The Gateway

Last month I traveled to the Republic of Korea. There, I met with commanders, providers and logisticians using MC4 systems and support services throughout the peninsula. I learned of some great initiatives taking place to expand the use of the system, while bringing new functionality to the region.

Providers in Southwest Asia have been able to track the follow-on care of their patient's medevaced to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany via the Bidirectional Health Information Exchange-SHARE (BHIE-SHARE) functionality in TMDS. While this type of visibility is important to providers, the digital connection between tactical and garrison MTFs does not exist everywhere. Now it does in South Korea.

Maj. Kevin Peck, chief information officer for the 65th Medical Brigade, made it possible for providers at clinics throughout the Korean theater to electronically view their patients' data captured at higher levels of care on the peninsula. This connection overcomes the difference in technologies used to capture the EMR, providing access to a more complete medical picture.

I also had the opportunity to monitor MC4's annual new equipment training in Korea. It's time we adjust our training strategy in Korea like we've done in the U.S. Instead of familiarizing users in a classroom setting, we'll be moving this training into field exercises and scenario play. This way, users will receive hands-on experience with the equipment in a real-world environment.

Should the Korean theater transition to hostilities, MC4 systems are already available and in use. To quickly respond to the needs in the region, we partnered with the U.S. Army Medical Material Agency at Fort Detrick, Md., and prepositioned MC4 contingency equipment in Korea. Units throughout the Pacific Command can use the systems to support humanitarian and other contingency missions.

Lastly, to better support the Korean area of operations we changed the assignment length of MC4 support staff to the peninsula from six months to two years. The extension allows the local units and MC4 team to develop a stronger working relationship to advance the use of the EMR system.

As MC4 expands our training support to field exercises in South Korea, I'll keep you posted.

Twice a year, groups of trauma coordinators prepare to deploy to Southwest Asia by attending bi-annual training classes held by the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. There, coordinators typically receive an overview of the MC4 system, which teaches them how to use the Joint Theater Trauma Registry (JTTR) on an MC4 laptop. Now, MC4 is more involved.

This month, we held our first installment of MC4-specific training during the two-week curriculum to give coordinators a more specific, tailored training on how to collect trauma data using AHLTA-T and how to leverage TMDS while deployed.

The goal is to better prepare trauma coordinators who gather data from the battlefield and populate JTTR. Senior leaders and researchers study the information collected to uncover new ways to save lives on the battlefield through improved protective equipment and life-saving procedures. Data collected has already paid dividends by way of improved body armor, field tourniquets and bandages with clotting agents.

MC4's continued involvement with USAISR strengthens the partnership between our two programs and provides another step toward the institutionalization of MC4 training.

In November, the Military Health System (MHS) will focus on the use of military medical IT in support of Service members and their families.

In support of this effort, we'll be sharing more MC4 stories online and I'll be speaking at the IDGA Electronic Health Record Summit in Vienna, Va., on October 29th. The focus of my session is "Improved Medical IM/IT Use Through Lessons Learned, Collaboration and Future Technologies." For a copy of my presentation, tweet MC4's public affairs office.

I encourage you to get involved. Post comments, share the stories and visit the MHS website throughout the month of November to learn about all of the latest military IT advancements that benefit our wounded warriors.