TTA’s August-Sept Wrap: how health tech fared in H1 investment, Oracle’s VA EHRM contract $ bump, Verma’s rumors, Cityblock buys Homeward, sensors could save Scots millions, more!

August 28, 2026 | by | No Comments

28 August-early September 2026

It’s the last of the August Doldrums, so it’s a good time to look back, courtesy of SVB, on What Happened in Healthcare Investing this first half. (For once, health tech didn’t take a beating with its best H1 in years.) Oracle just can’t help being in the headlines, this time with a nice (and expected) budget bump in its extended VA EHRM contract, and with its Oracle Health EVP, the well-known Seema Verma, possibly under consideration by PhRMA. The only notable transaction was another acquisition in the General Catalyst family, Cityblock Health and Homeward Health. DEA may get a controlled substances telehealth rule yet. And the Scots have discovered and tested sensor-based facility monitoring that could save millions. Aye! (Will Harry and Meghan’s Cotswolds lair have it? Save on security!)

Please feel free to comment on the articles and pass along this Alert. Let me know if this is worth it to you! Also check out my personal page on Substack.

For Readers: Your Editor will be on publishing leave to mid-September. ‘Best Of’ Alerts will be out 1x weekly on Fridays after this week till then. I’ll be resting up for what may prove to be an epic September-October!

Silicon Valley Bank’s take on H1 investment: among the “have and have nots”, it was “the best half in years” for health tech

News roundup: Verma’s rumors, DEA’s new (?) telemedicine rule goes to OMB for review, Cityblock Health goes rural with Homeward buy, Scottish housing sensor tech could save millions–study

Revealed: Oracle’s extended VA EHRM contract increased by $17B as original ceiling reached this year; VA Indy EHR goes online

Last week’s headlines 

This Week’s Must Reads: how lack of focus dooms startup financing, Commure’s Sea of Red Flags Flapping, and what happens if OpenAI expires? (Doom…DOOM!)

News roundup: UHS-Talkspace $850M buy final, DocGo to buy Hicuity Health for $52M in stock/debt, R1 to buy Humata Health, PointClickCare EHR to integrate Anthropic’s AI

UK’s Alertacall sold to Constellation Software’s Volaris Group (Happily, remaining independent)

Recent Headlines and Must Reads

Why Readers can be assured that TTA is 100% Written by Humans (A handy guide to detecting AI Copy Slop and why it’s not here)

News potpourri: OpenAI sued for practicing unlicensed medicine”, Cleveland Clinic med drone delivery, Solventum separates out health info systems, Unlimited Technology RCM in 3.8M data breach, Samsung Galaxy Buds FDA cleared for hearing assist

VA moves to secure Oracle for its EHR Modernization through mid-2031 (More reasons beyond Captain Obvious)

Breaking report: Oracle drawing up plans to lay off employees in “double digit percentages” by 1 September (We’re waiting for this shoe to drop next month)

Chutes & Ladders, Oracle Edition: Surprise! Project Jupiter data center build overages, “social costs” multiply. Pentagon inks $7B, 10 year deal for software.

This week’s Must Read: the dangerous financing of AI data center buildouts–and how they resemble the 2020 health tech boom (Remember the SPAC boom that cracked and left nearly all companies and billions in the dust?)

A gloomy view on Oracle going forward: debt, cash flow, and dependence on OpenAI

 

 * * *
Advertise on Telehealth and Telecare Aware
Support not only a publication but also a well-informed international community.

Contact Editor Donna for more information.

Help Spread the News

Please tell your colleagues about this free news service and, if you have relevant information to share with the rest of the world, please let me know!

Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
donna.cusano@telecareaware.com

Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

Revealed: Oracle’s extended VA EHRM contract increased by $17B as original ceiling reached this year; VA Indy EHR goes online

August 27, 2026 | by | No Comments

The cost of Oracle’s extended EHRM contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs disclosed. The ten-year contract for the EHR Modernization (EHRM), originally due to expire in May 2028, was extended earlier this month by three years to May 2031 and, we now know, an additional $17 billion was added to the ceiling. The full contract for Oracle will total by May 2031 $26.94 billion. The original contract was just under $10 billion–a cost ceiling expected to be reached by end of 2026.

Background: Oracle’s current VA contract 36C10B18D5000, the Electronic Health Record Modernization Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract with Oracle Health Government Services, the successor to Cerner Government Services, originally was structured with a 10 year base period without annual renewals. This started in May 2018. In early 2023, the contract was renegotiated. The base period was halved to five years with the remainder of the contract subject to annual renewals from May 2023 and expiring 10 years after the contract start, in May 2028. The Modification P00008 to the IDIQ contract adds another three one-year firm fixed-priced optional ordering periods, taking the duration of the contract to May 2031.

According to the released contract modification documents, VA projects that the original ceiling would be reached by Q1 in Federal FY 2027, which is between October and December 2026. The rationale is that “Due to unanticipated complexities in deploying this system, extensive site-specific customizations, as well as the other factors … VA has reached the current contract ceiling sooner than originally planned. VA anticipates using the remaining ceiling by the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 and thus requires an increase.” 

“Building upon the Trump Administration’s successful deployment of VA’s new electronic health record system at several VA facilities, VA and Oracle Health agreed earlier this month to renew their collaboration,” VA spokesperson Quinn Slaven previously said in an emailed statement to FedScoop.

As previously noted in our original article [TTA 12 Aug], in this Editor’s view, the three-year extension is a smart move on the VA EHRM team’s part.

  • The obvious one is that the VA EHRM rollout requires another three years from 2028 to 2031 to fully cover all locations. Releasing the main single-source contractor three years prior to its finalization is not an intelligent move unless another EHR company could take it up–and that has not happened. Things apparently are going smoothly in the newly formatted rollout. It was also obvious that the cost ceiling had to be increased.
  • The other is protection. Now you won’t read this elsewhere. Since the late winter, Oracle was rumored to be interested in selling, wholly or in part, Oracle Health AI (OHAI). Oracle Health sale rumors were confirmed this summer. In the event of a sale, the buyer would be obligated to honor the VA contracts and its terms.
  • The other possibility is if disaster strikes Oracle as a result of their AI landlord strategy, such as bankruptcy, the VA has some contractual protection in a Federal court. 

Orange Slices, NextGov/FCW

VA Indiana’s three-hospital system (Fort Wayne, Marion, and Indianapolis, VISN 3) cut over to the Oracle EHR on 22 August. X announcement (@VAIndyHealth)  The last two scheduled for 2026 will be Anchorage, Alaska (VISN 5) and Cleveland, Ohio (VISN 3) on 24 October.