The U.S. Department of Defense is seeking enterprise software licenses specific to its variety of hospitals and clinics, according to a notice posted on the federal contract website.
It's also looking to procure a Dental Electronic Health Record System (D-EHR) to be part of the EHR system it's creating. The dental system should be able to manage 17,000 patient appointments a day, reports Nextgov.
The perpetual enterprise software licenses "should be aligned to the specific clinical capabilities required at each location," according to its request for information to industry document. "Some sites may have a requirement for software to support specialties such as laboratory, obstetrics or radiology, while others may not."
In its draft request for proposals issued in late January, DoD said it would roll out the new EHR by region and facility type. Hospitals and clinics in the western United States are scheduled to receive the upgraded EHR in 2017, those in the North and South in 2018 and facilities in Europe and the Pacific in 2019. The new EHR will be deployed to ships and field hospitals starting in 2017 through 2019.
The software capabilities required at a specific site might evolve over time, so its licensing strategy must support that evolution, the document states.
DoD wants fixed prices on the licenses and maintenance, and is seeking bulk discounts from vendors and wants to be able to consolidate software maintenance support after the EHR is fully deployed. Deadline to respond to both RFIs is March 7.
The VA also began the procurement process for its EHR upgrade in late January, looking for a contractor to provide program management and expertise as it begins the requirements-gathering process for its upgrade, called VistA Evolution.
After bagging plans to build a joint EHR from scratch, the two agencies are taking different paths, but still working with Interagency Program Office, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on creating compatible systems.
To learn more:
- find the license notice
- here's the dental EHR notice
- check out the Nextgov article