VA sets tougher terms for EHR vendor contracts after past failures.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has renewed its multibillion-dollar contract for a new Electronic Health Record (EHR) with Oracle-Cerner, with new terms meant to hold the vendor accountable for persistent outages. The renegotiated contract includes larger fines Oracle-Cerner will need to pay VA if the EHR doesn’t meet performance targets. The new contract includes 28 performance metrics for Oracle-Cerner to meet or exceed and includes a higher standard for reliability and uptime. The VA has obligated about $9.4 billion on the EHR modernization program since fiscal 2018.