's the VA who needs to provide the feedback and permission needed to make those changes.
News of the renegotiated contract comes after the rollout of the Oracle Cerner EHR system, which began in 2020, has been plagued with outages, delays and even patient deaths.