WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System is planning to deploy a diagnostic decision support system across 75 major military hospitals and 461 clinics worldwide.

The technology will be used to train military medical staff to better recognize numerous diseases, including SARS, avian influenza and other infectious diseases brought on by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapon exposure.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Logical Images will provide the DOD with its diagnostic decision support system, called VisualDx, which offers a database of more than 900 visually identifiable diseases, including more than 125 international travel-related conditions.

The deployment, which is slated to cost $2.4 million, expands upon a successful pilot program conducted with the Navy last year. The system was deployed in ships, submarines, and Navy medical facilities in the Pacific Theater, where it proved efficient in facilitating immediate recognition of and response to diseases and conditions and improving quality of care.

"The military medical service needs decision support tools just like VisualDx," said the TRICARE Management Activity Clinical Requirements Working Group, which is made up of military physicians from each service.