hand-157251_640Based on the recent Veterans Administration (VA) health care failures, it was inevitable that sooner rather than later the government would lay the foundation for an overhaul of the VA record system. That foundation has come to be known as the Defense Health Care Management Systems Modernization program or DHMSM. Its cost estimates range from a few billion dollars to as much as $11 billion. The goal is to modernize and coordinate the medical record systems of government and private health care providers to enable the sharing of patients’ medical care information.

Team Bidding

The project is expected to last about 10 years. In order to meet this requirement and others of the RFP, four groups of companies or teams have bees assembled to bid on the massive project. The four teams are:

Pricewaterhouse Coopers, General Dynamics, Document Security Systems (DSS), and MedSphere

IBM, Epic, and Impact Advisors

Leidos, Cerner, and Accenture

Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Allscripts, and Hewlett Packard

Private Sector Cooperation Required

Whoever the winner is, it will require them to carefully look at the existing private sector systems already in place since they have about a six year head start on the government. At the same time, the private sector would be wise to see how the system evolves, because the behemoth sized project will almost certainly develop new methods of solving problems that currently trouble the existing private systems.

One of the most difficult problems to solve will be including the records of the existing electronic health reporting systems (EHRs) and perhaps even more difficult will be gaining access to closed systems. These closed systems are the myriad number of doctor offices whose medical information is not on any electronic record network that can be accessed outside of the office. The obvious goal is 100 percent inclusion of all medical records, however, it can be safely said that this goal is not practically feasible.

Beyond the Initial Price Tag

All of this interoperability will have a price tag attached to it. The objectives of the Department of Defense (DoD) are not always connected with the best interests of many private sector EHRs. Establishing inter-operability may require the existing private EHRs to upgrade or replace their systems to achieve compatibility. Who will pay for this and how this will be seamlessly achieved are two of the more critical questions to answer.

Beyond the EHR access goal, there are a number of other hurdles to climb. Gaining coordination and cooperation from different vendors and technologies is one of those hurdles. Another will be working with a variety of organizations to get input and support for the project. That leads to the inevitable politics which is part of any huge government project. Given the current political climate, this may be the highest hurdle of all.

Cause for Optimism

Despite the complexity and required cooperation necessary to make the project a success, there is optimism to be found. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) had its detractors, yet despite its size and nationwide impact the system has had a measure of acceptance and success. While many people saw the ACA as political, this project is seen by many as necessary. America’s servicemen and women have earned their public support on the battlefield and off in the service of their country. Public sentiment alone may bring this project to a successful conclusion.

As far as small businesses are concerned, there may well be some positive fallout. If you happen to be doing business with any of the major players, then they are going to be needing more in the way of goods and services, even to take part in the bidding process. The multiplier effect out there in the economy could be very useful.