DoD Launches MHS GENESIS EHR System Across 12 States

The Department of Defense (DoD) has completed another EHR implementation wave after the agency and its partners recently deployed MHS GENESIS in 12 states and 25 military healthcare facilities.

The most recent MHS GENESIS wave included over 10,000 clinicians from Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

“We are gaining momentum and improved efficiency with each Wave deployment,” said Liz Porter, president of Leidos Health Group, DoD’s health IT partner. “Our team continues to be impressed by the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the staff at each of these locations. They are the driving force behind our success to date.”

The EHR platform is now live across 600 military healthcare facilities in the West and Midwest, with roughly 41,000 active users.

“The goal for MHS GENESIS is to consolidate health information into single platform and provide a continuum of care from point of injury to definitive treatment at any military treatment facility worldwide," Colonel Garrick Cramer, Commander Munson Army Health Center, said in a statement.

DoD leaders have said the EHR implementation will enhance interoperability and support patient data exchange between all military branches and affiliated commercial care providers. The new system intends to boost effectiveness, promote patient experience and safety, enable the application of standardized workflows, and improve healthcare delivery, the agency said.

The new EHR system will also render an individual patient health record for service members, veterans, and their families.

"MHS GENESIS will greatly increase efficiencies for both beneficiaries and healthcare professionals through a DoD-wide, unified system that will also continue into the Veterans Affairs medical care system," Cramer added.

Although the deployments occurred within the last few days, patients at the 25 healthcare facilities have already utilized the new patient portal to communicate with providers, schedule appointments, place prescription refill orders, and view lab results and health history.

However, during the first few weeks after implementation, DoD said patients should expect diminished appointment availability due to the care team adjusting to the new system.

Munson, which is in Kansas, and most healthcare facilities with the newly implemented EHR system will have fewer daily appointments.

"We would first like to thank our patient population for their patience and feedback as we transition,” Cramer said. “While wait times may increase in the immediate future, we want our patients to feel at home here at Munson Army Health Center and trust that the care we provide is both safe and patient focused.”

DoD established the MHS GENESIS Transition Command Center to aid EHR users with daily issues during the first two weeks of EHR transition. 

"While this transition has been planned for quite some time, we used a phased approach to our transition to MHS Genesis," Cramer said.

"In addition, we also leveraged experience from members across the Defense Health Agency who were on site to assist medical staff with workflow builds and system checks to expedite efficiency. These efforts have been very crucial to the successful adoption our new EHR."

DoD plans to deploy the new MHS GENESIS EHR system across the country and overseas in 23 total waves. Each deployment wave will target a specific region of the country per year, with roughly three hospitals and several military treatment facilities for each implementation wave.

“The staff at these locations worked tirelessly to adopt a new electronic health record system, while continuing to battle a global pandemic,” said Holly Joers, acting PEO at Defense Healthcare Management Systems. “We applaud their focus on the mission and partnership in this important transformation.”  

DoD expects MHS GENESIS to be live at every military healthcare facility by the end of 2023.