In late May, the Military Health System Service Helpdesk (CAC-enabled) is set to replace the MHS's legacy information technology system, Remedy, and will begin being used by Defense Health Agency's Information Operations Division and at military medical treatment facilities.
The MHS Service Helpdesk provides the DHA the ability to simplify and automate processes across IT disciplines using a single user interface. The tool helps to reduce the cost of IT delivery, infrastructure and sustainment by rationalizing processes and technology using integrated data to enable compliant, secure, and timely delivery of IT services.
"The MHS Service Helpdesk is a more robust tool that will improve automation, reporting and efficiency by allowing end user interaction," said Nora Crossan, project manager for the MHS Service Helpdesk. "It will allow end users to report issues, changes, and requests via the portal without having to wait on the phone to submit a work order. It also allows the user to track the status of work orders."
According to Crossan, the primary issues addressed during the switch to the Helpdesk from Remedy were:
- Reducing the costs of service delivery, infrastructure, and sustainment
- Combining multiple disparate services
- Competing product and asset frameworks
- Reducing over-dependency on manual processes
- Continual focus on compliance and sustainability
DHA's Information Operations Division owns the tool, while the Solutions Delivery Division is responsible for its overall management.
Crossan said the change will mostly affect IT staff within the DHA and at MTFs.
"End users will gain a new capability and the DHA Global Support Center (GSC) will have a reduction in the amount of time spent on the phone working to report and open tickets for stakeholders," she said. "The robust dashboard and reporting capabilities will save man-hours and allow quickly accessible data."
The least impacted audience will be MTF beneficiaries, said Crossan.
"They will still have the ability to call or email the GSC with any issues that need to be reported," she said.
Users can visit the MHS Service Helpdesk website on a Common Access Card-enabled government computer to get the most up-to-date news, training information, frequently asked questions and more.
As of May 28, all new tickets will be created in the MHS Service Helpdesk. Ticket owners will continue to have access to close open tickets in Remedy through June 25.