Vangent builds health information systems for IHS

Vangent Inc. will help the Indian Health Service deploy an information technology health information exchange and other services under a $3.3 million contract.

The IHS, an agency of the Health and Human Services Department, provides a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.9 million Native Americans and Alaskan Natives who belong to more than 500 federally recognized tribes in 35 states.

Under the contract, Vangent and its partner, Orchestrate Healthcare, will plan, implement and support the national deployment of the IHS Health Information Exchange, the Enterprise Master Patient Index and the Nationwide Health Information Network.

As a central part of this effort, Vangent’s open-source software, HIEOS, will be used to enable connectivity between IHS facilities and the Nationwide Health Information Network.

The three systems, currently in IHS beta testing, will be implemented at 11 IHS regions to support more than 250 IHS facilities.

This project will help to improve the quality of care for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives by obtaining an overall view of patient medical record history that will increase patient safety, reduce medical errors and adverse events, enhance decision-making and increase efficiency and effectiveness, the company said.

For the past 12 years, Vangent has supported various IHS’ health IT projects including population health management, electronic health-record system integration, clinical messaging and interoperability, the company said.

Vangent, of Arlington, Va., ranks No. 57 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.