Harris Helps Spokane Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record Initiative Go Live

MELBOURNE, Fla. and SPOKANE, Wash., June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights:

• Support for Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) enables secure, seamless, cross-boundary information sharing
• Initiative enables bi-directional exchange of patient data between the Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and private sector partners
• Harris proves implementation, testing and production can be achieved in under 8 weeks using an open source, commercially supported out-of-the-box solution

Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS), an international communications and information technology company, supported Inland Northwest Health Services (INHS) in creating a bi-directional exchange of clinical health information for the Spokane Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) health pilot initiative.  The VLER health initiative enables secure, seamless, cross-boundary information sharing among Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and participating private sector health care providers nationwide by leveraging and advancing comprehensive standards and best business practices for health information technology (IT).

"The VLER initiative highlights that more than half of America's veterans and active duty service members receive care outside of VA and DoD facilities," said Jim Traficant, president, Harris Healthcare Solutions.  "Harris has demonstrated the value of open source, standards-based, flexible technologies that can easily and quickly be implemented for critical health care information sharing projects between the public and commercial sectors."

Harris leveraged the open-source Nationwide Health Information Network CONNECT Gateway to support INHS with integration, configuration, interface development and testing efforts in order to meet VLER project milestones.  Harris' expertise with the Nationwide Health Information Network standards and protocols, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Conformance Testing, and DoD and VA partner testing requirements helped INHS to go live within eight weeks with a bi-directional exchange with the DoD and VA.

INHS, one of the nation's most recognized health information exchange networks, is located in Spokane, Washington.  It is the third VLER pilot site to have connectivity to both the VA and DoD to improve the portability and accessibility of health information for active duty service members and veterans.  More than 5,500 active military personnel are stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, and tens of thousands of veterans call the Spokane region their home.

"Harris was an excellent partner on this project," said Mike Smyly, senior director of INHS.  "They brought top technical resources to the project immediately, which helped us meet our aggressive deadlines."

In health care solutions, Harris provides enterprise intelligence solutions and services for government and commercial customers — including systems integration, intelligent infrastructure, interoperability, imaging, and other IT solutions.  A leader in federal healthcare IT integration, Harris products, systems and services improve healthcare outcomes by assuring that critical medical and benefits information is delivered with security and privacy to the right person, on the right device, at the point of care.

About Harris Corporation

Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries.  Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has approximately $6 billion of annual revenue and more than 16,000 employees — including nearly 7,000 engineers and scientists.  Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications® products, systems, and services.  Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.

SOURCE Harris Corporation