The Gateway

Our Afghanistan team’s goal is pretty straight forward — to continue to provide support to deployed units using MC4. Our primary purpose and our driving goal at MC4 is to enable the Army to document as many comprehensive electronic medical records as possible in order to provide the best care for our Service members. Afghanistan has always been a dynamic operation and later this year with the reduction of Army forces, it is more important than ever to focus on the fundamentals.

We intend to accomplish this by enhancing our tier 3 support, strengthening the Army’s tier 1 and tier 2 support, keeping the software versions current, and continuing to provide training to end users. We will also provide direct support as we field new capabilities by configuring systems and/or training users on how to utilize new capabilities like telebehavioral health (TBH), TC2/Medweb interface, and new trauma documentation templates for MEDEVAC units. We are currently looking for a unit to pilot the MEDEVAC trauma documentation templates before distributing this capability countrywide later this year.

MC4 is an Army system, not a commercial software suite. That means each unit owns their MC4 equipment and is responsible for the basic support. In 2012, we are seeking to provide more tier 1 training to Information Management Officers (IMOs) and Sustainment Automation Support Management Offices (SASMOs); and tier 2 training to system administrators (S6s) during our site visits. We will continue to work with the commands to establish this strong tier 1 and 2 support so that our MC4 personnel in theater can travel and see more units each month. This allows MC4 staff to help units become more self-sufficient and exceed the standard of documenting EMRs by documenting comprehensive, detailed EMRs that become part of the Service member’s lifelong electronic health record.

To enhance MC4’s tier 3 support, we are completing the EMR 2.1.3.1 software upgrade countrywide. The new software includes the latest security and computer updates; enhanced symptom descriptions and templates in AHLTA-T for TBI and mTBI; and most importantly, updates to EMR documentation software to include ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision) codes. We are also working with the theater signal commands to integrate MC4 on to the Non-classified IP Router (NIPR) network. This NIPR integration project provides enhanced security for MC4 systems, a greater standardization of configuration, and the ability to securely and remotely access the MC4 machines for troubleshooting purposes.

At MC4, we strive to continue to improve and enhance our support to the Army even during the draw down in Iraq and projected footprint reductions in Afghanistan. If a new upgrade, business practice or product can help to improve the care of Soldiers, I will ensure we field it.