Page 36 - FCW, September 15, 2017
P. 36

WTInsider
VA filing sheds light on
huge EHR plan
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ recent request for information suggests two distinct opportunities for contractors
BY NICK WAKEMAN
The Department of Veterans Affairs offered a glimpse into the strategy for its new electronic health records sys- tem when it released a sources-sought notice in late July. That document describes how the agency is negoti- ating with Cerner for a commercial EHR software package.
Cerner has partnered with Leidos to deliver an EHR system to the Defense Department, and VA wants the two systems to work together, which is why the agency is developing an exclusive deal with Cerner. The DOD contract is worth $4.5 billion, but the VA contract could be much larger.
In its request for information, VA officials outline how they will rely on Cerner for software licenses, product integration, configuration management, testing, deployment planning, hosting, change manage- ment, training, sustainment and other services.
But officials also anticipate using other contractors for network and site infrastructure upgrades, com- munications, independent validation and verification, modification and maintenance of VA’s legacy systems, and other technical and management activities.
The RFI describes the scope of the project: 1,600 care sites, 300,000 employees and 9 million veterans
enrolled in the VA health care system. The RFI asks for information about vendors’ experience manag- ing a project of that scale and their experience with performance and value management; administrative, technical and clinical expertise; and subject-matter experts who can sup-
port the effort.
For all that scope, however, indus-
try was given little time to respond. VA posted the RFI on July 27, and responses were due Aug. 4.
Based on the solicitation, I see two pools of possible opportunities for contractors. One is the traditional route that VA describes in the RFI. The agency also said the opportunity would be open to contractors beyond the pool of its Transformation Twenty- One Total Technology Next Genera- tion contract.
The second opportunity lies in sup- porting Cerner. Although it is a large software company, it could need sup- port for activities such as hosting, deployment planning, change man- agement and other services.
Cerner leaders said as much in their second-quarter earnings call on July 27, when interim CEO Cliff Illig said the company is in the process of build- ing its team and picking partners.
“We look forward to sharing more information once there is a contract,
which we believe will happen by the end of the year,” Illig said.
Leidos likely has the inside track on the project with Cerner and VA given the companies’ work together at DOD. In Leidos’ second-quarter earnings call, CEO Roger Krone gave every indication that the company is interested in VA’s EHR system in light of the DOD project.
“Clearly, Leidos believes we can add a lot of value to the VA program, and we are poised and prepared to assist VA in any possible way we can,” he said.
It is not a foregone conclusion that all the work will go to Leidos, how- ever. A project at the scale of VA’s will surely draw broad interest. I also think VA will want plenty of competition for support services because it picked Cerner without competition.
But even so, we can expect steps to be taken to make sure the entire pro- cess is expedited. VA’s justification for going with Cerner was that the need was critical and could not wait for a lengthy procurement process.
Once the deal with Cerner is final- ized and in place, VA officials will likely move quickly on the related support contracts. n
Nick Wakeman is editor-in-chief of Washington Technology.
WashingtonTechnology, a sister publication to FCW, covers all the ins and outs of the IT contracting community. Learn more at WashingtonTechnology.com.
34 September 15, 2017 FCW.COM








































































   34   35   36   37   38