DoD releases update to electronic health record plan

The Department of Defense is one step closer to making its final pitch to industry for a modernized electronic health record system. The third draft of the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) solicitation was released June 12, and "promises to substantially reflect our final requirement," according to a covering letter from program manager Capt. John Windom.

When longstanding plans for a joint DoD-Veterans Affairs Department health record system broke down in February 2013, DoD opted instead to acquire its own system.

The Pentagon’s planned integrated electronic health record system will track the medical and dental care of active duty military personnel and their dependents – a population of about 9.8 million dispersed across the globe. The system is designed to be interoperable with the VA EHR system, and compatible with leading private-sector systems. The price tag for the project is estimated at about $11 billion. The first draft RFP was released in January, the second in March.

Since the second draft, DHMSM has removed the veterinary medicine requirement so that vendors won't have to include a system to track the care of working military animals. In responses to questions from vendors, DoD indicated that there is no special requirement for an IT development methodology, such as agile, and that the contract is performance-based, driven by outcomes not inputs.

A joint VA-DOD Interagency Program Office is expected to finalize its data interoperability plan in July, around the time of the release of the final request for proposals for DHMSM. DoD is hosting a June 24 industry day for vendors to go over the requirements and answer questions in advance of the final RFP. The system is scheduled to be online by 2017.