Fairchild pioneers new DOD health system

Fairchild Air Force Base was seen as the perfect fit as a test bed and launch site for a new medical records program that will ultimately be rolled out to the entire Department of Defense.

The base is the right size, has a medical clinic and a significant number of dependents so the base's 92nd Medical Group was chosen as the place where the DOD would do initial testing of its new electronic health record system, known as Medical Health Systems GENESIS.

In a ceremony held on base Feb.15 at the Red Morgan Center, officials from across the DOD spoke of this groundbreaking effort that incorporated the efforts and talents of both government and private sector entities in the end product.

According to its website, MHS GENESIS is the name of the new electronic health record for the Military Health System (MHS). It will provide enhanced, secure technology to manage health information. The program will ultimately offer users a complete electronic view of a family's medical and dental records, and a link to information on care provided at other military hospitals and clinics. This means less paperwork and a lower risk of inaccurate information."I'm proud Team Fairchild was selected as the first Air Force installation to participate in the rollout of MHS GENESIS," 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander, Col. Ryan Samuelson said in opening remarks. "It's no surprise the Air Force would select a base who has a long-standing tradition of excellence in whatever mission we are asked to perform."

Fairchild pioneered the program with Col. Margaret Carey, commander of Fairchild's 92nd Medical Group, leading the team. The process began in 2014 and "We came in not knowing what to expect," Carey said. The program locally covers an estimated 11,000 direct enrollees and 38,000 others, she noted.

Things have gone exceedingly well according to a legion of speakers at the rollout, including Dr. Paul Cordts of the Defense Health Agency. "We fixed the issues as they came up," Cordts said of the project that ultimately aims to connect the medical and dental records of all DOD personnel by 2022.

Cordts noted that the system has worked so well to this point, and is so fine-tuned that it has actually been able to identify potential conflicts in a patient's medication stream and red flag information for doctors and other caregivers.

Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Mark A. Ediger, U.S. Air Force Surgeon General, said the effort to improve the existing system began in 2012 and he lauded the collaborative effort of the private sector.Rather than take the program directly to a major military hospital, it was felt that testing it in a clinic such as that at Fairchild was a better move, officials reasoned.

Fairchild officials and personnel did all the initial testing of the system, and when it all checks out, hopefully by June 2017, the program will expand to Whidby Island Naval Air Station, Madigan Army Hospital at Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the Bremerton Navy Base.

From that step, and again if everything works like it has so far at Fairchild, the system will begin to be implemented across the nation, and worldwide for all DOD personnel, as well as dependents and the Veterans Affairs Administration.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].