Armed forces march towards electronic health records

The MoD has announced the next stage of plans to introduce an electronic medical records system that will link to the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in the next six years.

 

Two suppliers, LogicaCMG and IBM have been short-listed for a £1m contract, due to be awarded in early 2005, to prove their systems.  

 

The Digital Medical Information Capability Programme (DCIMP) will centralise the health records of all 200,000 UK military personnel on a database, allowing access from anywhere in the world using a patient ID code. The information will be kept when each person is discharged from service, and the plan is to seamlessly integrate it into evolving NHS systems.

 

Lt Cdr Susie Thompson, speaking on behalf of the DCIMP, told E-Health Insider that integration with the NPfIT was vital to the project's eventual success.

 

"There has been a dramatic reduction in the number of military hospitals; the only ones left are in Gibraltar and Cyprus. Today, all defence personnel with acute or critical illnesses are treated within the NHS. This is why we need to have a system to transfer medical information."

 

The DMICP will also allow the MoD to look at the overall health of the armed forces, and help research in ways of improving their fitness and well-being. The information may also be used for "management purposes".

 

The initial contract is worth £1m, will be for one year, and will be awarded at the beginning of 2005 after an extensive assessment. The project still requires ministerial approval and the authorization of the Treasury.

 

If the trial proves successful, a main 10-year contract worth up to £80m will be awarded. Part of the condition of this contract will be the introduction of an incremental system promising full interoperability with the NHS by 2010.

 

Two major international IT consultancy companies, LogicaCMG and IBM, have been shortlisted for the contract.

 

LogicaCMG's programme team includes EMIS, who already provide the MoD's primary care system, Software of Excellence, who provide dental solutions, and General Dynamics UK, a military communications operator.

 

Details of IBM's programme have not yet been made publicly available.