The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to award Cerner a contract to build a new electronic health record system for VA as early as this month, Federal News Radio reported Friday.

VA Secretary David Shulkin told members of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee at a hearing Wednesday that the department issued to Congress a 30-day notice of contract award for the new EHR platform.

His statement came months after he announced plans in June to issue a direct solicitation to Cerner to implement the same EHR system – MHS Genesis – that the Defense Department currently deploys.

VA Press Secretary Curt Cashour told the station in an email that the department will end 80 percent of its ongoing information technology development projects over the next 18 months as part of VA’s IT strategic plan.

A source said the agency’s move to reduce its current projects seeks to help fund the implementation of the new EHR system, the report added.

Cerner collaborates with Leidos and Accenture as part an industry team that won a potential 10-year, $4.3 billion contract in 2015 to help DoD integrate a commercial EHR platform across the Military Health System.