DoD could miss December EHR rollout date, says Office of the Inspector General
The first stage of the Department of Defense's EHR modernization project will not be ready in time for its scheduled December rollout, according to a recent audit by the Office of the Inspector General.
According to the OIG report, while the DoD office managing the project "has identified risks and mitigation strategies, it is still at risk for obtaining an EHR system by the December 2016 initial operational capability date because of the risks and potential delays involved in developing and testing the interfaces needed to interact with legacy systems."
That is critical, the audit notes, to ensure the system is secure against cyber attacks, and to make sure it works correctly and users are properly trained.
The OIG's conclusions are dated May 31 – the same day Stacy Cummings, the DoD program executive in charge of the Cerner Millennium rollout, participated in a panel discussion at the ONC Annual Meeting 2016, where she discussed the status of the project.
She did not mention a possibility of delay.
[Also: DoD poised to roll out Cerner EHR in December]
Cummings said the $4.3 million Cerner Millennium EHR system would first deploy to sites in the Pacific Northwest.
The contract went to the Leidos/Cerner/Accenture partnership last July after a DoD team concluded a two-year analysis on whether a commercial system would be the right choice.
"We are doing testing prior to and during the deployment to ensure that our interfaces are working ... to ensure that the workflows are working, as well as to make sure it is well suited to our needs in the DoD," said Cummings said May 31 at the ONC event.
OIG's recommendation: "Perform a schedule analysis to determine whether the December 2016 initial operational capability deadline is achievable and continue to monitor DHMSM program risks and report to Congress quarterly on the progress of the program."
The audit notes that the program office is confident that it will achieve initial operational capability later this year, but has not yet provided documentation. OIG called for DoD to perform a schedule analysis to determine whether the initial operational capability deadline is achievable.
Twitter: @Bernie_HITN
Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com
