The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded Lockheed Martin a $2.3 million contract to develop a mobile interface for the agency’s Integrated Health Information System (IHiS) so clinicians and staff can access and update patient records using smart phones and other devices.
The secure mobile interface will be available for the Coast Guard’s 43 clinics and one support facility across the nation, including Hawaii and Alaska, according to a Sept. 28 announcement in Federal Business Opportunities.
Lockheed Martin, whose contract is for one year with four more one-year options, will begin with installing the system at an operations system support center and two clinics as a pilot for the Coast Guard, which is an agency of the Homeland Security Department. During the pilot, Lockheed Martin will also make sure that the wireless system can meet stringent federal security certification and accreditation requirements.
The mobile interface will enable users to view medical information and document medical care in a variety of settings, including chair or bed-side during examinations; remotely for physician review of labs; and remotely at disaster recovery sites.
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The system includes wireless networks at each clinic that will integrate with the Coast Guard’s existing wire network; a server that supports VPN connections from mobile devices to IHiS; tablets and government-furnished smart phones; and hardware for Common Access Card authentication for mobile devices.
The IHiS is based on the Epic electronic health record system and is the product of a system wide re-engineering of clinical workflows and feeder information systems so integrated applications will operate effectively.
Beside the EHR, IHiS includes a single sign-on using the Defense Department-administered Common Access Card (CAC) for authentication combined with a unified graphical user interface (GUI) and supported by eight tightly integrated components.
The Coast Guard said it is moving to a patient-centered medical home model, and the IHiS will also enable greater access by patients to their information. Care delivery will be more coordinated so that users can incorporate and document medical, dental, occupational and behavioral health care in the patient’s record.
