Cost Of Integrated Defense-VA Health Record Jumped To $12 Billion

The estimated cost of developing an integrated electronic health record for the Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments spiraled to nearly $12 billion by last September, VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said in a press call this morning. The mounting costs led top leaders of the two departments to call a halt to the joint effort on Feb. 5.

Baker said original estimates for the completed iEHR ranged between $4 billion and $6 billion, but by last year had jumped to double the high-end estimate. Elizabeth McGrath, deputy chief management officer at Defense, told members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee yesterday that integration expenses accounted for part of that increase, but did not specify how much.

Though the iEHR effort has been dropped, Baker said Defense and VA will acquire as many as 50 joint and shared medical applications, and pegged the cost of those acquisitions to between $4 billion and $6 billion, the original projected cost of the entire iEHR...