Bono acknowledged there have been areas where adjustments were needed. She stressed the importance of having a system that is secure. Feedback will be used to improve the system, she noted.
"We are a large government organization undertaking a critical strategic project,” Bono explained. “It's important that we embrace our heritage as a learning organization.”
MHS GENESIS has been deployed at four sites in Washington state: Naval Hospital Bremerton, the Air Force’s 92nd Medical Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, Naval Health Clinic Oak Harbor and Madigan Army Medical Center.
Stacy Cummings, program executive officer for Defense Healthcare Management Systems, announced four new sites where MHS GENESIS will be deployed.
Three of the sites are in California. They are Naval Air Station Lemoore, Travis Air Force Base and Army Medical Health Clinic Presidio of Monterey. One site is in Idaho -- Mountain Home Air Force Base.
Eventually, MHS GENESIS will provide a single electronic health record for each of the 9.4 million MHS beneficiaries, and will be used by about 200,000 providers at 1,200 sites, according to the DHA.
“Feedback from our frontline users is most important, but input from [initial operational test and evaluation], Congress, consultants, the media and our patients are both to be expected and welcomed,” Bono said, adding, “It’s how we plan to get better.”
She explained, “We’re getting a lot of input and feedback right now; we need to process it calmly and in a measured way and keep moving forward with confidence and conviction in the path we’ve selected.”