The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has awarded a $17 million contract to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to provide services and operational support for USCG's Integrated Health Information System (IHiS), officials announced this month.

The single-award task order for McLean, Va.-based  SAIC has a one-year base period of performance, one twelve month option, one nine-month option, and a total contract value of some $17 million, if all options are exercised. The task order was awarded under the EAGLE Master Agreement. Work will be performed primarily in Falls Church, Va., San Diego and the designated USCG Operations Systems Center in West Virginia.

Coast Guard officials say the IHiS will support healthcare operations for organizations including USCG and the Department of State, and will provide access to beneficiaries from these organizations to their health records. It provides ambulatory care, urgent care, dental, physical therapy, optometry, behavioral health, occupational health, immunizations, audiology, radiology, pharmacy, laboratory and patient portal functionality.

Under the contract, SAIC will provide operational support of the USCG IHiS, including: information technology services; data center support including system availability, system maintenance, failover site operations, configuration management, performance monitoring, security monitoring, wireless network operations and mobile device management; help desk support; and the Composite Health Care System sustainment.

"We're pleased to support a valued customer in the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of State by providing critical IT services, integrating patient health records into one consolidated platform, and centralizing help desk support for the IHiS," said Steve Comber, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager.

In March, the USCG announced it was working with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to join the eHealth Exchange network. It rolled out their Epic electronic medical record in 2010.