A few weeks after Epic and IBM announced their partnership in bidding for the multibillion dollar U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) contract, Allscripts, CSC, and HP have done the same thing and joined the fray.
The contract, according to media reports, is worth an estimated $11 billion. The winning bidder will provide an enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR) system that will connect the disparate military health information systems, specifically between the DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Thus far, the Defense Department has issued multiple draft request for proposals but has yet to solicit an actual bid, according to Modern Healthcare. The DoD decided last year to pursue commercial IT after passing on the VA’s Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) as the basis of its EHR core.
For this bid, CSC is bringing experience in providing government IT software and calls itself the world’s largest health systems integrator. Allscripts says its open architecture will enable DoD to have data flexibility, HP also touts extensive experience as a government contractor. CSC will be the company submitting the bid on behalf of the three of them.
“We are very pleased to partner with CSC and HP, organizations that share our commitment to innovation, interoperability and connectivity and our dedication to improve the quality of patient care. The CSC-led team will bring unparalleled expertise and experience to maximize the power, breadth and flexibility of Allscripts Sunrise and Allscripts population health management solutions,” Paul Black, CEO of Allscripts, said in a statement.
Robert Wah, CSC chief medical officer and current American Medical Association (AMA) president, is a former Navy doctor. As AMA chief, he has outlined efforts where military and civilian doctors can work across the spectrum with each other.
