The 15th Medical Group’s Medical Information Systems Flight manages a $1.7 million network and sustains nearly $650,000 worth of equipment, maintaining readiness and care for Airmen on Oahu.

The eight-person team provides services for approximately 300 medical staff across 15 facilities, supporting the 66,000 member-large Hawaii Military Health System beneficiary population.

“We oversee the management, computers, networks, telecommunications equipment, support and maintenance for all of our users,” said 1st Lt. Tyler Dervin, 15th Medical Group medical information systems chief information officer.

On Sept. 25, 2021, the flight played a major role in fulfilling a Department of Defense-wide initiative by bringing Medical Healthcare System Genesis, a new electronic health record system, online at the 15th Wing and on Oahu.

The MHS Genesis system provides enhanced and secure technology to manage health information and serves as a focal point for all military branches.

Members from MIS gather data within several clinical areas to see if the 15th MDG is able to support the new MHS Genesis system and if not, the team configures the equipment to be compatible.

“We had about 63 printers in total that we migrated manually,” said Dervin. “There were 15 software programs and [on the] clinical side, we had 256 clinical workstations that were upgraded to support [MHS] Genesis.”

Before, during and after the installation of MHS Genesis, MIS technicians continue to provide services, enabling medical personnel with the correct access to properly care for patients without technical difficulties.

“On a day-to-day basis, [we’re] pulling items off the network, making sure that we have stuff patched, locating and tracking down computer systems as well as troubleshooting,” said Master Sgt. Leroy Ford, 15th MDG MIS chief.

Without daily network connectivity and up-to-date software, medical personnel would not have the means to access beneficiary records and this medical information could possibly be prone to cyber security issues.

“That’s the primary focus every morning, is making sure our providers [and] our technicians are all taken care of and able to take care of the patients,” said Ford.