Pentagon’s New Health Record System Will Cost $1.5 Billion

The Pentagon plans to spend $1.5 billion procuring a new, commercial electronic health record system from 2017 through 2019, new budget documents disclosed.

The Defense Health Agency said in January that it planned to field the new EHR in phases, starting with a test site at Fort Lewis, Wash., in 2016 and full deployment to 57 hospitals, 364 medical clinics, 282 dental clinics, 225 vet clinics and 321 ships by 2019.

DHA also requested a budget of $723 million — up $70 million from 2014 — to operate and maintain its current EHR systems, including the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, or AHLTA, and the Composite Health Care System, or CHCS, which manages clinician order entry. [...]