Fort Carson EACH transitions to MHS Genesis

By Emily Klinkenborg, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity-Fort Carson Public Affairs OfficeMay 3, 2021

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Evans Army Community Hospital (EACH) will migrate to a new electronic health record and patient portal under MHS GENESIS beginning April 24, 2021.

MHS GENESIS is a new, patient-centric enterprise system designed to provide a single, continuous record of care for all DOD beneficiaries in place of the TRICARE online patient portal.

“Our service members and Families deserve the best care,” said Col. Kevin Bass, commander, EACH. “MHS GENESIS will modernize military health care and enhance our ability to better serve our beneficiaries.”

The TRICARE online patient portal will continue to exist until all medical records have migrated over to MHS GENESIS patient portal. All information must be verified in the new system, before the project is complete.

The transformation to the new enterprise system will also modify how medical staff operate within each military treatment facility.

“The MHS GENESIS patient portal securely connects a patient with their health care team and empowers them to become the driver of their health care,” said Maj. Elaine Kirish, chief nursing informatics officer, EACH.

Kirish serves as the site lead for the MHS GENESIS project throughout the Colorado Military Health System and coordinated online and in-person training for staff over the past several months to prepare the hospital for the go-live date.

“When a site transitions to MHS GENESIS, providers and patients can expect to see a short-term increase in wait times as health care teams adapt office and clinic practices to new, standardized workflows,” said Kirish. “Over time, providers and patients should expect to see increased efficiencies across all health care activities.”

Beneficiaries will be required to create a DS Logon to access health information, schedule appointments and exchange messages with their care team. To create a DS Logon, visit https://myaccess.dmdc.osd.mil.

Those who already established a DS Logon must ensure their account is upgraded to a premium version. Only premium accounts will allow beneficiaries to view their health record on the new patient portal at https://patientportal.mhsgenesis.health.mil.

“MHS GENESIS offers several advantages over our legacy systems,” said Kirish. “It will result in faster and better management of chronic, complex and time-sensitive health conditions, provide automated, real-time clinical decision support for health care teams, and increase patient engagement capabilities that allow patients to communicate directly with providers.”

MHS GENESIS was introduced to four sites as a soft launch in 2017, but continued to rollout in 2019. The DOD is looking to fully integrate MHS GENESIS across all U.S. military hospitals and clinics by 2024.

For more information, visit www.health.mil/MHSGENESIS.