DoD and VA Award EHR Integration Subcontract to DSS, Inc. for Fully Integrated Data

Press Release | DSS, Inc. | November 14, 2012

Information exchange project supports mission to streamline workflow and enhance quality care for veterans and active military

JUNO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS), the leading provider of software development and support for VistA and vxVistA, today announced its subcontract award to support the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Integrated Electronic Health Record (iEHR) project. Led by prime contractor Systems Made Simple (SMS), DSS will help integrate disparate DoD and VA data onto a single architecture system, helping to standardize critical patient and financial information between the two departments for full interoperability and enhanced functionality.

“With one collaborative system, the DoD and VA will not only improve overall patient safety and care for veterans and active military, but will also serve as one of the largest EHR and HIE models for private healthcare organizations.”

Developed by the Interagency Program Office (IPO), the project entails creating one common electronic health record (EHR) platform leveraging the open source VistA system, the VA’s current EHR. DSS will facilitate this process by integrating legacy information from the VistA framework into the iEHR, as well as gather and analyze VA workflow and business rules to ensure all components are aligned, interoperable and fully operational. The iEHR initiative is contingent on multiple successful, sequential legacy transitions, for which DSS will also play a pivotal role to ensure current legacy systems are operational while each phase of the iEHR transition is completed.

“With our long-standing history and expertise with VistA, DSS is well-positioned to support a successful iEHR implementation,” said Mark Byers, CEO and president of DSS. “With one collaborative system, the DoD and VA will not only improve overall patient safety and care for veterans and active military, but will also serve as one of the largest EHR and HIE models for private healthcare organizations.”

Under the Joint Strategic Plan (JSP), the IPO was established to accelerate the exchange of healthcare information between the DoD and VA, acting as the point of accountability in the development of a single system with full interoperability.

DSS was awarded the subcontract through the CIO-SP3 contracting vehicle, collaborating with Service-Disabled Small Business prime contractor SMS, a leading provider of IT systems and services to support critical architecture, data and application challenges in the healthcare industry, and other vendors to complete the DoD and VA IPO iEHR initiative.

About DSS, Inc.

For more than 20 years, Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS) has worked extensively with VistA/CPRS and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to modernize the legacy system’s performance and improve efficiencies for clinical and administrative users. In 2009, DSS released vxVistA, an open source EHR, to meet the needs of hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities and physician practices, as well as state and local governments. DSS also offers add-on products including behavioral health, clinical decision support, dental electronic records, document imaging and revenue cycle solutions.

To foster the adoption of open source in healthcare organizations, DSS is a founder and supporter of a community-driven, collaboration environment website called www.vxVistA.org. This online community acts as a forum for discussion and best practices among worldwide vxVistA and VistA EHR users including clinical and administrative staff, new adopters, C-suite executives and developers. DSS is a supporter and an active member of the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent (OSEHRA) organization. For more information on DSS, visit www.dssinc.com.