Combat EHR System Cost Soars By 2,233 Percent

The Defense Health Agency's electronic health record for combat troops--costing 2,233 percent more than originally estimated--topped the list of Defense information systems projects gone off track in a report from the Government Accountability Office. Cost for the system, the Theater Medical Information Program - Joint (TMIP-J), Increment 2, soared from $67.7 million in November 2002 to $1.58 billion by December 2013.

Reasons attributed to the increase were the addition of capabilities originally intended to be included in a future increment, new requirements necessary to meet the needs of soldiers and the inclusion of operations and maintenance costs. The cost rivals that proposed for the support operations and maintenance of health information management systems for its array of hospitals and clinics, reports Nextgov...