DOD awards health system contracts

The Defense Department's Health Affairs office this week awarded two contracts

worth nearly $400 million to replace DOD's home-grown computer system with

an automated information system.

The five-year contracts went to Base Technologies Inc., McLean, Va., for

$192 million and United Information Systems Inc., Bethesda, Md., for $203

million.

They are part of DOD Health Affairs' $4 billion Defense Medical Information

Management/Systems Integration, Design, Development, Operations and Maintenance

Services (D/SIDDOMS) II program.

DOD has split D/SIDDOMS II into four parts, and this is the third set of

awards under Lot IV. Lot IV has been set aside for small businesses. Lot

I, which involves studies and analysis, is expected to be awarded later

this month.

Under the Lot IV contracts, the two companies will be involved in developing

software and hardware for the Military Health Services System. The project

is expected to be completed by May 5, 2005.

Greg Ayres, senior vice president for health care at Base Technologies,

said the company will focus "new technologies and architecture for the system"

as well as improve the system's security.

Base Technologies' largest commercial contract is the integration of systems

for Kaiser Permanente for the mid-Atlantic region.

One of the primary goals of D/SIDDOMS II is to make it easier to share medical

information. Managed care companies such as Kaiser Permanente have adopted

that approach to help control health care costs — they better use information

about a customer's health and avoid duplication of services.