The U.S. Coast Guard began deploying the Department of Defense's new Cerner EHR system Aug. 29 at four medical facility pilot sites in California.
The Coast Guard went live on the EHR, dubbed MHS Genesis, at Training Center Petaluma, Base Alameda, Air Station Sacramento, and Maritime Safety and Security Team 91105 in San Francisco.
The Coast Guard in April 2018 announced it would move to the same Cerner EHR system as the DOD, which is under a 10-year, $4.3 billion contract with the Kansas City, Mo.-based EHR vendor to develop and deploy MHS Genesis. The DOD began rolling out the new system in September 2019 at four sites in California and Idaho; the go-lives came after the department's 2017 implementation attempt, which it ultimately delayed due to clinician reports of workflow problems such as issues with lab report requests.
The Coast Guard and DOD's EHR system is also designed to be interoperable with the Department of Veterans Affairs' EHR, which Cerner is also developing. After previous delays this year, the VA plans to begin its system go-live this October.
Following its pilot phase, the Coast Guard plans to deploy MHS Genesis in two waves: Pacific and Atlantic. In the Pacific wave, the new EHR will go live at 32 Coast Guard Pacific Area shore medical facilities. The Atlantic wave will then roll out in 2021 at Coast Guard Atlantic Area shore medical facilities.
Both the Pacific and Atlantic go-live waves fall under Segment A of the Coast Guard's EHR acquisition program. Once the segment is completed in 2022, 43 ashore clinics and 67 ashore sick bays will be using MHS Genesis. The department plans to finish Segment B, which includes modernizing the Coast Guard's medical and dental radiology system, by June 2024.