Following Veteran Patient Deaths and Injuries, VA Pauses Rollout of Electronic Record System

A Veterans Affairs facility in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 10, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Following a long series of problems in the delivery of veteran health care linked to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic health record (EHR) system—including several serious injuries and four deaths—the VA announced on April 6 that it had extended the eight-month pause on rolling out the technology.

In July 2022, the VA Office of the Inspector General issued a report (pdf) that documented 149 cases of patient harm that took place over a nine-month period at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, all resulting from installation and operation of the Oracle Cerner EHR.

In October 2022, the VA put a hold on deploying the Oracle Cerner EHR and planned to resume installations in June. The VA has yet to publicly set a new date for the deployment to start up again.

Only five of the VA’s 171 medical facilities have the Oracle Cerner EHR installed.

Congressional lawmakers have called to task the VA and Oracle Cerner for the problems.

Two Republican lawmakers in the House—Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and Subcommittee Technology Modernization Chairman Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.)—who have been highly critical of the VA’s Oracle Cerner contract, lauded the VA decision.

“We applaud Secretary McDonough’s responsible decision not to resume implementing the disastrous Oracle Cerner electronic health record at more VA sites. It is abundantly clear to us that the Oracle Cerner EHR system is not ready for prime time, and VA is not ready to carry out this project. Local VA medical center leadership and staff have said so themselves for months,” said Bost and Rosendale in a joint release.

Bost and Rosendale added: “This pause should last as long as it takes for VA and Oracle Cerner to get their houses in order. That may be years, but the delivery of good care and services to veterans depends on it.”

Continuing Problems

In May 2018, the VA entered into a contract with Cerner—about four years before Oracle purchased the company—to provide an EHR for its entire health care network. The early price tag for the Cerner technology to be bought and installed was originally in the neighborhood of $10 billion for a 10-year project, but would rise to approximately $16 billion at the time Oracle acquired Cerner.

The inaugural deployment of the Cerner software was at the Mann-Grandstaff Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, in 2020. From the start, the EHR system did not work correctly, compromising patient safety.

It was in June 2022 that Oracle, looking to expand its presence in the health care sector, acquired Cerner for $28.4 billion, all in cash, while stating that it could get the VA project back on track and performing efficiently and effectively.

Oracle Cerner and the VA face the mountainous challenge as the length of time and price tag for the rollout climb dramatically. Last summer, VA officials estimated that with the problems and delays, and other factors, installing the Oracle Cerner EHR will take 30 years and cost approximately $51 billion.