Last month, the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) program earned two awards—an Army Acquisition Excellence Award and the Maj. Jonathan Letterman Award for Medical Excellence. The program was honored for improving and expanding the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) on the battlefield and to garrison battalion aid stations.
On Oct. 4, the U.S. Army Acquisition Corps credited MC4 for instituting the Army’s first tactical EMR quality assurance and best business practice programs throughout Southwest Asia. MC4’s ability to fill a gap in medical recording via expanded use to the Air Force and to garrison battalion aid stations demonstrated the program’s impact on the military’s transition from paper to digital health records.
“MC4’s business transformation efforts provide uniformity and stability to system use, training and support,” said MC4 product manager Lt. Col. William E. Geesey. “Our commitment to supporting MC4 users with our ‘train as you fight’ model best prepares units for meeting medical information requirements in the U.S. and abroad.”
More than 147 years ago, Maj. Jonathan Letterman, medical director of the Army of the Potomac, documented the need for detailed medical records for all soldiers. On Oct. 29, the National Museum of Civil War Medicine honored Letterman’s legacy by recognizing MC4 for leading the digitization of patient care on the frontlines, enabling better continuity of care and decision making.
“In the past, gaps in service members’ medical histories were a result of incomplete or lost patient records,” Geesey said. “Missing data often led to exploratory surgery, repeated tests or denial of VA medical benefits. The use of MC4 prevents these issues from recurring.”
With 10 years of experience managing the DoD’s first and most comprehensive battlefield medical recording system, MC4 has enabled the capture of more than 12 million electronic patient encounters in the combat zone. MC4 has also trained 42,000 deployable medical staff and commanders, and fielded 33,000 systems to 750 units with medical personnel, to include stryker brigades, Army National Guard and Reserves, and all active divisional units throughout 14 countries.
MC4 integrates, fields and supports a comprehensive medical information system, enabling lifelong electronic medical records, streamlined medical logistics and enhanced situational awareness for Army tactical forces. The Army’s Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS), Fort Belvoir, Va., oversees the MC4 Product Management Office, which is headquartered at Fort Detrick, Md.