A Long Legacy of Supporting Military Health Care

This support consists of comprehensive software engineering and integration, system engineering, configuration and data management, logistical operations and maintenance, site operations and subject matter expertise for both the DoD's original electronic health record system — the SAIC-developed Composite Health Care System (CHCS) — and its emerging health record system, AHLTA (formerly CHCS II). Our support also covers clinical information systems, and DoD/Veterans Affairs initiatives to share medical resources and records.

In addition to providing helpdesk support, as well as onsite support for 106 military treatment facilities and their 535 remote clinics worldwide, SAIC also provides 24X7 remote system monitoring via our North American Integrated Services Management Center (NAISMC) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

"The support SAIC has provided CHCS users has instilled them with great confidence in our clinical systems, and the number of patients who have been assisted by the system SAIC produced and maintains is now truly countless," said Colonel Vic Eilenfield, program manager of the MHS Clinical Information Technology Program Office.

SAIC will continue to support the MHS in moving to the emerging AHLTA system which incorporates a centralized clinical data repository providing longitudinal (lifetime) health information. AHLTA builds on the functionality, usability and efficiency of CHCS and its reliability and availability to deliver critical information to health care providers when it's needed most.

Timeline

• 1988
  SAIC surprises the health care industry by winning an eight-year, billion-dollar contract to install a computerized medical information system at DoD medical facilities worldwide. Called the Composite Health Care System (CHCS), this groundbreaking system will become the foundation for the Military Health System.

• 1996
  SAIC delivers CHCS on schedule, on cost, and with greater quantified benefits than promised. Deployed worldwide, the system serves more than 500 Army, Navy, and Air Force hospitals and clinics and offers the benefits of electronic health records.
  
  The General Accounting Office (GAO) issues a positive report to the U.S. Congress calling the worldwide deployment of CHCS "a major achievement, given the complexity of the system and the number of facilities involved."

• 1997
  SAIC helps develop another groundbreaking capability for the Military Health System: transferring electronic patient records from U.S. hospitals to on-site attending physicians in the jungles of Thailand.

• 1998
  CHCS continues to draw accolades and win awards. Government Executive magazine writes, "In a government where massive information technology projects routinely fail... CHCS stands out as a shining success."

• 2001
  Following the World Trade Center attacks, the USNS Comfort hospital ship docks off New York City to provide support to first responders. SAIC IT staff — and the CHCS system — are onboard to help.

• 2003-4
  During the Iraqi conflict, SAIC staff onboard the USNS Comfort manage the hospital information system, helping doctors and nurses access important medical data as they treat wounded combatants.
  
  After the December 26, 2004 tsunami strikes South Asia, SAIC'sour IT staff provide similar support to help the doctors and nurses onboard the USNS Mercy treat tsunami victims.

• 2005
  Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., suffers a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina, severely damaging its hospital. Determined to help hurricane-displaced patients, SAIC staff bring the legacy CHCS back online and enable the option to transfer medical records of displaced patients from Keesler to other military hospitals outside the stricken area. SAIC then uses data from the new AHLTA system (formerly called CHCS II) to help retrieve electronic medical records on Keesler in-patients who were evacuated to military medical centers in Texas.
  
  Shortly before Katrina strikes, SAIC wins a 3-year contract to continue sustainment support to the Military Health System.