Favoritism fears halt major military health upgrade

A spokesman for the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office would not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation in the contracting matter.

Mr. Fischetti’s inquiry was initiated after another contracting officer charged favoritism in an e-mail circulated inside the Pentagon, the Pentagon spokeswoman said.

Mr. Morris had convened a group of high-powered military contractors in mid- to late 2008 to develop a “way forward” for integrating the medical records systems and placed Adara at the center of the operation, the reviewers said in the report.

Adara’s work with the team Mr. Morris assembled - which included top military contractors such as Northrop Grumman, Hewlett-Packard and Intel - was to prepare the way for more work on integrating the health care records systems, the Pentagon review said.

The reviewers noted that the military had already budgeted $500 million through fiscal 2011 to integrate the records systems.

Members of the team of contractors set up by Mr. Morris told the Pentagon reviewers that it was their understanding that working with Adara was essential to securing any future work on integrating the health care records systems.

Besides examining Mr. Morris’ handling of his relations with Adara, Mr. Fischetti was asked to assess what effect the mishandling of that relationship had on the overall record integration project.

“Events discussed in this report may have delayed development from a minimum of one year up to two [years], with [the] immediate consequence of potentially misspending the $13 million,” Mr. Fischetti wrote.

The Pentagon halted the project shortly after Mr. Fischetti filed his report.