DOD has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to modernize its EHRs and but also to enable DOD to share health data with the private sector and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is a multi-billion dollar request to replace many of the current DOD legacy healthcare systems to include AHLTA, Composite Health Care System, and most components of the Theater Medical Information Program-Joint (TMIP-J). The goal is to launch the replacement by the end of 2016.
The RFP is the culmination of eleven months of work by the Defense Healthcare Management Systems (DHMS) program executive office. The key to the department’s strategy is to engage the larger health IT marketplace to help identify a solution approach that will provide best value and meet operational requirements.
Officials expect to select the solution in the third quarter of FY 2015. Plans are for the initial operational capability to begin in the Pacific Northwest in FY 2016 with other regions added in waves. When fully operational, the system will support the healthcare needs of DOD’s current population of 9.6 million beneficiaries and over 153 Military Health System (MHS) personnel.
Interoperability is a key tenet of the proposal. DOD and the VA will have access to the information contained in the EHR system but civilian healthcare providers will also have access to support the continuity of care for patients.
Civilian healthcare organizations provide nearly 60 percent of healthcare for service member and their families. The Office of the National Coordinator and a DOD and VA interagency program offices will set the protocols and interfaces that the systems will need to agree to and maintain.