Harris operates to install VA surgical management system

Harris Corp. has won a five-year, $54.9 million contract from the Veterans Affairs Department to install a new workflow management solution that will benefit VA surgeons, staff and patients.

Under the terms of the award, Harris will integrate a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) surgical workflow management solution that will reduce surgery wait times and cancellations, increase patient throughput, and improve the overall surgical experience for veterans and their families, the Oct. 20 Harris announcement said.

The company will install and operate the Surgical Quality and Workflow Manager (SQWM) system on 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks and all 130 VA hospitals that perform surgery.

The system, which will support approximately 400,000 cases annually and approximately 6,000 surgeons, will ensure that the VA's disparate surgical systems will interface seamlessly and accommodate future software upgrades and enhancements.

SQWM will improve the end-to-end workflow for surgeons, nurses and support staff by automating many clinical and administrative surgical tasks, including scheduling, accessing the patient's profile, ordering tests and tracking surgical assets.

To meet the VA's request to use a COTS software product, Harris will use General Electric's Surgical Information System for its solution.

This will be the first time the VA has used a commercial solution for an enterprisewide clinical information system, the announcement said.

The SQWM program is part of the VA's Enhance the Veteran Experience and Access to Healthcare program, known as EVEAH, a global VA effort to ensure that all veterans receive the health care they have earned through their service.

Earlier this week Harris announced that it had won a two-year blanket purchase agreement worth $199.6 million to support the EVEAH program.

Harris Corp., of Melbourne, Fla., ranks No. 13 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.