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Oracle's The Federal Electronic Health Registry experienced a national interruption on Tuesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed to CNBC.
The agency said that “all users” of the company's federal EHR, including VA, the Department of Defense, the United States Coast Guard and the Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration, were affected. Six VA medical centers, 26 community clinics and remote sites of VA experienced interruptions, said the agency.
“The medical facilities of VA affected followed the standard contingency procedures during the interruption to guarantee the continuity of the care for veterans,” said a spokesman in a statement on Thursday.
An electronic health record, or an EHR, is a digital version of the medical history of a patient updated by doctors and nurses. It is a crucial software within the US medical care system, and interruptions can cause serious interruptions in patient care.
Oracle is one of EHR's largest suppliers thanks to its acquisition of $ 28 billion of Giant Medical Records Giant Cerner in 2022.
The company's federal EHR initially began to experience problems around 8:37 am east time on Tuesday, the VA said. Users reported that the software froze and could not access applications. The access was restored and erased at 2:05 pm et That day after Oracle restarted the system.
Oracle is carrying out an investigation to determine what caused the interruption, the VA said. Oracle did not immediately respond to the request for comments from CNBC.
The interruption marks Oracle's last stumble in a thorny EHR trill and years with the VA, which has been tarnished by patient safety concerns. The agency launched a strategic review of Cerner in 2021, before Oracle's acquisition, and the software deployment was temporarily arrested in 2023.
Four VA facilities in Michigan are scheduled to display the Federal EHR of Oracle in 2026.
In October, Oracle presented a new EHR equipped with new clouds and artificial intelligence capabilities. The early adoption program for the software begins this year, although it is not clear if the VA has plans to use it.
Oracle is scheduled to inform the fiscal profits of the third quarter on Monday.
