The Program Executive Office Defense Healthcare Management Systems announced Oct. 11, 2016, the initial deployment of MHS GENESIS, the Military Health System’s (MHS) electronic health record, will take place at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., in February 2017.

The updated schedule provides additional time for the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization program and its industry partner, Leidos Partnership for Defense Health, to expand the capabilities included in initial deployment, improving the user experience for health care providers and MHS beneficiaries. MHS GENESIS is a single, integrated medical and dental electronic health record for use across the MHS.

“The time we are investing in the program now will help us ensure success in the future, providing the best possible user experience to our beneficiaries and healthcare providers from day one,” said Stacy Cummings, program executive officer, Defense Healthcare Management System.

Deployment at additional inpatient facilities in the Pacific Northwest is scheduled to start as early as June 2017. This effort now incorporates additional capabilities planned for release later in the deployment schedule. The modified schedule will not impact MHS GENESIS’ full deployment target of 2022.

 “We want to be able to provide the best possible user experience, and the additional time we are investing will help us accomplish this,” said Dr. Paul Cordts, incoming functional champion for the Military Health System. “We are working closely with our provider community to make sure the processes and workflows built into MHS GENESIS provide the best product for our medical teams on day one.”