Business Objects vs. MSAT: Navigating the Differences
September 27, 2011 posted by Maj Robert Lang
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As a late addition to the Task Force Medical in Afghanistan, I missed the scheduled MC4 training for the unit in garrison. However, upon arriving in Afghanistan, I spent two weeks with MC4 clinical operations (CLINOPS) personnel getting up to speed. That training was extremely valuable as I was able to get a clinical business process and practice perspective of MC4 versus my traditional S-6 angle that focused on communications, automation and network.
I used MC4 when I deployed to Iraq in 2006 and in my experience, it’s very important to know how and when to use MSAT and Business Objects to pull certain data. MSAT is more limited in the data it can retrieve, but the queries are very easy to put together. It’s great for answering command requests for information, for instance, an appropriately organized Business Objects query can provide the names of every Service member who has been electronically prescribed a psychotropic medication while in theater.
Business Objects shines when more in-depth detailed reports are required. While it requires knowledge of building the query, and then the report, the results can provide a much deeper look into the available data. Another advantage is the filtering that Business Objects is capable of performing. The filtering allows for much greater specificity in the results, like breaking down the outpatient data even further to determine how many are active duty Soldiers versus contractors. Business Objects is also much easier to use when changing search parameters or modifying report views.
Maj. Robert Lang, Senior Health Information Systems Officer, Theater Health Information Program-Joint, Afghanistan
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