Shulkin asks Congress for $782 million to jumpstart Cerner EHR project for VA

Healthcare IT News: The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, MD, asked the House Appropriations Military Construction-VA Subcommittee to reprogram $782 million from its current budget so the agency gets started on replacing its current VistA EHR with Cerner at VA facilities in the Pacific Northwest. Specifically, Shulkin wants to redirect $690 million from the 2018 fiscal budget for medical care and $92 million from IT projects. However, due to restrictions in the stopgap measure funding the government, only $374 could be transferred right now, Shulkin said. [Also: Cerner EHR project for VA will take 7 to 8 years, Shulkin says] The requested funds are the bare minimum the agency needs to start its IT work and expand the program management office to cover the Cerner implementation, explained Shulkin.

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