CIO corner focuses on men's health
Each June, the Military Health System observes Men’s Health Month. The goal of Men’s Health Month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys.
Our experts at the Office of the Chief Information Officer and in the medical field are currently working on and talking about many issues that affect not only men’s health, but the health and welfare of all our 9.6 million beneficiaries.
For example, the Clinical Data Mart is a repository of information that has the capability to track and analyze patient populations at risk for diseases such as diabetes and lung cancer. The system can then generate reports that focus on diabetes and tobacco cessation.
For diabetics, things like regular blood sugar screening, eye exams and foot exams are key for ensuring quality care. Providers can run patient population reports on the Defense Medical Information System Identifier and then drill further into details that give other co-morbid conditions that may be present as well as what lab work may be due. The report is color coded to make it easier for the support staff to print out a single patient "scorecard" and then order any necessary tests that are needed, missing or overdue.
The Navy started an effort with the help of the other services to refine a Tobacco Cessation report using CDM. This report lists whether the screening question regarding tobacco use is being asked (it is supposed to be asked each time a patient is seen); whether the patient who answers "yes" to the screening is counseled and what, if any, measure was undertaken to help stop the tobacco use. The report also shows the effectiveness of counseling and drug treatments to encourage tobacco cessation. Tools such as the CDM have a significant long-term impact on the health of our Service members.
While much of my focus is on health IM/IT, health promotion and disease prevention reaches across the entire health care spectrum. For example, there are many health programs and services available for our beneficiaries such as the military’s electronic health records. Go to the OCIO blog to learn more about Navy Captain Michael Weiner’s 10-part series geared toward providers in the civilian world that highlights best practices for implementing EHRs.
You can also find more information on the MHS’s website, www.health.mil. It offers a wealth of information and links to additional sources related to men’s health. There you will find links to screening calendars, organizations and campaigns that focus on men’s health issues at the Men’s Health Month site.
Finally, I want to thank you for taking the time to read The Portal. While I am focused on sharing information to help inform and educate the public about health IM/IT efforts, my goal is to not just push information out each month, but I hope to have a true conversation with each of you. Please send your comments, questions and story ideas to OCIOcommunications@tma.osd.mil. Your feedback is very important to us and will help us provide the content most valuable to you.
To learn more about The Portal and some of our other communications initiatives, check out our very own Karen Roberts, communications director on DotMilDocs, the Military Health System’s official podcast. There she discusses the OCIO’s communications direction, new endeavors such as The Portal, and how we’re integrating new media to take advantage of opportunities to communicate.