The Gateway

The heart and soul of Medical Situational Awareness in the Theater (MSAT) is medical surveillance. Annex J, Appendix J-1 of the Commander's Guide to MC4 explains how MSAT can assist in generating data slides that will depict the medical situation of a unit. Along with the Commander's Guide there is a medical surveillance reference guide that explains how to make reports using Business Objects.

MSAT has a large number of report options. My personal recommendation is to begin by focusing only on three to four reports that most closely pertain to a unit’s surveillance requirement. Here are a few hints on how to effectively use this function downrange:

• Create one or two filters. First, make one basic filter that includes your subordinate units. Also consider making another filter that includes the units that are physically located in your area of operation. To learn more about creating filters in MSAT, read Creating Joint Medical Workstation Filters in MSAT .

• Use Patient Workload reports. MSAT can help give visibility to the number of medical visits from reporting units. It is infantry simple to create an activity report of medical encounters. It is also simple to download the Patient Encounter Module (PEM) count information into Microsoft Excel and then create a table or graph that can be used for briefing slides, etc.

• Conduct disease and injury surveillance. Discovering disease outbreaks is the most important feature available in MSAT. There are many canned reports within MSAT that a headquarter staff officer, clinician or nursing leader can use for basic battlefield medical surveillance. This includes several styles of disease non-battle injury (DNBI) reports, pre-defined symptom group reports and existing custom surveillance reports (CSRs). Users can subscribe to these CSRs as these will meet the needs of most MSAT users.

• Create customized surveillance reports. An MSAT user can make custom ad hoc medical surveillance reports using the International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision (ICD-9) codes. Users can also create reports based on the MEDCIN terms in AHLTA-T encounters.

• Use Business Objects reports. Business Objects reports are powerful!! MSAT Business Object reports are a commercial-grade reporting tool that enables users to generate many standard report templates that are present in JMeWS. The program allows users to search in detail for a large percentage of data elements from any encounter. MSAT Business Objects reports provide a robust reporting tool that will search the entire Theater Medical Data Store (TMDS) and MSAT database. Business Objects is a little tricky to learn, but once a user gets the hang of it, it can make life as a non-commissioned officer or staff officer easier.

MSAT has a lot of screens, tabs and choices. The easiest approach for quickly using this web-based program is to focus on the three to four reports that produce the basic data that are necessary for the job. The next step is to export the information into Excel where pivot tables and graphs can be presented during the command briefs. Once a user is comfortable with the basics, then trial and error represents a great methodology for either modifying existing ad hoc reports, or creating new ones from scratch.

I strongly recommend that MSAT users dig deeper and obtain more information on how to use these tools. Check out The Gateway for more Tips and FAQs on MSAT and Business Objects.

Quality health care begins with class VIII, or medical supplies. The United States deploys world class medical personnel to care for our wounded warriors, but unless they have the right item at the right place and at the right time, then we are limiting their ability to provide the best care possible. The Commander's Guide to MC4 provides leaders and MC4 end users the guidance they need to ensure medical supplies are available when needed.

At level 1 and 2, the responsibility for medical resupply is often an additional duty assigned to a unit medic. Annex I, Appendix I-1, Deployed Medical Logistics Standard Operating Procedure of the Commander’s Guide is designed to take the guesswork out of class VIII, allowing the medic more time to focus on patient care and less time managing the supply room.

This appendix provides guidance on how to set up and use the DMLSS Customer Assistance Module (DCAM) to place orders. It discusses the best business practices for downloading the supplier's catalog, placing orders, adding items to the local catalog and most importantly— how to determine what materials need to be ordered and check the status of a current order.

Answers to frequently asked questions are also addressed in this section, like:

• Will my order be delayed because it had to be passed to a higher level supplier?
• Was all or part of my order cancelled because my request exceeded the supplier’s maximum release quantity or the item is no longer available?

Processing receipts and maintaining a local catalog in order to make the supply process easier in the long run should not be overlooked, so we made sure to include this as well.

In future blogs I will discuss in more detail how to identify and order the correct item using Medical Product Data Bank and DCAM and discuss the importance of status and how to interpret and use it to your advantage. In the meantime, I encourage you to post any questions you may have about DCAM, DMLSS or medical logistics in general that can be answered on The Gateway.

Novice and experienced MC4 users alike can benefit from the wealth of information available online. The Gateway is the place for MC4 users to interact with other end users and learn best practices for managing electronic medical records (EMRs), streamlining medical supply management or enhancing situational awareness. Annex F of the Commander's Guide to MC4 highlights the features and resources that are available on this public website.

The Tips and FAQs section is a must read for MC4 end users. As updates to hardware and applications are fielded, features change and processes that were once followed are modified. Each month, MC4 subject matter experts provide detailed step-by-step instructions and answers to frequently asked questions to assist medical staff in navigating these changes. Templates and forms are also available to providers, nurses and medics to assist with patient care documentation.

Additionally, MC4 gurus regularly blog about how MC4 is being used and offer suggestions on overcoming challenges. MC4 users around the world also share their stories in field blogs, and are always welcome to share their story.

If the answer to a question isn't addressed in a tip, FAQ or blog, consider reaching out to the MC4 team. The Gateway is the main portal for requesting MC4 materials, training and assistance, or contact the appropriate region support office directly for more information.

Find a story that others might be interested in reading? There are several features on the website that make it easy to share MC4 information with others. Consider sharing an article on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ using the Share function that appears in the Resources box with every story, blog, tip and FAQ. Or, simply share a story by clicking on the Email Page icon that appears on every page.

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I encourage every MC4 user to sign up for email updates from The Gateway homepage. Subscribers will receive The Gateway Monthly with a summary of the latest stories, Tips and FAQs and other new content. Download the Commander's Guide for more information on the features and resources available online or browse The Gateway to read the latest MC4 news.

One question that is frequently asked in deployed medical units is “What is MC4, and what does it do?” Even with the numerous training resources made available to medical units prior to their deployment, and those that can be found on The Gateway, this question can still be heard in theater — so we’ve carved out a section in the Commander's Guide, specifically Annex C, to answer these questions in a presentation style format.

Unit leaders, both officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), can utilize pre-approved MC4 presentations to inform their users and command leadership about the MC4 program and the role MC4 computer systems play in accomplishing their electronic health record (EHR), MEDLOG, and medical surveillance missions. The annex also provides links to briefs that graphically demonstrate how the MC4 system works within the medical logistics community as well as best practices for clinical workflows gleaned from years of supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation New Dawn. I highly recommend all unit leaders use these presentations to introduce unit personnel to the latest and greatest information from MC4.

Once you have passed the MC4 overview stage of informing your unit about MC4, and you are ready to provide unit personnel more in-depth information, unit case studies, and user-specific tools and resources, then I recommend that you subscribe to The Gateway. Next week, our public affairs staff will blog about these particular resources online and how to make use of them for your operational needs.