DOD Unhappy With Electronic Records Upgrade

After spending $2 billion to upgrade its legacy electronic health record system, the Defense Department is preparing to conclude that the effort was only partially successful, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. DOD wants a new system, GAO said.

In 1997, DOD began upgrading and adding capabilities to its legacy record system in a project named the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA). The system keeps track of records for more than 9 million service members and their family members.

Meanwhile, DOD runs risks in buying a new system without learning the lessons from the first system upgrade, the report warns.

“DOD has initiated efforts to bring its processes into alignment with industry best practices,” the GAO report said. “However, it has not carried out a planned independent evaluation to ensure it has made these improvements. Until it ensures that these weaknesses are addressed, DOD risks undermining the success of further efforts to acquire [EHR] capabilities.”

However, the anticipated new capabilities in AHLTA have been scaled back, including inpatient care management records, and users of the system continue to have problems with low speed, poor usability and unavailability of portions of the system, GAO said.