The Department of Defense turned on its electronic health record pilot MHS Genesis at the Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Washington, Defense Healthcare Management Systems announced via Twitter on Tuesday.

This is just the first phase of the DoD's massive EHR revamp, which has been in the works for the past four years. Cerner and Leidos won a $4.3 billion contract in July 2015 to help modernize and consolidate the military EHR.

[Also: DoD says scaled-back Cerner EHR rollout will now begin in February 2017]

"This is an exciting milestone for our team. We worked hard to get to our first (initial operating capability) site, and I can report first hand from the command center that everything is going as expected," DHMS Program Executive Officer Stacy Cummings, told FCW.

"Providers at Fairchild are treating patients while the government and contractor team are quickly implementing fixes to issues as they are identified," she added.

Genesis was scheduled to launch in December at two facilities, but was bumped until Feb. at only Fairchild. At the time, Cummings explained to reporters the delay was caused by the identification of some issues and more time was needed to ensure the best possible platform for the initial fielding sites.

Roll out of the second site is slated for June 2017 at the Oak Harbor Naval Hospital in Ault Field, Washington.

Twitter: @JessieFDavis
Email the writer: jessica.davis@himssmedia.com

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