Programme CORTISONE / UK Defence Healthcare

This page tracks UK Defence healthcare evidence for Programme CORTISONE, InterSystems tooling, PRSB relevance, and the boundary between Defence Medical Services and NHS care.

Supported Conclusion

Programme CORTISONE is an MOD / Defence Medical Services medical information services programme. GOV.UK says it will deliver an integrated medical information services capability for the MOD, and the programme vision describes an ecosystem of healthcare information services that can exchange information across DMS, MOD services, and NHS systems from all four UK nations.

The Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) is the Defence source-system baseline for the Executive Summary question. Official sources describe it as the electronic patient record system for the Armed Forces and as an integrated primary Health Record for clinical use plus a pseudo-anonymised central data warehouse. It is the source of electronic, integrated healthcare records for Defence primary healthcare and some MOD specialist care providers. This supports DMICP as a Defence clinical-record source, but it does not expose the current DMICP interface catalogue, extract/API design, migration route, or CORTISONE connectivity implementation.

The current programme-transition reading is that CORTISONE is stabilising current Medical Information Services / DMICP while introducing new capabilities, with an ongoing procurement process for the new electronic healthcare information management system and rollout planned over the next two years from the 29 April 2025 parliamentary answer. A separate 2025 Find a Tender notice records a Primary Dental Care system procurement to replace DMICP for the DMS dentistry slice. These sources strengthen the replacement context, but they still do not expose the full DMICP-to-CORTISONE migration design.

The strongest current InterSystems reading is that HealthShare and IRIS for Health were selected for the CORTISONE integration platform and enterprise master patient index layer, that official MOD performance files later name INTERSYSTEMS CORPORATION against Programme CORTISONE IP and EMPI measures in FY24/25, and that Contracts Finder OCDS data records a FY25-30 award for IP&EMPI (HealthShare and IRIS for Health Licenses) and DMS-IX (IRIS for Health Licenses) to Intersystems Corporation. InterSystems vendor evidence also states that CORTISONE roles include Integration Platform, portal, terminology service, EMPI, and Provider Directory capabilities. This supports supplier, product-family, value, and term evidence for that licence package. It does not, by itself, prove every CORTISONE clinical service is live on InterSystems tooling.

For the NHS England interface question, the current DSIC catalogue adds a more precise route-selection boundary. S99 Access Record Structured is the structured-read route, S101 Send Document is the document route, and S102 Update Record is the structured-write route. Each is an effective standard with separate mandatory supplier roles and dependencies. None of those standards makes DMICP/CORTISONE an approved provider, consumer, sender, or receiver without use-case, onboarding, supplier, safety, information-governance, and deployment evidence.

What DMICP Is

DMICP is a Defence Medical Services / MOD medical information capability, not an InterSystems product. For this wiki, define it as the Armed Forces electronic patient record system and Defence primary-healthcare source system, with two important data shapes: an integrated primary Health Record used for clinical care, and a pseudo-anonymised / coded data warehouse used for Defence Statistics and management reporting.

Operationally, DMICP has both fixed and deployed context. A 2018 MOD parliamentary answer says any MODNet terminal could be configured for DMICP, 214 DMICP laptops were available for deployed operations and exercises, and the first medical-facility go-live was at Chicksands on 16 February 2007 before site-by-site rollout. The same answer said Defence was already in the process of replacing DMICP, while continuing updates to improve performance.

Historically, CGI says it hosted the integrated health records system, used EMIS PCS adapted for the military population, linked DMICP to Joint Personnel Administration for contact details, supported deployed synchronisation from ships and operational theatres, and provided a central database plus anonymised warehouse. Treat this as vendor implementation context, not a current official architecture statement.

The data boundary matters. GOV.UK describes DMICP as a live clinical and administrative database subject to the usual quality issues of large administrative systems, with pre-2010 data incomplete because rollout was still under way. Defence statistical outputs also depend on coding and mapping choices; public material does not expose a general-purpose current DMICP API or extract catalogue.

Evidence Map

Evidence area	Current reading	Boundary
DMS scope	Defence Medical Services is the MOD healthcare organisation for Armed Forces personnel, with primary healthcare, dental, rehabilitation, occupational medicine, mental-health, and specialist medical-care functions.	DMS is not the same as NHS England, although DMS interfaces with NHS services.
DPHC scope	Defence Primary Healthcare processes patient records for patients registered with DPHC facilities and shares with relevant health and care organisations where legally justified.	The privacy notice proves DPHC patient-record processing, not the full entitlement rules for every family member or location.
Children and families	DMS publishes a privacy notice for children and young people under 18 and says DMS keeps health records for those it cares for. CQC and NHS England material support some family/dependant entitlement contexts, especially overseas or where registered with DMS services.	Use `entitled children, young people, families, or dependants in specific DMS/DPHC contexts`, not a general civilian paediatric-service claim.
Post-service and elderly veterans	Current public evidence found in this pass does not support a general claim that DMS or DPHC routinely provides healthcare to elderly former service members after service. NHS England states primary healthcare reverts to the individual's local NHS GP when personnel leave the armed forces.	Veteran and service-leaver care should be treated as NHS / veteran-service pathway evidence unless a Defence source states a specific entitlement.
DMedC	GOV.UK says HQ Defence Medical Services became Defence Medical Command on 20 May 2026, with full operating capability planned for May 2027.	Treat `DMedC` as Defence Medical Command in current UK Defence usage; older source wording may still say HQ DMS.
DMICP baseline	DMICP is described as the Armed Forces electronic patient record system, an MOD digital primary healthcare record source for most service leavers since 2010, and an integrated primary Health Record plus pseudo-anonymised central data warehouse for Defence primary healthcare and some MOD specialist care providers.	This defines the source-system baseline only; it does not prove the CORTISONE interface architecture, Health Connect mediation route, or current migration status.
DMICP rollout and deployed use	DMICP first went live at Chicksands on 16 February 2007, then rolled out site by site; MODNet terminals could be configured for use with it, and 214 laptops were available for deployed operations and exercises in the 2018 answer.	Point-in-time operational evidence; do not use 2018 user/device counts as current live-service sizing.
DMICP data boundary	DMICP is a live clinical and administrative database, with pre-2010 data incomplete due to rollout and quality limits typical of clinical/admin systems.	Public sources do not expose a current extract/API catalogue, free-text/scanned-record search scope, mapping rules, or complete data-quality controls.
DMICP supplier / product history	CGI vendor material says the DMICP integrated health records service used EMIS PCS adapted for the military population, was linked to Joint Personnel Administration, and supported deployed synchronisation plus central reporting.	Vendor historical implementation context; not a current official MOD architecture, interface, service-level, or contract statement.
CORTISONE programme scope	Programme vision describes a sustainable, integrated ecosystem for medical and dental healthcare outputs, interoperability, healthcare information exploitation, NHS interfaces, an Integration Platform, EMPI, clinical portal, and integrated electronic healthcare record. A 2025 MOD answer says CORTISONE is stabilising current Medical Information Services / DMICP while introducing new capabilities.	Programme vision and parliamentary status material are programme intent/status evidence; they are not proof that every capability is fully deployed.
DMICP replacement signals	Defence was already in the process of replacing DMICP in 2018; in 2025, CORTISONE procurement for a new electronic healthcare information management system was ongoing, and Find a Tender recorded a Primary Dental Care system notice to replace DMICP for dentistry.	Replacement is evidenced, but the full migration, decommissioning, data conversion, interface, and live-service transition plan is not public here.
InterSystems role	InterSystems vendor evidence says the MOD selected HealthShare and IRIS for Health for CORTISONE, official MOD performance files name INTERSYSTEMS CORPORATION for `Programme CORTISONE IP and EMPI`, and Contracts Finder OCDS records an active FY25-30 award for HealthShare / IRIS for Health licences.	Strong for supplier, named licence package, term, and value; still not proof of every live clinical workflow, interface, or customer configuration.
PRSB relevance	PRSB standards are content standards for health and care records; DMS is a PRSB member; HealthShare has PRSB Core Information Standard conformance.	No public evidence found for a CORTISONE-specific PRSB conformance certificate or a defence-specific PRSB standard.
Other UK Defence uses	This pass found CORTISONE-specific MOD performance rows for InterSystems, but no public source confirming non-healthcare UK Defence use.	No public evidence found in this pass for confirmed non-healthcare UK Defence use of InterSystems tooling.
Other defence healthcare services	Outside UK Defence, a US Department of Defense contract notice records InterSystems Caché licence/subscription/maintenance support for Defense Health Agency infrastructure through Four Points Technology.	This is US DHA infrastructure evidence, not CORTISONE evidence and not UK Defence evidence.

DMICP Interface-Proof Table

Use this table only to keep the Executive Summary route honest. It is not a new Defence research trail. It separates what is already supported from the artefacts needed before saying DMICP is mediated through InterSystems tooling into NHS England or wider UK health-administration routes.

Route slice	Current supported reading	Missing artefacts before using the route as proof
DMICP source interface	DMICP is supported as an Armed Forces electronic patient record, Defence primary healthcare record, and data warehouse source for the question. Historical vendor context points to EMIS PCS, Joint Personnel Administration linkage, deployed synchronisation, and central reporting, but not a current public interface catalogue.	Current DMICP interface catalogue, extract/API capability, source data model, data-quality controls, mapping rules, coding/free-text/scanned-record handling, migration/decommissioning plan, and operational runbook.
Health Connect mediation	Health Connect is the best-fit InterSystems mediation pattern for routing, transformation, monitoring, and national/local adapter support, but no public source currently names Health Connect as a CORTISONE component.	CORTISONE architecture naming Health Connect or equivalent integration runtime, product/version scope, interface ownership, transformation design, monitoring/failure handling, support RACI, and clinical-safety evidence.
HealthShare target role	Public evidence supports HealthShare / IRIS for Health licence and CORTISONE IP / EMPI relevance, and HealthShare is suitable for shared-care, clinical-viewer, EMPI, and provider-directory roles.	HealthShare component/version scope, UCR/viewer/EMPI/provider-directory configuration, data-source provenance, RBAC/SSO/audit, DSA/DPIA, DCB0129/DCB0160, and customer deployment guide.
NHS England and four-nation onward adapters	CORTISONE vision supports NHS interfaces across all four UK nations; the wiki architecture uses Health Connect / HealthShare as a common pattern with nation-specific adapters. Current DSIC pages sharpen the England GP-record route into S99 structured read, S101 document send, and S102 structured update, with distinct mandatory roles and dependencies (SRC-019, SRC-105 to SRC-147, SRC-159, SRC-198, SRC-199, SRC-202, SRC-203, SRC-291, SRC-292).	Workflow decision showing why S99, S101, S102, or another route applies; named provider/consumer/sender/receiver; approved use case; DSIC/GP Connect/MESH/ITK3/PDS/ODS/SDS onboarding where applicable; nation-specific Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland interface contracts; governance packs; safety artefacts; IG evidence; and deployment approval.

England GP-record Route Selection

Structured read: S99 Access Record Structured v1.0.4 requires provider and consumer implementations plus PDS or Spine Mini Services. A DMICP/CORTISONE consumer claim still needs approved use, supplier assurance, security, data-sharing, safety, and deployment proof.
Document send: S101 Send Document v1.0.3 requires sender and receiver implementations plus ITK3 and MESH; receiver solutions also depend on Generic FHIR Receiver. A Defence document is only a candidate payload until its workflow, filing, mailbox, certificates, validation, and clinical governance are approved.
Structured write: S102 Update Record v1.0.3 requires sender and receiver implementations plus ITK3, MESH, and PDS or Spine Mini Services. Although the DSIC standard is listed across four contracting vehicles, current public service-facing assurance remains named community-pharmacy workflows; this is not generic DMICP write-back permission.

Use the NHS Standards Directory DMICP cross-check for the full standards and supplier-role test.

PRSB and Standards Applicability

Programme CORTISONE is standards-relevant because its vision explicitly calls for common standards, open standards where possible, NHS interfaces, information exchange with NHS systems from all four UK nations, an Integration Platform, an EMPI, and a single point of access for entitled information.

PRSB standards can be applied to CORTISONE as record-content standards, especially where Defence healthcare needs to exchange shared-care, transfer-of-care, child-health, medicines, referral, discharge, or personal-care-plan information with NHS or social-care services. The current public evidence does not prove that specific PRSB standards have been implemented in CORTISONE.

InterSystems Tooling Fit

InterSystems tooling	How it can support CORTISONE-style requirements	Evidence status
HealthShare	Fits the shared-care-record, clinical-viewer, longitudinal-record, and PRSB Core Information Standard conformance themes.	High for product positioning and PRSB HealthShare conformance; moderate for CORTISONE-specific role because vendor and MOD performance evidence name the programme but not full configuration.
HealthShare EMPI	Fits the CORTISONE Enterprise Master Patient Index requirement and Defence/NHS demographic-matching boundary described in the programme vision.	High for EMPI product positioning; moderate-high for CORTISONE relevance because the MOD performance row names `IP and EMPI` and the vendor announcement names HealthShare / IRIS.
IRIS for Health	Fits healthcare data platform, integration, FHIR, and application-development requirements that sit under or beside CORTISONE's integration platform and healthcare-information-exploitation goals.	High for vendor product positioning; moderate for CORTISONE-specific role based on vendor announcement and MOD supplier rows.
Health Connect / integration tooling	Fits healthcare integration, standards transformation, NHS interfaces, and message exchange patterns.	High for generic product positioning and technical standards support; no public source found that separately names Health Connect as a CORTISONE component.
FHIR Services / FHIR Server	Fits standards-based FHIR repository and API patterns where the programme uses FHIR implementation routes.	High for product positioning and selected technical documentation; no public source found that names FHIR Services as a CORTISONE component.

Commercial and Contract Boundary

The public InterSystems announcement is useful evidence that MOD selected InterSystems technology for CORTISONE, but it is vendor-published. The official MOD performance files are stronger public-sector evidence that InterSystems Corporation had active CORTISONE IP and EMPI performance measures in FY24/25. Contracts Finder OCDS data now adds procurement detail: the award title names IP&EMPI (HealthShare and IRIS for Health Licenses) and DMS-IX (IRIS for Health Licenses) FY25-30, supplier Intersystems Corporation, value GBP 6,173,707, and a contract period from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2030.

That award is strong commercial evidence for the named licence package. It still does not define the full deployed architecture, interface catalogue, clinical safety case, data-processing design, or status of every CORTISONE service.

Recent MOD announcements and procurement sources also show CORTISONE / Defence medical information services are a wider ecosystem, not only InterSystems: TPP was awarded a modern electronic health record contract for Armed Forces recruitment and care-record workflows, Avenue3 was awarded a deployed clinical record contract under Project Mercury, and Find a Tender records a Primary Dental Care system notice to replace DMICP for dentistry. Those sources should be tracked as CORTISONE / replacement ecosystem context, not as InterSystems evidence.

Evidence Status

Confidence is high that DMICP is the MOD / Armed Forces electronic patient record and Defence primary-healthcare source baseline, with a clinical iHR and data-warehouse shape. Confidence is high for the existence and stated scope of Programme CORTISONE and for DMS / DPHC public-healthcare context. Confidence is high for the named FY25-30 InterSystems licence-award fact and moderate-high for InterSystems' wider programme role because vendor evidence, official MOD performance rows, and Contracts Finder OCDS data align. Confidence is also high for the current DSIC S99/S101/S102 catalogue roles and dependencies, but none is current DMICP/CORTISONE implementation proof. Live clinical deployment boundaries still require programme-delivery records.

Follow-up Evidence

Full MOD contract schedule, contract text, or award notice detail for InterSystems CORTISONE IP/EMPI / DMS-IX beyond the OCDS summary, including options and service-level terms.
Current MOD or DMS programme update confirming which CORTISONE services are live, in rollout, or superseded.
DMICP interface catalogue, extract/API capability, data model, coding/free-text/scanned-record handling, mapping, data-quality controls, and migration/decommissioning plan where DMICP is mediated into CORTISONE.
CORTISONE technical or architecture material mapping HealthShare, IRIS for Health, EMPI, portal, terminology, Integration Platform, NHS interfaces, and open standards.
Primary Dental Care procurement outcome and whether any dental-domain replacement artefacts expose reusable migration, offline/deployed operation, or DMICP decommissioning evidence.
Public evidence of any CORTISONE-specific PRSB, FHIR, GP2GP, SCR, Spine, NHS England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland interface conformance.
Public evidence, if any, for InterSystems use elsewhere in UK Defence outside healthcare.