Major Players Bid For Slice Of Federal Health Records Pie

Four teams of contractors so far have indicated they want in on the DoD's massive electronic health records program. While each of the teams presents formidable resources in healthcare IT, to some degree no group has a complete, ready-to-go, solution, said IDC's Scott Lundstrom. "This is an evolving 10-year program, and all bidders are also pitching future capabilities."

The ambitious health information technology program now under way at the U.S. Department of Defense has garnered attention from some of the major e-commerce companies in the U.S. The DoD soon will evaluate bids for its 10-year, multibillion-dollar program to enhance its health IT capability, with an emphasis on electronic health records.

DoD issued a request for proposals in late August, with a bidding deadline of Oct. 9, for the Defense Health Care Management Systems Modernization, or DHMSM, program. The program will support the medical readiness of DoD's military personnel involving the department's current population of more than 9.6 million beneficiaries and more than 153,000 Military Health System personnel.  The program will present a huge challenge to both the government and private sectors.

"Significant technology advances have happened in the last several years, with electronic health records, cloud technology and mobile apps," said Jennifer Covich Bordenick, CEO of the eHealth Initiative. "We have learned a lot from the private sector, so this new program will be a real test to see how these private sector technologies can be applied to a large government operation," she told the E-Commerce Times...