Dental EHR System In The Works
Defense Department procurement process includes dental EHR capable system
According to a notice posted on FedBizOpps.Gov, "The DoD Health Management Systems Modernization (DHMSM) program is exploring several contract structures to support the acquisition of EHR enterprise software licenses and software maintenance support." The DoD wants to achieve a special license for a variety of hospitals and clinics, and is also planning a Dental Electronic Health Record System, also referred to as D-EHR.
FedBizOpps.Gov further reports the DoD is "seeking information on industry’s capabilities for supporting an enterprise-wide Dental Electronic Health Record System functionality for the DoD dental community." This will be for operational medicine and fixed facilities. "These services include but are not limited to preventative, routine, emergency, surgical, and diagnostic care."
Nextgov reports, "The Pentagon may develop its next generation EHR system - slated to serve 9.6 million patients and 700,000 clinicians - through a series of enterprise licenses crafted to meet the special requirements of a variety of military hospitals and clinics." The procurement process for this dental EHR has already been kick started, and it will be capable of managing "17,000 patient appointments a day."
This new system, as anticipated by the DHMSM, will "support high volume dental exams that take from 6 to 8 minutes to complete and serves 10,000 dentists, assistants, and clerks." The system will also be capable of capturing and storing dental related imagery, which can range from x-rays to more advanced images, such as Cone Beam Computer Technology images.
FierceHealthIT explains the "software capabilities required at a specific site might evolve over time, so its licensing strategy must support that evolution." The deadline for a response for this new Dental EHR system functionality is March 7th. The draft for the new system states, "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 Europe and the Pacific in 2019. The new EHR will be deployed to ships and field hospitals starting in 2017 to 2019."