Bill Tinston, director of the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office responds to audience questions at HIMSS 2021 (Photo by: Jacob Moore, MHS Communications).

Holly Joers, the program executive officer for PEO DHMS, noted, "While the new electronic health record is the cornerstone of our digital transformation, our future is tied to the insatiable need for data. In IT, it's easy to focus on systems and their operations, when we should be talking about the data and where it needs to be. People are separated by time and place, but technology bridges those gaps, putting the patient at the center."

Joers also noted that DOD is influencing the private sector through things like the mass vaccination, or MassVax, developed within the new health record. "We had a specific need to vaccinate large numbers of people at a time, so we worked with our vendors to develop MassVax.

In 2020, the private sector had a sudden, unexpected need to manage mass vaccinations. Cerner released our mass vaccination tool to the commercial sector; yet another example of how DOD is driving change."

The new single, common record will ensure that a patient's data follows them from accession through Veteran status. Both Tinston and Joers highlighted joint initiatives between DOD and VA like telehealth services and the joint health information exchange both of which are vital to effective patient care and positive health outcomes.

As Tinston noted, "We know that improved patient care is why we're doing what we're doing right now. But, what's truly exciting is the thought that we don't yet know what unexpected benefits are in store for patients in the future thanks to what we're doing today. That's the change I most look forward to seeing."