Coast Guard Awards $14 Million EHR Contract

A recent story mentioned the DOD wants a new EMR system despite a recent $2B upgrade.  

In a related item, Epic Systems has been awarded a $14 million contract by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to establish an electronic health record (EHR) system that will meet meaningful use requirements as well as help the Coast Guard transition from a paper-based system to digitized health records. 

The Epic EHR will replace a version of a Defense Department system that includes the Composite Health Care System (CHCS), Provider Graphic User Interface (PGUI), and Armed Forces Healthcare Longitudinal Application (AHLTA). The new Epic EHR will enable the Coast Guard to exchange data using the nationwide health information network (NHIN). Under the contract, which took effect Sept. 30, the new system will also use the C32 and Continuity of Care (CCR) document format standards for sharing a patient's summary health status, and support requirements for the virtual lifetime electronic record (VLER), a project of the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, and longitudinal patient records.

OK, so want to make sure I have this right, the DOD reinvested 2 billion dollars into their EMR system (AHLTA) with only mild success and the Coast Guard (admittedly many fewer beneficiaries) in the system is going to replace multiple systems, including AHLTA for 14 million bucks with NHIN reporting services?

Meanwhile, it is  laudable that Coast Guard healthcare officials are striving towards electronic medical records in an effort to meet meaningful use but I wonder will the government reimburse itself for doing so? 

Lastly, if the men and women who serve in the Coast Guard receive their care from the DOD how will their records be transmitted if the two are on different systems from treatment location to duty station?  

Does this qualify meaningful use?