DoD Sets Sights On Vendor-Neutral Image Archive

The Department of Defense (DoD) has taken another step toward its transition to the joint integrated EHR (iEHR) that it is developing in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), according to an announcement by Acuo Technologies, Dell, and BRIT Systems. Through the Defense Logistics Agency, the DoD has awarded the companies a nine-year contract totaling close to $40 million to develop a vendor neutral image archive that will connect more than three score of healthcare facilities worldwide.

To date, the Army and Navy have chosen their own picture archiving and communication system (PACS) to use at their 39 and 23 respective military healthcare sites around the globe. Using Dell hardware and support, the Acuo University Clinical Platform will make approximately 25 million patient image studies available through its software and services using HL-7 integration standards. As Jeff Timbrook, CEO for Acuo Technologies, noted in a public statement, the platform “will enable the Department of Defense to finally achieve its goal of having all clinical content available to every military physician, anytime, anywhere.”