As the electronic medical record system advanced and became
the standard for health care, we improved our requisition process for medical
material as well. Today, we’re able to turn around requisitions a lot faster
with an electronic system, but over time we’ve realized there’s still room to
improve.
Presently, we use a SAP based program called Theater
Enterprise-Wide Logistics Systems (TEWLS) in the Army’s Medical Material
Centers and U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency (USAMMA) and Theater Army Medical
Materiel Information System (TAMMIS) in our medical logistics (MEDLOG) companies
and combat support hospitals. The Defense
Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) is the medical logistics system
used in DOD fixed facility hospitals.
Today, there are DMLSS applications being used in the role 3
hospitals in theater. When all the MC4
systems are updated with DMLSS 3.1.2 Generation IV and the DMLSS Customer Assistance Module
(DCAM) 1.4.4, all the MEDLOG units will be on the same Military Health
System platform. We’ll finally be able to get rid of TAMMIS, our 1990s legacy
technology using function keys and green screens. The most important benefit of
this fielding is that training will become simplified. All medical logisticians
deploying to the Central Command area of responsibility (CENTCOM AOR) will be
on a DMLSS-based system.
The DMLSS fielding team in Kuwait consisting of Soldiers and
civilians from 6th Medical Logistics Management Center, MC4 and U.S. Army
Medical Materiel Center-Southwest Asia (USAMMC-SWA) are working on getting all
the MEDLOG organizations and warehouses using TAMMIS on the DMLSS platform. At
end state, the process to obtain medical supplies in Kuwait will be exactly the
same as any other CONUS installation medical supply activity (IMSA). The
hospital, clinics, and class VIII warehouse will be on the DMLSS server and
external customers will use DCAM.
It’s always a challenge to implement an information system
because we’re talking about getting folks who aren’t familiar with MEDLOG to
use the automated system to submit orders. The DMLSS fielding team is providing
initial and over the shoulder training to ensure success, and once the fielding
team leaves, the MC4 program office will be there to provide sustainment training
and support.
The non-medical logisticians who use DMLSS can order
supplies, equipment and medical equipment repair parts, if they need to. Once
you are trained on DMLSS or DCAM, you have the keys to the kingdom and can
order what you need to support the health care providers, everything from Band-Aids
to surgical instruments.
While it’s not like going to a website and ordering books or
video games, the system has become more convenient. As logisticians we often
speak in itemized stock numbers and clinicians speak a language of clinic terms.
When a doctor requests drugs that the non-medical logistician may not be
familiar with in terms of stock numbers, they can search for part of the word
and find the correct stock number/ item identification number and place the
order.
When
incidents occur, planners at all levels will review DMLSS orders from automated
tools like TEWLS to research our on-hand quantities for vaccines, medications,
or medical-surgical supplies to satisfy requirements. Planners and providers
may also use the Joint Medical Asset Repository (JMAR) to look at critical item
stockage levels in hospitals and medical logistics companies across the
theater. This allows for the rapid movement of class VIII from one facility to
another in an emergency.
When MC4 completes the DMLSS fielding, role 3 facilities and
MEDLOG companies in the CENTCOM AOR will be using the DMLSS software. All other
units in the AOR that require medical supplies will be using DCAM. The era of
green screens and function keys will be over.
The medical logistician supports the medical professional.
Our job is to provide the best MEDLOG support for the patient. At the end of
the day, we’re helping a person or patient and we take that responsibility very
seriously.
Lt. Col. David Sloniker, U.S. Army Medical Materiel
Center-Southwest Asia Commander, Camp Sayliyah, Qatar