DOD health information systems get more upgrades

EDS will make technical enhancements to the Defense Department health system under a one-year, $8.1 million add-on contract.

The award from the Military Health System calls for EDS to assist the Defense Health Information Management Systems improve the quality and delivery of health care for recovering U.S. service members under the DOD Wounded Warrior care initiative.

EDS, an HP company, will provide applications development to the Disability Evaluation System as well as the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, the military’s electronic health record system.

Technical enhancements to DHIMS applications are expected to improve the management of the military’s electronic health records, increase collaboration across service lines, and facilitate user workflow among caregivers and case managers, EDS officials said.

Enhancements to Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application will improve information sharing between the DOD and the Veterans Affairs Department. They also will give clinical case managers better access to data about beneficiaries’ conditions, prescriptions, diagnostic tests and other information essential to improving care quality.

In addition, enhancements to the Disability Evaluation System will help maximize medical assessment efficiencies and streamline the evaluation process for disability treatment and case management of injured or ill U.S. soldiers.

The contract extends the 16-year relationship between EDS and the Military Health System’s DHIMS, the family of systems that manages and maintains the military’s electronic health record – the largest in the world, company officials said. More than 60,000 trained users operate DHIMS applications to capture, manage and share data across the DOD.