Oracle’s Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) system experienced a nationwide outage on Tuesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) confirmed to CNBC.
The outage affected “all users” of Oracle’s Federal EHR, including the VA, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. According to the VA, disruptions impacted six VA medical centers, 26 community clinics, and remote VA sites.
“Affected VA medical facilities followed standard contingency procedures during the outage to ensure continuity of care for Veterans,” a VA spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
Electronic health records (EHRs) are digital versions of patients’ medical histories, updated by healthcare providers. As a critical component of the U.S. healthcare system, EHR outages can significantly disrupt patient care.
Oracle became one of the largest EHR vendors following its $28 billion acquisition of medical records company Cerner in 2022.
The VA reported that the system began experiencing issues around 8:37 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, with users unable to access applications due to software freezes. Full access was restored by 2:05 p.m. Eastern after Oracle restarted the system.
Oracle is currently investigating the cause of the outage, the VA said. Oracle did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Also read | Apple Unveils New MacBook Air Models with $100 Price Cut Despite Tariffs
This incident is the latest setback in Oracle’s ongoing EHR rollout with the VA, a project plagued by patient safety concerns and operational issues. The VA conducted a strategic review of Cerner’s system in 2021, prior to Oracle’s acquisition, and temporarily paused further deployment in 2023.
Four VA facilities in Michigan are scheduled to adopt Oracle’s Federal EHR system in 2026.
In October, Oracle introduced a new EHR platform featuring advanced cloud and artificial intelligence capabilities. While the early adopter program launches this year, it is unclear whether the VA will implement the updated system.
Oracle is set to report its third-quarter fiscal 2025 earnings on Monday.
For more such latest updates, click here.
