Politico obtained the report, which Mitre Corp. completed in January, through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Former VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, released the agency’s plan to scrap its homegrown EHR VistA for a systemwide Cerner EHR during a news briefing in mid-2017. However, in January, Dr. Shulkin confirmed the VA’s discussions with Cerner had been put on hold while Mitre Corp. completed an independent assessment of the preliminary contract.
The 42-page report focuses on whether Cerner’s capabilities would meet the VA’s interoperability requirements.
Its chief recommendations included suggesting the VA demand Cerner maximize the ability for providers to access its data through the use of third-party application programming interfaces and apps; hold Cerner accountable for reducing administrative burden on clinicians; and require the EHR system to have the capacity for bulk data exports based on widely-used standards, rather than Cerner’s proprietary formats.
The VA agreed with Mitre Corp.’s recommendations, according to Politico. Most of the recommendations were included in the final $10 billion, 10-year contract the VA signed with Cerner in May.
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