Sept. 1, 2020 —
Base Alameda Coast Guard personnel test out MHS GENESIS, the service’s new electronic health records system. Base Alameda was chosen as one of four pilot sites to go-live with MHS GENESIS on Aug. 29, 2020. The system will eventually be rolled out to all 43 ashore clinics and 67 ashore sick bays. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
The Coast Guard deployed the MHS GENESIS electronic health records (EHR) system to four Coast Guard medical facility pilot sites Aug. 29, the first step toward service-wide adoption of an integrated EHR system.
The four medical facilities chosen as pilot sites – Training Center Petaluma, Base Alameda, Air Station Sacramento and Maritime Safety and Security Team 91105 in San Francisco -- were selected because they collectively possess the full range of Coast Guard medical facility capabilities and to leverage resources from the Department of Defense, which has been deploying MHS GENESIS since 2017 in the same regional area.
The pilot phase will be followed by deployment of the system to the service in two waves, Pacific and Atlantic. In the Pacific wave, MHS GENESIS will deploy to 32 Coast Guard Pacific Area shore medical facilities. Beginning in 2021, the Atlantic Wave will deploy MHS GENESIS to Coast Guard Atlantic Area shore medical facilities and, combined with the Pacific wave, will establish MHS GENESIS as the core EHR solution for the Coast Guard. Both waves and associated deployment support activities are collectively known as Segment A of the Coast Guard electronic health records acquisition program. When Segment A is completed in 2022, 43 ashore clinics and 67 ashore sick bays will be using MHS GENESIS for EHR management.
Segment B includes modernization of the Coast Guard’s entire medical and dental radiology system; completion by June 2024 is targeted. Segment C will extend an EHR capability to all afloat sickbays; the schedule is to be determined.
“MHS GENESIS will be a technological leap forward for us. It will be a game-changer for our patients and staff as we transform the delivery of health care to increase readiness and quality across our enterprise,” said Rear Adm. Dana Thomas, director of Health, Safety and Work-life, which includes the Coast Guard's health care system of 43 clinics and 150 sick bays.
The electronic health records acquisition will modernize the Coast Guard’s health care data management by acquiring an EHR solution in place of its primarily paper-based health record system. Having an EHR capability will make patient record retrieval easier and faster; reduce administrative errors; and allow electronic information exchange with the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and commercial care providers. The Coast Guard’s EHR program, once fully implemented, will service all Coast Guard clinics and sick bays – ashore and afloat.
For more information: eHRa program page