VA gives Harris $54.9M to streamline surgical workflow for hospitals

Harris Corp. has won a $54.9 million, 5-year contract to provide the Department of Veterans Affairs with a surgical workflow management solution. Harris' offering will incorporate the GE Centricity Perioperative Management system.

Although the VA has been moving to integrate some private-sector applications with its VistA electronic health record, the GE surgical management product is the first commercial off-the-shelf software to be used throughout the VA healthcare enterprise, according to the press release.

Harris will install and operate SQWM in all 130 VA hospitals performing surgery, supporting approximately 400,000 cases per year and about 6,000 surgeons. The system also will be used in all 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, which are regional groupings of VA medical centers, vet centers and outpatient clinics.

Harris' Surgical Quality and Workflow Manager (SQWM) will be used to improve workflow for surgeons, nurses and support staff by automating both clinical and administrative tasks related to surgery. These tasks include scheduling, accessing patient information and ordering tests.

Harris, which specializes in government health IT, also offers services to private-sector healthcare providers. Among those services are IT infrastructure and management, clinical workflow and analytics, health information exchange, and imaging.

Earlier this year, Harris acquired Carefx, which provides an interoperability platform to about 800 hospitals, healthcare systems and information exchanges around the world. The acquisition was believed to represent Harris' bid for a bigger role in the commercial health IT market. 

To learn more:
- read the press release