[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":849,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"While the size and complexity of the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 rollout of a new Cerner electronic health record won\u2019t be easy, the healthcare IT vendor says it is achievable and they are making progress.

That\u2019s the message Cerner executives presented in testimony on Tuesday before the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization.

\u201cThis undertaking is immense\u2014it carries risks, and we don\u2019t take the challenges lightly,\u201d Travis Dalton, president of Cerner Government Services, told lawmakers. \u201cWe must deploy to over 1,700 sites, train over 300,000 VA employees, collaborate with DoD, interoperate with the community, aggregate decades of clinical data and update technology.\u201d

In addition, Dalton testified that the implementation of the VA\u2019s new Cerner Millennium system will require moving from 130 disparate systems\u2014under the legacy Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA)\u2014to a single \u201copen, modern, integrated system that\u2019s easier and more efficient to update and maintain.\u201d

Although it was only a little more than a year ago that VA awarded Cerner a $10 billion EHR modernization contract to replace VistA, Dalton pointed out that the vendor has already migrated more than 23 million veterans health records into its data center, marking the first time that the VA\u2019s health data is in the same system as DoD\u2019s health data.

In 2015, DoD awarded a $4.3 billion contract to prime contractor Leidos to modernize the military\u2019s EHR system with Cerner\u2019s Millennium platform. The VA\u2019s own planned acquisition calls for aligning the deployment and implementation of its Cerner system with DoD\u2019s ongoing rollout of its own system\u2014called MHS GENESIS\u2014to create a common EHR that ensures health record interoperability between the two agencies.

\u201cIt won\u2019t happen overnight, but we can and will achieve these goals together,\u201d added Dalton.

Also See<\/b>: DoD, VA pledge to better align plans to create single EHR<\/a>

However, Susie Lee (D-Nev.), chair of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, contends that the VA EHR Modernization (EHRM) Program could still fail.

\u201cVA\u2019s inability to manage IT programs and have accountable leadership has plagued many of its recent IT efforts and it threatens EHRM,\u201d said Lee. \u201cThe lack of an accountable joint governance structure between the VA and DoD also threatens the success of this project.\u201d

According to Lee, the role and responsibilities of the Interagency Program Office\u2014created by law to act as a single point of accountability for DoD-VA interoperability efforts\u2014has not been clearly defined.

\u201cAfter months of requesting information, we have yet to receive anything of substance about a proposal to address the non-functioning Interagency Program Office,\u201d Lee observed. \u201cWhat we have heard is not promising. It sounds like it is the status quo with a new name.\u201d

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, agreed with Lee that the lack of progress on the Interagency Program Office remains a troubling challenge for DoD-VA interoperability efforts.

\u201cVA and DoD opted for a single, common system but\u2014after nine months of haggling and jockeying for power\u2014a suitable single, common management structure has still not yet emerged,\u201d said Banks. \u201cFrustratingly, the departments have refused to share virtually any information with Congress.\u201d","saveContent":"While the size and complexity of the Department of Veterans Affairs\u2019 rollout of a new Cerner electronic health record won\u2019t be easy, the healthcare IT vendor says it is achievable and they are making progress.

That\u2019s the message Cerner executives presented in testimony on Tuesday before the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization.

\u201cThis undertaking is immense\u2014it carries risks, and we don\u2019t take the challenges lightly,\u201d Travis Dalton, president of Cerner Government Services, told lawmakers. \u201cWe must deploy to over 1,700 sites, train over 300,000 VA employees, collaborate with DoD, interoperate with the community, aggregate decades of clinical data and update technology.\u201d

In addition, Dalton testified that the implementation of the VA\u2019s new Cerner Millennium system will require moving from 130 disparate systems\u2014under the legacy Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA)\u2014to a single \u201copen, modern, integrated system that\u2019s easier and more efficient to update and maintain.\u201d

Although it was only a little more than a year ago that VA awarded Cerner a $10 billion EHR modernization contract to replace VistA, Dalton pointed out that the vendor has already migrated more than 23 million veterans health records into its data center, marking the first time that the VA\u2019s health data is in the same system as DoD\u2019s health data.

In 2015, DoD awarded a $4.3 billion contract to prime contractor Leidos to modernize the military\u2019s EHR system with Cerner\u2019s Millennium platform. The VA\u2019s own planned acquisition calls for aligning the deployment and implementation of its Cerner system with DoD\u2019s ongoing rollout of its own system\u2014called MHS GENESIS\u2014to create a common EHR that ensures health record interoperability between the two agencies.

\u201cIt won\u2019t happen overnight, but we can and will achieve these goals together,\u201d added Dalton.

Also See<\/b>: DoD, VA pledge to better align plans to create single EHR<\/a>

However, Susie Lee (D-Nev.), chair of the House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, contends that the VA EHR Modernization (EHRM) Program could still fail.

\u201cVA\u2019s inability to manage IT programs and have accountable leadership has plagued many of its recent IT efforts and it threatens EHRM,\u201d said Lee. \u201cThe lack of an accountable joint governance structure between the VA and DoD also threatens the success of this project.\u201d

According to Lee, the role and responsibilities of the Interagency Program Office\u2014created by law to act as a single point of accountability for DoD-VA interoperability efforts\u2014has not been clearly defined.

\u201cAfter months of requesting information, we have yet to receive anything of substance about a proposal to address the non-functioning Interagency Program Office,\u201d Lee observed. \u201cWhat we have heard is not promising. It sounds like it is the status quo with a new name.\u201d

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Technology Modernization, agreed with Lee that the lack of progress on the Interagency Program Office remains a troubling challenge for DoD-VA interoperability efforts.

\u201cVA and DoD opted for a single, common system but\u2014after nine months of haggling and jockeying for power\u2014a suitable single, common management structure has still not yet emerged,\u201d said Banks. \u201cFrustratingly, the departments have refused to share virtually any information with Congress.\u201d","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

Cerner remains confident that VA EHR is on the right track

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