The 2024 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium kicked off in Dallas, Texas, with Patrick (Pat) Flanders, chief information officer for the Defense Health Agency, touching on the Department of Defense’s efforts to modernize health care, providing enterprise intelligence and data solutions, and looking to the future.
“The DHA is on a transformation journey to rethink, reinvent, and reimagine our care delivery model,” said Flanders. “This means moving towards a human-centered approach to health and building an enduring framework for future change.”
“Everything we do is in support of this goal—our strategic plan, accelerator ventures, and resourcing are all designed to drive this change,” he added.
DHA CIO Pat Flanders discusses modernizing the health care system at the 2024 DHITS.The DHA-sponsored information technology symposium highlights the latest in health IT information, research, and studies with the theme, “Capitalizing on an interconnected Military Health System.”
Flanders discussed the current priorities of the MHS IT system, such as providing technical and engineering support for the digital health strategy, standardizing, and supporting military hospital and clinic IT operations and training, providing acquisition lifecycle support to several programs, and protecting the DHA’s data and network.
Health IT leaders in government and industry attended the annual event to deliver presentations on topics surrounding military health IT. The symposium provides an opportunity to share knowledge and innovative ideas, discuss lessons learned, and introduce new IT developments within the MHS.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, director of the DHA, said, “Last year, I shared my vision on the importance of an aggressive digital health strategy for military medicine,” added Crosland. “Now, it’s about executing on that vision. Our ‘My Military Health’ campaign is about the patient. It’s about making people’s lives better. It’s about helping individuals remain healthy and, when they’re sick or injured, giving them more control in managing that car—anytime, anywhere, always,” said Crosland.
She explained that even though technology is pivotal for the future of health care, “it is an enabler, not an end state. Our competitors in health care in the U.S. are modernizing just as fast, if not faster. And make no mistake, we are in competition for our beneficiaries.”
“Our medical modernization isn’t simply about competing for market share,” Crosland reminded the audience, “but competing to win on the battlefield. The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard—they’re all relying on the DHA to be there, in support of them, wherever they are in the world. Every member of our team needs to be skilled in the use of the technologies we’re deploying. We need a digital transformation that connects individuals from the most remote and austere places on earth, back to our leading medical centers and experts in combat care.”
With senior leaders providing the current state and future for the DHA, break-out session speakers covered a variety of topics like artificial intelligence in health care, cybersecurity, enterprise standardization, data analytics, health informatics, innovation, and operational medicine.
Dr. Lester Martinez- López, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said, “We are taking a systems approach to military medicine, understanding our role as a critical part of the larger national defense system. Thinking of ourselves as a system helps us determine where digital technologies are most needed and how those advances can have an overall positive systemic impact, improving both efficiency and effectiveness.”
“Our focus must always be first on our patients,” said Martinez. “Technology never stands still, and the pace of advancement is speeding up every day. Our patients are exposed to new technology in every aspect of their lives. An increasing number of them are digital natives who embrace technology and expect us to offer them the most effective, reliable technical solutions available.”
Over 2,500 professionals from across the DHA, military services, other federal government agencies, and industry are attending the annual event.