Lockheed subsidiary, Epic win $624M VA patient scheduling contract

The Veterans Affairs Department has awarded a $624 million contract to Systems Made Simple, Syracuse, N.Y., a subsidiary of giant defense and national security contractor Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, Md., to overhaul its medical appointment scheduling system at its Veterans Health Administration healthcare system. Epic Systems Corp., Verona, Wis., will supply the software to the VA, the company confirmed.

The award, posted on the FebBizOps.gov website, calls for a base contract of five years with two one-year options. The new system, called MASS, “is expected to enhance and simplify the viewing and making of appointments convenient to veterans, along with improving the coordination of care and appointment reminders,” according to a brief description of the contract. It will allow clinicians “to better utilize rooms, support staff and equipment in service of veterans' needs.”...

Last month, the company announced it was teaming up with vendors Intel, Cisco, Cloudera and Montgomery College, Rockville, Md., to form the Lockheed Martin Healthcare Technology Alliance to develop health information technologies for patient care, public health and research...