HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, GA – The 3rd Infantry Division will begin modernizing their healthcare records system to the new Military Health System GENESIS starting on June 11, 2022.
The MHS GENESIS has been making its way across Department of Defense installations and will replace Tricare Online in the coming months.
“MHS GENESIS is the new electronic health record for the Military Health System and the Department of Defense, and will replace our existing outpatient and inpatient electronic health and dental record systems,” said Maj. Karen Long, senior aeromedical physician assistant at 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia.
The new system offers multiple upgrades that will help Soldiers and their Families receive the best care possible by offering direct communication with primary care teams and online appointment scheduling.
“A lot of functions within the MHS Genesis Patient Portal will be similar to Tricare Online, but there are a variety of improvements with the new system,” explained Long. “The secure messaging piece of the Patient Portal allows for direct communication with your primary care team, as well as specialty clinics. Through the Patient Portal, you can schedule appointments, review or download clinical notes, labs results and radiology reports from any visit you’ve had within the MHS. There's also a health library available to look up information on medical conditions and medications.”
While system modernization will benefit service members and their Families in the long run, the transition period will cause some delays. From June 11 until July 1, 2022, beneficiaries will not be able to make online appointments. Instead, 3rd Combat Aviation Soldiers should make appointments at the Falcon Clinic front desk and Family members should utilize the central appointment line.
“Appointment availability after June 11 will be affected for several weeks and appointment wait times will increase as our medics, nursing staff and providers adjust to the new system and workflows,” said Long. “Everyone can help ease the transition by ensuring their Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, DEERS, is up to date, downloading copies of referrals and vaccination records for school-aged children and taking advantage of early prescription refill services offered at Winn and Tuttle.”
Soldiers and their Families are encouraged to complete school physicals and appointments before June 11. Prescriptions should be refilled through July 2022, early refills of most prescriptions have been authorized starting May 15.
“The most important thing for Soldiers and all beneficiaries to do is to ensure they can access their MHS GENESIS Patient Portal,” explained Long. “This requires either a DS Login or CAC Login.”
To create a DS Login and update personal contact information, visit the MilConnect website.
Despite the transition, Soldiers and their Families don’t need to rush onto Tricare Online to download their information.
“You won’t lose TRICARE Online access immediately,” said Long. “Soldiers and beneficiaries will still be able to go into TRICARE Online and retrieve any information that's there. Once we're completely transitioned to MHS GENESIS, the old system will eventually phase out. After this, legacy patient records remain available to beneficiaries through their providers.”
For Soldiers, Families and medical teams DoD-wide, the transition to a standardized system will make life transitions a smoother process.
“Our Soldiers and Families move often in comparison to our civilian counterparts, as do our providers and the medical staff,” explained Long. “MHS Genesis will make for an easier transition when these moves occur. Once MHS Genesis is in use at all DoD facilities, an individual's medical documentation will happen on the same electronic health record system from in-processing at basic training to separation or retirement and beyond.”
More information about the transition to the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal is available at: winn.tricare.mil/Patient-Resources/MHS-GENESIS. To access the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal visit: patientportal.mhsgenesis.health.mil.
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2022 13:20 |
| Story ID: | 420821 |
| Location: | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 3rd Infantry Division Modernizes Healthcare Records System, by SGT Caitlin Wilkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
