IBM gears up for Pentagon health push

IBM named Dr. Keith Salzman, an early pioneer in health IT for the U.S. Army, as its chief medical information officer as part of an overall expansion of its federal health care practice announced April 24. Salzman comes to IBM from defense and civilian IT contractor CACI, where he held a similar post.

The move comes as the Department of Defense is edging closer to publishing a final request for proposals on its planned electronic health record program. The massive, multi-year program, called the Department of Defense Healthcare Management Systems Modernization (DHMSM), was put in motion after an effort to create a joint health record system between DOD and Veterans Affairs was abandoned.

A single contractor will be selected to serve as integrator to direct the project. While IBM didn't comment publicly about its interest in the integrator role on the massive program, the company, along with a who's-who of leading federal IT contractors and medical IT specialists, has attended industry days related to the contract...