DOD expands rollout of new EHR
The Military Health System expanded access to the Department of Defense’s new electronic health record system, adding facilities in 12 new states and bringing 10,000 clinicians on to the system, the contractors leading the system’s rollout announced Tuesday.
This most recent launch wave of MHS GENESIS, as it’s referred to, brought the system online at facilities in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, the Leidos Partnership for Defense Health announced Tuesday.
“The staff at these locations worked tirelessly to adopt a new electronic health record system, while continuing to battle a global pandemic,” said Holly Joers, acting director of the Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS), said in a release. “We applaud their focus on the mission and partnership in this important transformation.”
The pandemic caused initial delays for the system’s expansion but MHS was able to get back on track for its scheduled rollout, Joers previously said. The program is now live in more than 600 military treatment facilities with more than 41,000 active users, according to Leidos.
“We are gaining momentum and improved efficiency with each Wave deployment,” said Liz Porter, Leidos Health Group president. “Our team continues to be impressed by the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the staff at each of these locations. They are the driving force behind our success to date.”
MHS GENESIS is part of a massive multi-billion-dollar program to ensure that the DOD’s and Department of Veterans Affairs’ EHRs are compatible and interoperable. They’re both being developed on the same Cerner Millennium-built cloud system.
The VA, however, has faced a much bumpier rollout of its modernized EHR, bringing it online at just one medical center so far. Since then, the department has paused the program while new leadership reviews its progress as facilities have struggled to train new users on the system and overcome technical challenges that have resulted in delays in pharmacy deliveries and medical care.
