Here Goes Another $1.5 Billion

The Pentagon plans to spend 1.5 billion dollars on a commercial electronic health record system commercial electronic health record system. The Defense Health Agency plans to field the new EHR in phases starting in 2016. It plans to finish by 2019. Budget documents show the agency requested $723 million in 2014 to run its current EHR system. It launched a procurement last month for a replacement. Last week Secretary Eric Shinseki said the VA would bid on the contract with its own EHR. Or else it would use whatever system the Defense Department ends up selecting. The two departments have failed in attempts to combine their electronic health records into a unified system.