The U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed a lawsuit against the federal government last week, which contested the no-bid deal made by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with Cerner to replace its EHR platform.

California-based EHR developer CliniComp filed a suit against the government in August for awarding Cerner an EHR contract without the standard competition process, for which the company said, “lacks a reasonable basis.” Further, it called the VA’s decision to choose Cerner “arbitrary.”

[Also: How Jared Kushner helped the VA pick Cerner... quickly]

While the judge’s opinion remains under seal, Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby granted the motions made by Cerner and the VA to dismiss the case based on jurisdiction.

VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, announced his decision to replace the agency’s outdated VistA EHR with Cerner to match the system in place by the Department of Defense. To Shulkin, it was important to forgo the bidding process to expedite the modernization of the current, failing infrastructure.

[Also: How Cerner won the biggest EHR deal ever, twice]

Shulkin -- along with Cerner -- quickly defended its decision against CliniComp’s lawsuit, claiming CliniComp is just a “minor player in the EHR industry” and hasn’t demonstrated its platform is adept enough to replace VistA.

In addition, CliniComp failed to show why the VA’s decision was illegal or unjustified.

The VA is expected to officially close the deal with Cerner next month.

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com