Third Military Site, Naval Hospital Bremerton, Goes Live with MHS Genesis

Naval Hospital Bremerton in Washington State went live with the MHS Genesis electronic health record (EHR) system from Cerner-Leidos this week, the third military site to deploy the new EHR as part of a Department of Defense (DoD)-wide roll out.

The Military Health System (MHS) GENESIS is a single, integrated electronic inpatient and outpatient health record. MHS GENESIS is the new EHR managed by the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) Program Management Office (PMO), under the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS).

Fairchild AFB was the first of four locations in the northwest selected to launch the new system. Officials have said that the plan is to start in the Pacific Northwest and then phase it into the rest of the MHS over the course of several years, which will allow time to tweak it as necessary to meet any changing needs, and identify and correct unanticipated problems early. MHS Genesis project first rolled out to Fairchild Air Force Base in February and Naval Hospital Oak Harbor in July. The fourth site of the initial implementation will be Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, which is set for deployment in late October.

In 2015, the Pentagon awarded a $4.3 billion contract to Leidos to modernize DoD’s EHR system. The Leidos-led team includes consultancy Accenture and Cerner to provide the core Millennium capability. According to the Defense Department, MHS Genesis will support the availability of electronic health records for more than 9.4 million DoD beneficiaries and approximately 205,000 MHS personnel globally.

 “The system is successfully deployed to three bases—Fairchild, Oak Harbor, and most recently Bremerton – and associated clinics. The deployments are part of the Initial Operational Capability (IOC) rollout of MHS GENESIS to key installations across the Pacific Northwest. Fairchild served as the first opportunity to implement the system on outpatient services, while Oak Harbor was the first inpatient facility to begin the deployment of MHS GENESIS. Bremerton is a larger inpatient facility which provides an even broader range of care,” Leidos officials said in a press release.

“Two keys to success on such an important, large-scale program are a steadfast focus on our customer’s mission and ensuring alignment with our customer and our partners. As the prime contractor, it’s imperative that we fully understand the customer’s requirements, are in lock step with their objectives, and  share their dedication to achieving those objectives” Jerry Hogge, senior vice president, Leidos Defense Health, said in a statement.

Hogge also said, “Operating as one team made up of five core partners – Leidos / Cerner / Accenture / Henry Schein / DHMSM Program Executive Office and PM Team - the partnership built the program around three objectives; leverage technology to enhance the delivery of clinical care at military treatment facilities, address cybersecurity requirements, and deploy systems with minimal disruption during implementation.”