“On Saturday, Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms (NHTP) entered into a new era of military medicine. MHS GENESIS, the Department of Defense’s new electronic health record (EHR), went live, replacing legacy systems CHCS, a medical informatics system dating back to 1988, and AHLTA, a global EHR implemented DoD wide between 2003 to 2006.
The new MHS GENESIS Patient Portal allows TRICARE beneficiaries to exchange secure messages with their care team; schedule medical and (active-duty) dental appointments online; and access notes, labs and medications, and request prescription renewals online.”
“The implementation of MHS GENESIS began in 2017 in the Pacific Northwest with the 92nd Medical Group Clinic at Fairfield Air Force Base, Naval Hospital Bremerton, Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor, and Madigan Army Medical Center first deploying the new electronic health record.”
“Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms is benefiting from lessons learned during that initial operating capability, or IOC, and the first wave deployment to sites in California and Idaho last year; it’s also the first military medical treatment facility aboard a Marine Corps base to deploy the new system. Since the IOC, the Program Executive Office, Defense Healthcare Management Systems, and its DHA partners have changed the training strategy, created a new change-management process, and implemented infrastructure and bandwidth improvements…”
“By Monday, the new EHR had been front-line tested. A new baby had been born on the combined Multi-Service Ward/Labor & Delivery Ward. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Angela Evans, department head, noted that documentation and patient notes went smoothly. ‘It was just a matter of getting used to the new screens,’ Evans said.”
“At the battalion aid station for the 11th Marine Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division, administering the flu vaccine provided an ideal opportunity to test MHS GENESIS. ‘This is the first operational unit to do a mass immunization under the MHS GENESIS system. We have 40 people getting immunizations today. It’s a smaller mass immunization in the grand scheme of things but I think it will be good for us to test the system,’ said Navy Lt. Benjamin Briar, battalion surgeon.”
“Briar noted that he’s getting a lot of support from the MHS GENESIS team, the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Naval Medical Forces Pacific, and the Defense Health Agency. ‘All of the different players are giving us a lot of support,’ Briar said…” Read the full article here.
Source: NH Twentynine Palms becomes first Marine Corps base to deploy new EHR – By Dave Marks, September 30, 2020. Military Health System.
