The military continues to focus its efforts on developing the most sophisticated technologies and capabilities needed to sustain tactical advantage and achieve mission objectives. But the most critical component to success on the battlefield continues to lie with the warfighter.
Health IT
A division of Las Cruces, New Mexico-based SameDay Security Inc., has introduced a virtual home health care assistant that the company claims will “quickly deliver an immersive end user experience.” The electronic interface, known as Addison Care, uses visual, artificial intelligence and augmented reality. The system runs on Amazon Sumerian, a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“Designed to transform the home into a full-time health and wellness environment, Addison appears on 15-inch media screens throughout a residence and provides support to consumers with features including medication management, care plan adherence, social experiences and emergency response,” a company official stated.
EHRTS LLC of Arlington, Virginia, was awarded the second option year with a potential of $14,436,145 for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. The award, titled “Next Generation Tri-Service Workflow Services,” provides workflow and website sustainment for DOD's Defense Health Agency. It is a non-personal services contract to provide subject matter experts in the form of senior physicians, senior physician assistants/nurse practitioners, and junior physicians, training management, and program managers. EHRTS will provide medical and information technology workflow support services for enterprise systems.
Advances in genomics, medical sensors and data-driven health care increasingly are enabling doctors and patients to make personalized and targeted care decisions. But the effectiveness of these precision medicine capabilities depends on critical cybersecurity components to protect patient privacy and the integrity of patient data.
Agfa Healthcare, Greenville, South Carolina, has been awarded a maximum $768,000,000 fixed-price contract with economic-price-adjustment for digital imaging network-picture archive communication systems. This was a competitive acquisition with seven responses received. This is a five-year base contract with one five-year option period. The maximum dollar amount is for the life of the contract. Location of performance is South Carolina, with an August 11, 2026, performance completion date. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2016 through fiscal 2026 defense working capital funds.
A report assembled by a team of government and private industry experts recommends new information technologies and warns of potential minefields as it plots a course for modernizing the Defense Health Agency. The industry authors, many of whom are stakeholders in the defense health community, also suggest ways of improving defense health data use that could be applied to other government organizations.
Historically, wounded troops on the battlefield have endured long waits either for medical care or for transport to better-equipped facilities. This same scenario also has played out in the aftermath of natural and manmade disasters. A consortium has formed to address this gap in reaction time, according to News Editor Rita Boland in her article "Medicine Joins Disaster Response" in this issue of SIGNAL Magazine. This group has laid the groundwork for the National Emergency Preparedness and Response (NEPR) Research Center.
"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink."
-Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge