SAIC Selected for $20 Billion Contract to Help with Healthcare IT at Federal Level

The National Institutes of Health Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) has chosen Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to provide healthcare IT services and technology solutions to multiple Federal agencies, according to a press release. 

The $20 billion CIO-SP3 contract requires SAIC to provide IT services for biomedical research, health sciences and healthcare, chief information officer support, imaging, outsourcing, IT operations and maintenance, integration services, critical infrastructure protection and information assurance, digital government, enterprise resource planning, and software development. It will run for 10 years.

SAIC, started by a small group of scientists in 1969, describes itself as enabling “healthcare organizations to make more informed, accurate and efficient decisions by using integrated and secure data to advance health research, improve patient care and enhance the performance of the healthcare system,” according to its website.

Under the contract, SAIC could be asked to perform everything from cloud computing to cyber security to health IT. SAIC is one of 54 contractors who will compete for task orders under the contract, the press release states. 

The health sector represents the highest breached industry, “with a persistent and cascading cyber attack security threat landscape,” according to a Miami Herald story.

Michael Cooney writes that cybersecurity threats in the healthcare world are looming so hugely, and dangerously, that the Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) recently set up a centralized Cybersecurity Incident Response and Coordination Center where organizations can report incidents and get help fixing electronic medical security problems.

Cooney reports that the five-year-old HITRUST group -- which is led by an aggregation of healthcare and computing industry giants such as WellPoint, Kaiser Permanente and Cisco -- said it created the center to help the U.S. healthcare industry battle cyber attacks with timely alerts and by sharing of relevant cyber security threat and event information. The HITRUST Center will provide “crucial support” for the healthcare industry, according to Diana Manos. 

While cyber security is not the only issue concerning Federal healthcare IT managers, it is certainly one of the most significant, the government believes.

"We look forward to continuing to work with NITAAC to provide health and biomedical information technology solutions in support of various Federal agencies," said Steve Comber, SAIC senior vice president and business unit general manager, in the press release. NITAAC is a federal executive agent authorized by the Office of Management and Budget to administer Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts for IT procurement.