Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

IT health care leaders among DOD’s ‘Top 100 Innovators List’ for 2021

Image of A picture of Pat Flanders, the DHA's chief information officer and deputy assistant director for information operations and Army Maj. Ryan Costantino, data innovation chief for the Program Executive Office. Pat Flanders (left), the Defense Health Agency’s chief information officer and deputy assistant director for information operations, and Army Maj. Ryan Costantino, data innovation chief for the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Intelligence and Data Solution program with the Defense Healthcare Management Systems, will be presented with Federal 100 Awards at a gala in August (Handout photo)

Two pioneering Department of Defense health care information technology professionals have been selected by FCW magazine as among the top 100 federal innovators in their field for 2021, known as the 'Federal 100.'

Pat Flanders, the Defense Health Agency's chief information officer and deputy assistant director for information operations, and Army Maj. Ryan Costantino, data innovation chief for the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Intelligence and Data Solution (EIDS) program with the Defense Healthcare Management Systems (PEO DHMS); will be honored at a gala in August. The Federal 100 Awards are presented to the 100 women and men "who personify what's possible in how the federal government acquires, develops and manages IT," FCW said in a statement.

Flanders, a finance specialist within the IT field who also made the Federal 100 list in 2013, leads the development of a secure Military Health System (MHS) IT sector that seeks to streamline multi-year operations that improve health records, systems, services and medical readiness.

"As service-managed hospitals and clinics began realigning under DHA administration and onto its centralized IT infrastructure, Pat took steps to establish an unprecedented level of financial transparency necessary to identify opportunities for standardization and operational efficiencies," according to the award nomination written by Dr. Brian Lein, assistant director of the DHA's Health Care Administration (HCA).

"He personally developed and implemented a custom, web-based enterprise resource planning solution, Ektropy, to capture a relational view of MHS IT costs, contracts, personnel, and programs," Lein wrote. "This has resulted in centralized planning and execution data allowing for a comprehensive view and analysis; eliminated redundancies to improve costs; and provided audit controls, ultimately driving increased accountability across the MHS enterprise."

Ektropy has been a game-changer as the DHA continues to consolidate electronic medical records across the MHS. It tracks 182 organizations with more than 10,000 people and almost $2 billion in IT budget costs.

Acting as secondary nominators for Flanders were Naomi Escoffery, DHA HCA's chief of business operations, and Air Force Col. Kevin Seeley, DHA deputy CIO.

Costantino, with a background as a pharmacist, was nominated by colleagues at the PEO DHMS for his commitment to combat opioid abuse by leading the enhancement of a joint DOD/Veterans Affairs opioid registry, an automatic system to alert clinicians to a patient in crisis.

"The DOD and VA Opioid registries are a triumph in collaboration and a data-centric approach - getting the right data at the point of care to benefit our service members, veterans, and their families," said Holly Joers, acting program executive officer, PEO DHMS. "As a result of his tireless dedication and leadership, Maj. Constantino is changing lives.

Costantino serves as a clinical analytic expert and advisor to DHA leadership, Nichols and Sohl wrote, serving as a bridge to other technical subject matter experts.

His job is to sustain investment for data capabilities in collaboration with industry, academia, allies, and other non-federal entities, pushing tech to create healthcare capabilities and improve outcomes, according to his Top 100 award nominators - Chris Nichols, PEO DHMS program manager, and Navy Cmdr. David Sohl, EIDS business operations lead.

That work includes enhancing access to high-quality and fully traceable federal data and resources for artificial intelligence research and development while maintaining safety, security, privacy, and confidentiality protections. Costantino also oversees the methodology and integrity of the EIDS Opioid Registry and Naloxone Tool, which directly contribute to pain management and opioid safety within the MHS.

You also may be interested in...

Essentris®

Fact Sheet
10/26/2020

The military’s inpatient electronic health record is used in acute hospital environments, providing point-of-care data capture at the patient’s bedside for physiological devices, fetal/uterine devices, ventilators and other patient care machines.

Composite Health Care System

Fact Sheet
10/26/2020

The Composite Health Care System (CHCS) allows clinicians to electronically perform patient appointment processes and scheduling, order laboratory tests, authorize radiology procedures and prescribe medications.

AHLTA Web Print

Fact Sheet
10/26/2020

AHLTA Web Print (AWP) is an application embedded in the AHLTA client workstation that provides the ability to print a patient’s entire AHLTA medical record or a subset, eliminating the need to print each AHLTA encounter or result separately.

TOL Patient Portal Secure Messaging

Fact Sheet
9/29/2020

TRICARE Online Patient Portal (TOLPP) Secure Messaging (SM) provides Military Health System patients who receive care at a military treatment facility or clinic access to a robust messaging capability, allowing authorized patients the ability to securely communicate with their health care team.

Special Needs Program Management Information System (SNPMIS)

Fact Sheet
8/15/2019

SNPMIS documents and reports on services provided to TRICARE patients with special needs.

Nutrition Management Information System (NMIS)

Fact Sheet
6/19/2019

NMIS is a fully integrated nutrition management system supporting military readiness and the war fighter worldwide.

Patient Encounter Processing and Reporting (PEPR)

Fact Sheet
6/11/2019

PEPR allows analysis of purchased care claims data created by the TRICARE Managed Care Support Contractors.

Coding and Compliance Editor (CCE)

Fact Sheet
6/11/2019

CCE supports the Department of Defense efforts to improve coding accuracy and reimbursements for inpatient and outpatient services.

Expense Assignment System (EAS IV)

Fact Sheet
6/11/2019

EAS IV is a Web-based tool essential to the Department of Defense because it assists the Defense Health Agency in identifying the total cost of providing health care to TRICARE patients.

Military Health System (MHS) Population Health Portal (PHP)

Fact Sheet
6/11/2019

Military Health System (MHS) Population Health Portal (PHP) Fact Sheet

Military Health System Data Repository (MDR)

Fact Sheet
4/5/2019

The MDR is the centralized data repository that captures, archives, validates, integrates and distributes Defense Health Agency (DHA) corporate health care data worldwide.

Military Health System Management Analysis and Reporting Tool (M2)

Fact Sheet
4/5/2019

M2 is a powerful ad-hoc query tool used to manage and oversee operations worldwide.

Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System – Industrial Hygiene (DOEHRS-IH)

Fact Sheet
4/5/2019

DOEHRS-IH allows the Department of Defense (DoD) to manage occupational and environmental health risk data and actively track biological, chemical, physical health hazards and engineered nano-object process to service members worldwide.

Defense Medical Human Resources System – internet (DMHRSi)

Fact Sheet
4/4/2019

DMHRSi manages human resources for the Defense Health Agency. It is the only Integrated Human Resource System within the Department of Defense.

Centralized Credentials Quality Assurance System (CCQAS)

Fact Sheet
3/14/2019

Centralized Credentials Quality Assurance System (CCQAS) is a web-based worldwide credentialing, privileging, risk management and adverse actions application that supports more than 105,000 professionals providing health and wellness services to active duty military personnel, their families and selected retirees.

Page 2 of 3 , showing items 16 - 30
First < 1 2 3 > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: December 29, 2022
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery