DoD changes schedule again for initial EHR rollout

The Defense Department has again changed its schedule for deploying a commercial-off-the-shelf initial EHR rollout from Cerner, following technical problems recognized during the time of testing.

Called Military Health System (MHS) GENESIS, the initial deployment of DoD’s latest EHR system was slated for the month of December. But, previous month, the Pentagon declared that the rollout would be delayed until the month of February to provide DoD and prime contractor Leidos extra time to resolve technical problems, involving finalizing system interfaces between Cerner’s software and legacy military health networks.

Nevertheless, DoD officials claimed on the day of Tuesday that the initial EHR rollout plan has again been modified.

In accordance to Stacy Cummings, program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems, the program schedule has been changed so that the initial EHR rollout deployment of MHS GENESIS will take place in the month of February only at Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Wash.

Although, Cummings was quick to add that deployment at the remaining inpatient services in the Pacific Northwest will start as early as the month of June and incorporate few capabilities—like blood transfusion management and voice recognition software—that were initially planned for release later in the deployment schedule. At the similar time, she asserted that the changed schedule won’t impact the previously declared full deployment target date of the 2022 year.

A 2016 audit of MHS GENESIS by DoD’s Office of the Inspector General discovered “dangers and potential delays engaged in developing and testing the interfaces required to interact with legacy systems, making sure the system is secure against the terrible cyber attacks, and making definite that the fielded system works rightly and that users are properly trained.”

Dealing these potential threats, Cummings appreciated that “we did set for ourselves a very aggressive schedule that involved important concurrency” but argued that “the time we invest in the program now will assist us to ensure success in the future and give the best possible user experience to our beneficiaries and healthcare contributors from day one—and, we won’t field a product that does not meet that standard.”

Previous year, DoD granted a $4.3 billion contract award to a Leidos-Cerner team to modernize its electronic health record system, replacing legacy military health systems and promoting higher efficiencies by leveraging the Cerner Millennium solution. Finally, the aim of MHS GENESIS is to support the presence of EHRs for more than 9.4 million DoD beneficiaries.

 

DoD inspector asks whether EHR decline of agency will be met

The Defense Department’s policies to implement a new electronic health record (EHR) system by the month of December may not be realistic, in according to a new audit from the DoD Office of the Inspector General.

In July 2015, the Pentagon granted a $4.3 billion contract award to a Leidos-Cerner team to modernize DoD’s EHR system. Called the Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM), the integrated system is designed to replace legacy military health systems and promote greater efficiencies by leveraging commercial-off-the-shelf Cerner Millennium solution.

An initial deployment is slated for December, when the EHR will be rolled out to DoD locations in the Pacific Northwest. But the OIG is concerned that the DHMSM program schedule might not meet initial operational capability needs by the end of this year.

“While the DHMSM program office has recognized the threats and mitigation strategies, it is still at risk for obtaining an EHR system by the December 2016 initial operational capability date due to the risks and potential delays involved in developing and testing the interfaces required to interact with legacy systems, ensuring the system is secure against cyber attacks, and ensuring the fielded system works correctly and that users are properly trained,” concluded the OIG report, which was released on Tuesday.

However, speaking that similar day at the ONC Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, Stacy Cummings, program executive officer for the Defense Healthcare Management Systems program, gave no indication that the EHR implementation schedule might be at risk because of potential delays with interfaces and inadequate training.

“We are going to be doing testing both prior to and during the deployment to make sure that our interfaces are working, to ensure that the workflows are working, as well as to make sure that it’s operationally suitable for our needs in the Department of Defense,” said Cummings, who oversees DoD’s EHR modernization, including the operational, infprmation exchange and interoperability initiatives.

She added that DHMSM is contributing in training, change management and coaches to aid the deployment of the new EHR. “As we deploy to a location, we are not just training people how to use the system,” stated Cummings. “We’re actually teaching them how to take advantage of the business processes and the decision support that is inherent in the commercial tool.”

Nonetheless, the OIG suggested that Cummings, as the program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems conduct a schedule analysis to determine whether the December 2016 initial operational capability deadline is achievable and remain to monitor DHMSM program threats and report to Congress quarterly on the progress of the program.