Military EHR Eases Life Transitions
Whether a service member transitions to a new location or leaves the Armed Forces altogether, big changes can bring an enormous amount of stress - turning in gear, checking out of housing, gathering important records, attending briefings, etc. Thanks to the Military Health System’s electronic health record, hand-carrying paper medical records is a thing of the past, and one less thing for our all our beneficiaries to worry about.
The numerous systems that comprise the military’s EHR not only provide for complete health care documentation, but also afford health care providers the ability to have their medical record easily accessible by any military care provider from anywhere in the world. As beneficiaries often move from one duty assignment to another, the EHR will move with them. This allows all military health care providers to maintain a complete picture of service members’ medical history without the opportunity for lost records, missing x-rays or illegible prognoses.
This ever-evolving system allows the MHS to document beneficiary medical histories from a newborn dependent child to an elderly Veteran taking his last breath, said Army Col. DaCosta “dee” Barrow, program manager for the MHS Defense Health Information Management System.
“It’s important for our service members to know that DHIMS is doing everything we can to ensure that the data we’re capturing on the battlefield goes with them as they traverse the military health care system and even on to VA providers,” Barrow said. “I’m excited about the fact that we’re taking data from the battlefield to the VA.”
For example, the TRICARE Online Personal Health Record site allows Department of Defense patients to set appointments at local Military Treatment Facilities and request prescription refills online; and ‘The Blue Button’, which can also be found on TRICARE Online, allows all DOD beneficiaries to save a PDF file of their electronic health data to their personal computer.
To help share information with beneficiaries and the public, the MHS’ Office of the Chief Information Officer showcased the military’s EHR and other cutting-edge health care information technology solutions during its inaugural Open House, titled EHR Today, held in Falls Church, Va., on June 11.
“The EHR Today Open House is really a celebration of where we’ve come over the last many years with electronic health records and other systems that we have today.” said Mary Ann Rockey, program executive officer of the Joint Medical Information Systems. “We still have a long way to go, but right now we’ve come a long way as far as electronic capabilities that really benefit our service members across the board. When they move, the providers, wherever they are, can see their electronic health record, and that’s all the way from the battlefield to the Department of Veterans Affairs.”
The day-long “EHR Today” Open House featured more than 24 technical demonstrations from the OCIO’s program offices including DHIMS, the Defense Health Services Systems, the Tri-Service Infrastructure Management Program Office, the Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Demonstrations and expert speakers provided attendees with a wealth of information about the military’s EHR throughout the day. Some of the products demonstrated included: the Patient Movement Items Tracking System, Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support, Patient Safety Reporting and AHLTA-Theater. They provided systems’ users, beneficiaries, military leaders, health care providers, Veterans and others with a better understanding of how the MHS OCIO’s capabilities, initiatives and successes benefit our Service members and their dependents.
Open house visitors were able to view the military’s health care continuum by observing the data capture and transition of mock patient scenarios. Visitors participated in one-on-one demonstration as subject matter experts entered information into the military’s EHR and followed the flow of patient health care documentation from the battlefield to a Theater aid station and back to a Military Treatment Facility in the United States.
The EHR isn’t just for Service members. “It’s just as important to capture a family member’s medical data. Electronic health records are the future of health care documentation,” said Air Force Master Sergeant Derrick Mowery, non-commissioned-officer-in-charge within the DHIMS Chief Medical Office Directorate. “It’s so much more reliable, and you know your health care data won’t be lost since it’s in electronic form.”
Visit the DHSS website for more information about the EHR Today Open House.
Mark Oswell, OCIO Communications, contributed to this article.