Defense

DOD Electronic Health Record Deployment Reaches 30% Complete

• By Lauren C. Williams
• June 13, 2021

The Defense Department’s deployment of the Cerner commercial electronic health record system is almost a third complete, with 42,000 active users in more than a dozen states, officials told reporters on a call to the press on June 10.

Holly Joers, interim executive program director for Defense Healthcare Management Systems, said the latest deployment, Wave Carson Plus, from MHS Genesis ended on April 24, marking the completion of 30% of the systems deployment in the military processing facilities.

This deployment was the largest to date, spanning 11 states and 20 military installations, adding approximately 10,000 active users to the system.

Joers said the progress to date means DOD is on schedule to be completed at the end of 2023 with the next “commissioning” deployment called Wave Tripler slated for Hawaii in late September.

“Starting this summer, we’ll have about 12 waves in flight,” Joers told reporters on June 10.

Joers said that while each wave and deployment has its own lessons that can be applied for future migrations, the adoption process has been set on what to expect.

“We’re going down next week to launch Eglin Air Force Base and Jacksonville [Florida] waves. We’re starting this 18 month process with a kick-off and a discussion with the commanders, ”said Joers,“ and whatever we find out, whether it’s a new medical device that needs to go live. , we have a process to manage it that is efficient, effective. “

As deployments intensify, one of the challenges will be to synchronize and standardize operational workflows, especially for common facilities, such as the James A. Lovell Federal Health Center, managed by the DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs in North Chicago, Illinois.

“Standardizing workflows and processes across the company is actually one of the most important things about this system,” said Major General Ned Appenzeller, deputy director of combat support, Defense Health Agency. .

“But the most critical thing about this standardization, because it’s done the same everywhere, because it’s so demonstrable … safety has improved.”

Appenzeller said each deployment has become “less drastic” but still offers room for improvement in training, techniques and procedures.

“One of the most impressive things actually is the data management capabilities that we have, where we can actually see how much time people are spending on the file during duty hours and after duty hours,” he said. he declared.