Health

Research for Cures, Information to Improve Health

From cancer research to military health systems to disease surveillance, SAIC’s extensive experience in both biomedical research and information technology enables it to contribute to projects of international significance.

Preparing people to meet and respond to emerging health threats is a primary goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since 2001, SAIC has supported the CDC in several initiatives to improve public health preparedness nationwide for both naturally occurring disease outbreaks and bioterrorism.

In FY09, SAIC won a contract to help enhance the CDC’s surveillance capabilities by broadening the scope of public health information. Through this contract, SAIC is laying the foundation for an important electronic data bridge to connect hospital information systems in real-time to local, state and federal public health systems.

The project will use the emerging set of national healthcare data exchange standards being developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the Nationwide Health Information Network. The health network is being developed to provide a secure, nationwide, interoperable health information infrastructure that will connect providers, consumers, and others involved in supporting healthcare.

Helping Speed Delivery of New Treatments for Cancer and AIDS

In FY09, SAIC-Frederick was awarded a new contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to continue its work with the National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Md. (NCI-F) to speed the delivery of new technologies and treatments to patients with cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick, a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC, provides operations and technical support to the overall mission of the NCI.

SAIC has been the prime contractor for this Federally Funded Research and Development Center since 1995, and in 2000 formed SAIC-Frederick Inc. to continue the work. SAIC-Frederick is supporting more than 300 clinical trials, and managing a pilot program of community hospitals in 14 states studying how best to bring the latest, evidence-based cancer care to rural, inner-city, and underserved patients. It also operates two biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities—one for NCI and the other for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Vaccine Research Center. These facilities produce drugs, vaccines, and other biologics for use in clinical trials.

Protecting Public Health Through Biosurveillance

SAIC supports a number of disease and biological surveillance programs that provide front-line early warnings to help protect public health. For example, SAIC provides real-time detection systems to field biologists studying migratory wildlife to rapidly identify pathogens responsible for some of the most virulent diseases, including anthrax, avian influenza, and plague. This information can assist decisionmakers in planning, preparedness, and response to potential outbreaks, and help prevent epidemics or spread of disease from animals to humans.

Helping to Ensure Better Medical Care for Deployed Troops

Helping to ensure that U.S. troops at deployed locations receive the best possible medical care, SAIC supports the Military Health System Theater Medical Information Program (TMIP). The program provides medical information management technology to support medical personnel in a deployed environment. For example, TMIP supports complete clinical care documentation, patient movement visibility, health surveillance, and medical supply and equipment tracking in a secure communications environment.

Deb Chatterjee Sr. Principal Scientist, SAIC-Frederick, National Cancer Institute at Frederick

“Cancer does not kill people; it is the metastasis that kills people. Thus, there is an immediate need for a simple model for early detection of tumor initiation and metastatic invasion. We are working on a model that will help us detect cancers before they metastasize.”

Enhancing the Military Health Information System

For more than 20 years, SAIC has supported the Military Health System community by developing and deploying key medical information systems, such as the Composite Health Care System (CHCS), now a key component of the military’s AHLTA electronic health record. Designed and developed for the Department of Defense (DoD) by SAIC, the CHCS is a fully integrated hospital information system that helps capture, manage, and share health data across the DoD enterprise by connecting medical departments, hospital wards, outlying clinics, laboratories, and pharmacies. Under a new task order awarded in FY09, SAIC will develop and implement a graphical user interface for the system, enhance software, and provide sustainment services including testing, integration, and project-level configuration and data management.

Helping to Improve Dental Care for American Indians

To help improve dental healthcare for more than 1.9 million American Indians and Alaskan natives, SAIC is working with the Indian Health Service (IHS) to implement an electronic dental record system that interfaces with other IHS healthcare systems. Under a contract awarded in FY09, SAIC is providing program management, quality control, certification and accreditation services to help install this new system in more than 200 IHS dental clinics across the United States.

Working to Improve Care for Millions of Veterans

Helping the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) deliver better care to the nation’s veterans, SAIC supports the VA’s enterprise-wide electronic health record system used throughout the VA medical system, which serves more than 150 medical centers and hundreds of outpatient clinic facilities. SAIC provides comprehensive software and engineering services to develop, populate, enhance, and maintain support to the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA).

In FY09, SAIC was awarded a task order to support the VistA Health Data System Repositories. The repositories program is a key component of the VA’s next-generation healthcare information system that will enable the VA to maintain complete and accessible patient record information on the millions of veterans it serves throughout the VA healthcare system.

National Institutes of Health:
Electronic Research Administration Grant Administration

Working with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), SAIC uses its expertise in electronic records management and software development to help further the goals of medical research. Under a new contract awarded in FY09, SAIC provides software development support services to the electronic Research Administration (eRA). The eRA systems provide information technology solutions and support to help the NIH manage the receipt, processing, review, award, and monitoring of more than $30 billion in grants awarded annually.

Used by more than 100,000 researchers and about 9,500 research institutions worldwide, the systems help record, review, and process more than 80,000 applications each year, and administer more than 55,000 grants. Under the contract, SAIC provides a broad range of software development services including systems maintenance and enhancement, and design and development services.