Pentagon launches electronic health record system
System will be fully deployed by December 2006.
The Pentagon launched its global electronic health record system Monday, touting it as a major milestone in an effort to create universal medical records for 9 million military service members, retirees and families.
Military medical providers already are using the $1.2 billion system, dubbed AHLTA, and nearly 300,000 outpatient visits are digitally captured each week, according to the Defense Department. Despite some "not unexpected" technical "glitches and problems" in 2004, AHLTA is set to be fully deployed by December 2006, said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs.
AHLTA will cost about $100 million a year to maintain once it is fully ready for use by the military's 800 clinics, 70 hospitals and 60,000 health care providers.
The Defense Department's medical community is taking part in a massive training program for the Internet-based system.
The health records, which will be available around the clock and around the world, will be secure from loss and unauthorized access, Winkenwerder said.
The system is capable of limiting the amount of information on patients' health records available for viewing, and an electronic paper trail is created by anyone who looks at the records, according to the Pentagon.
"Our electronic health record [system] has matured to a point that its size and complexity are unrivaled," Winkenwerder said. "AHLTA is ushering in a new era in the way of doing business in the military health system … after many years of investment and work and thoughtful effort, we have now reached and passed a tipping point."
The launch ceremony was held at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and was attended by Michael Leavitt, secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.
Leavitt said that the rollout of AHLTA is a "great step" forward in achieving the Bush administration's goal of establishing electronic health records for a majority of Americans within a decade.
AHLTA was built using commercial off the shelf products. The military integrated the products to create the health records system, which is compatible with the Veterans Health Administration's electronic systems.