Becker's Hospital Review

51 CIO / HEALTH IT Cerner: U of Illinois Health's bid to Epic will cost taxpayers $100M By Julie Spitzer C erner, which lost out on an EHR contract at Chicago- based University of Illinois Health in late 2017, claims the hospital's contract with Epic will cost taxpayers nearly $100 million, according to NBC 5 Chicago. In September 2017, UI Health's board of trustees voted to move forward in the contracting process for an Epic EHR implementation. The board awarded the Verona, Wis.-based vendor a $62 million, seven-year deal. Nearly three months later, Cerner filed a protest with Illinois' chief procurement office for higher education over the Epic contract, alleging the bidding process was unfair and tainted by a possible conflict of interest. Cerner claimed its bid was $1.5 million lower than Epic's and included all implementation costs while Epic's didn't. However, the state rejected the protest in January, ruling Cerner didn't submit a proposal demonstrating its technical qualifications at the minimum required level and noting it awarded Epic the contract through a request for proposals, not a competitive bidding process. Now Cerner is claiming if UI Health still goes with Epic, the deal will hurt taxpayers. "I smell a rat here," Mara Georges, Chicago's former Corporation Counsel who currently serves as Cerner's Chicago attorney, told NBC 5 Chicago. "The taxpayers of the State of Illinois are entitled to an explanation, and an explanation has not been forthcoming!" Ms. Georges said the proposals were supposed to consider all costs associated with the overhaul, but Epic's failed to mention other costs associated with implementation, which could drive total costs as high as $100 million. She said Cener's all-encompassing bid was only $60.5 million, and added that Cerner was never given the opportunity to demonstrate its software's capabilities — but Epic was. "For whatever reason, there was an interest in making sure Epic was awarded this contract," Ms. Georges told NBC 5 Chicago. "It appears there was favoritism toward Epic, and that procedures were not followed to give everyone involved in the process a fair shake." Although a UI spokesperson told NBC 5 Chicago the process abided all procurement processes under state law, the Illinois Procurement Policy Board scheduled a session for March 20 to address the contracting concerns. n Cerner implementation sparks delays at Connecticut health system By Julie Spitzer E ver since Danbury-based Western Con- necticut Health Network switched EHR soware systems March 3 to Cerner — aer dedicating nearly two years to prepara- tion — patients have been complaining about problems reaching physicians, scheduling appointments and accessing other services, according to newstimes. WCHN announced in 2015 they would tran- sition to Cerner for systemwide support of its clinical and financial needs, as well as popu- lation health management. e health system completed the transition March 3, but issues have plagued its three hospitals since. It took some patients, such as 80-year-old Carole Conaway, more than one and a half hours to schedule appointments with her primary care doctor and the specialist who treats her for her kidney disease, she told newstimes. "I understand with new electronics it takes awhile to get it straightened out, but an hour and a half trying to make two appoint- ments, that's ridiculous," said Ms. Conaway, who worked in the radiology department at WCHN's Danbury (Conn.) Hospital when it first got computers in the 1990s. Others, like Ann Marie Seavy-Cioffi's 93-year- old mother, waited four hours for a blood trans- fusion aer a computer glitch hampered the procedure at Danbury. By the time the proce- dure began, there was only time to transfer one pint of blood, and Ms. Seavy-Cioffi was forced to reschedule her mother's appointment. A notice on the health system's website warns patients they may experience longer waits or appointment times and apologizes for any in- convenience. "Patients are receiving the same great clinical care that they have always received," WCHN officials said March 13 in a statement to new- stimes. "As with any large scale technology transition, the true test comes when staff begin using the new system. While our pro- viders adjust to this new technology, patients may notice longer wait or appointment times or increased presence of support staff." n

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