The Pentagon ceremoniously heralded the arrival of its new global electronic health record system, known as AHLTA. It doesn’t stand for anything, officials said; that’s just what they call it. AHLTA operates 24/7 in a secure, authorized-personnel only environment, said the Pentagon’s top health official, William Winkenwerder. Not all 800 clinics and 70 hospitals are on board yet, but they will be by December 2006, claimed Winkenwerder. Thousands of military medical providers are currently using the system, with nearly 300,000 outpatient visits captured digitally every week. The system, ultimately, he said, will provide military medics with the ability to capture health data on the battlefield that nearly instantly becomes part of the individual’s medical record stateside.
The Air Force is in talks with Boeing to modify requirements for its new VC-25B presidential aircraft, in a push to get them into service by 2027. Boeing has given the Air Force a revised timeline that could bring the VC-25B aircraft earlier “if adjustments are made to requirements,” a…