The current model "is not living up to Congress’ vision for a single point of accountability," the Indiana Republican says.

Cerner wants VA to go faster, but "we're holding them back," said the EHR project's lead.

A top Cerner official said "we’re well-positioned to soon kick off the next phase of deployment across military medical facilities in California and Idaho."

A new joint letter reinforces "both departments’ commitment to ensuring the successful transition from a legacy patient-data system to a modernized one that will continue to support active-duty service members, Veterans and their families."

The team will be built around seven "core team" companies: Leidos, Guidehouse, Accenture, Henry Schein Inc., AbleVets LLC, MicroHealth and ProSource360.

The agency plans to begin accepting bids for a five-year contract to manage the IT and data services of its VistA system.