The Department of Veterans Affairs' spending on its Cerner EHR system has increased by 300 percent since its inception in 2018, Bloomberg Law reported May 1.
Over the last five years, the VA has spent $5.5 billion on its EHR contract with Oracle Cerner.
In 2018, when the VA signed the EHR modernization contact with Cerner, it was estimated that it would cost $487 million. That grew to $718 million for fiscal year 2019, according to Bloomberg government data.
In 2020, spending increased to $1 billion and in 2021 hit $962 million.
In 2022, spending on the EHR contract totalled $2 billion.
Currently, the budget for 2023 stands at $1.76 billion but could change as the VA said it is halting the EHR rollout until the system is deemed "highly functioning" at the five medical facilities that have already deployed the system.