Military Electronic Health Records Conference

Military EHRS — Where Do We Stand? Where Are We Going? – How Will We Get There?

The future of the Military Health Record system and collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will take front stage an the upcoming conference in Washington, DC., March 15-16. As noted in the program, this conference "brings together the experts from government and industry who are defining and developing the solutions to these and other issues and who are modernizing the military Healthcare IT infrastructure and developing the next-generation Military EHRS."

The Military Health System (MHS) has been a key player in the development and utilization of EHRS throughout the military medical system. Currently, it serves over nine million patients, one hundred thirty thousand Medical Health System staff, four hundred plus medical clinics, and over sixty military hospitals. As the program aptly points out, in sharp contrast 'less than ten percent of US non-military hospitals have even a basic electronic records system."

The conference will address a whole range of topics, starting with the major issue on the table which is getting MHS systems to interoperate efficiently with the the VA's EHR, VistA. In addition, speakers at the conference will address concerns about the reliability and ease of use of DoD’s EHRS and whether it is productive and cost-effective. While the conference is partially devoted to developing solutions to the issues raised and smoothing out bumps in the road, it is also an incredible opportunity for experts in government and the medical field to raise the ongoing modernization of military healthcare IT infrastructure to a whole new level.

The upcoming conference will provide a forum for discussion that extends far beyond the MHS and the VA with representatives from Open Health Tools, OSEHRA, Health IT Initiative, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, CMS/Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, and a large number of private sector organization. 

The conference will cover a select range of topics, addressing the future goals and objections for the DoD's EHR use and implementation, new tools and technologies designed to assist interoperability between the DoD and VA EHR systems, measuring EHR effectiveness, ensuring security and privacy, and other critical questions. Topics to be discussed fall under four general categories:

• Emerging government challenges, needs, and initiatives
• Information sharing—from the battlefield to the garrison; from the public to the private network
• Deploying, installing, and operating next-generation military her systems and technologies
• Protecting the data, information assurance and achieving meaningful use

For more information about the conference, visit the Military Electronic Health Records Conference website. 

List of speakers:

• VADM (ret) Michael Cowan, MD, Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Former 34th Surgeon General, USN
• CAPT Michael Weiner, MD, CMIO, DoD/Veterans Affairs Interagency Program Office
• CAPT (ret) Robert Wah, MD, Chair, American Medical Association Board of Trustees, Vice President Healthcare and Chief Medical Officer, North American Public Sector, CSC
• Colonel Portia Prioleau, Acting Chief Information Officer for the Military Health System (MHS), OASD/(HA), Tricare Management Activity
• Colonel John L. Mayer, Commanding Officer, US MC Wounded Warrior Regiment
• Dr. Robert M. Kolodner, Executive VP & Chief Health Informatics Officer, Open Health Tools, Inc., President, Collaborative Transformers, LLC & Former National Health IT Coordinator & Chief Health Informatics Officer, Veterans Health Administration
• Ms. Janet Marchibroda, Chair, Health IT Initiative, Bipartisan Policy Institute, Former CEO, eHealth Initiative
• Mr. Marc Wine, Director of Health IT, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
• Dr. Tushar Hazra, Technical Director, VA Programs, Health IT, Northrop Grumman
• CAPT Anita Hunt Hickey, Dir., Pain Research & Integrative Pain Medicine, Dept. of Anesthesiology, US Naval Medical Center, San Diego
• Colonel (ret) Hon S. Pak, MD, President & Chief Executive Officer, HSP Technology, Formerly, U.S. Army Medical Department, CIO, OTSG
• Mr. Ken Salyards, Special HIT Expert, Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin, DHHS
• Dr. Barclay Butler, Vice President, Military Healthcare Solutions, Harris Corp.
• Dr. Deborah Lafky, Program Officer, Cybersecurity Office of the Chief Privacy Officer of the National Coordinator for Health IT, (DHHS)
• Dr. Mark A. Dente, Chief Medical Informatics Officer, GE Healthcare IT
• Dr. Lauren Thompson, Ph.D., Program Director, Federal Health Architecture, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (DHHS)
• Mr. Russ Sanford, Principle, Cybertechnology, Booz Allen Hamilton
• CAPT (ret) Christopher Ayres, Operation Impact Hire, Northrop Grumman IS
• Ms. Jessica Kahn, Technical Director for Health IT, CMS/Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, (DHHS)
• Dr. Vernon McDonald, Vice President, Integrated Sciences & Engineering Group, Wyle
• Mr. Michael Jackson, Head, Healthcare Solutions, Adobe Systems
• Mr.  Shahid Shah, Chief Executive Officer, Netspective Communications
• Mr. Conrad Clyburn, Director, Community Development, OSEHRA, Inc.
• Ms. Rebecca Leung, Government Healthcare Sector Leader, Dell Federal Civilian Division
• Mohammad Khattak, Federal Practice Lead, Dell SecureWorks