VA Signs $155M Deal with Perspecta to Maintain VistA EHR System

^{Photo and thumbnail have been modified. U.S. Air Force} photo^{/Tech. Sgt. Andy Bellamy.}

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded Perspecta, a U.S. government services provider, a $155 million contract to continue providing maintenance and support for the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), the VA’s electronic health record (EHR) system.

The contract has a one-year base and four, one-year options with a ceiling value of $155 million.

The news comes less than a year after the VA signed a $10 billion Cerner EHR implementation contract to replace the VistA system. Cerner is also a vendor for the U.S. Department of Defense.

In a 2017 announcement, former VA Secretary David Shulkin, M.D., said that making the switch to Cerner will “enable seamless healthcare to veterans and qualified beneficiaries.”

But with over 130 applications of VistA operating at more than 140 sites, the VA has to sustain the system until the day it can be turned off, which might never happen, according to House VA Committee Chairman Phil Roe, M.D.

VistA will need to be maintained throughout the 10-year Cerner rollout and under the contract with Perspecta, the company will need to ensure that VistA remains in a “state of readiness and operation.”

According to the contract, Perspecta will provide technical, managerial and administrative services to the VA for the VistA and VistA Imaging systems. Perspecta will also provide engineering support and changes, updates and repairs.

Perspecta will have an expertise center used to diagnose and troubleshoot complex issues through maintenance and support services such as a call center help desk, infrastructure and technical performance management, systems performance monitoring and hardware and software troubleshooting.

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