MHS CIO Report
MMT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 1 (February)
Promoting Health IT Initiatives at HIMSS
Charles M. Campbell
Military Health System
Chief Information Officer
Delivering accurate, safe and reliable health care data to providers can be the difference between life and death for the Military Health System’s more than 9.5 million beneficiaries. The enormous and daunting task of providing responsive and accessible health care worldwide leads the MHS Office of the Chief Information Officer to develop a number of technologies, capabilities and initiatives. The MHS provides and improves health care through a worldwide network of military hospitals, military health clinics and DoD civilian partners.
Ultimately, we aim to seamlessly deliver the power of information to our stakeholders, with the right information to the right customers at the right time, to improve and maintain the health status of our beneficiaries across the entire continuum of health care operations.
The MHS OCIO will exhibit and host educational sessions on a multitude of information technology initiatives at the 2010 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference, scheduled for March 1-4, 2010, in Atlanta, Ga. The HIMSS Conference is the largest health care information technology conference in the United States. The MHS OCIO has been a proud participant for many years now.
With health care such a hot topic, it’s the ideal time to have frank, in-depth discussions about military health service programs. We are poised and ready to lead those discussions.
During our educational tracks, participants will receive the latest information on military health topics. The sessions provide attendees the opportunity to learn from and interact with health care IT leaders. Attendees participating in military healthrelated education sessions can learn how the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs work together with the Interagency Program Office to enhance data sharing and interoperability of health information for all eligible beneficiaries. Attendees will also learn about the benefits of and plans for implementing capabilities that are national in scope and go beyond the military and Veterans Affairs.
Attendees will learn about ESSENCE, a Web-based syndromic surveillance application that screens the entire MHS worldwide for rapid or unusual increases in the occurrence of certain syndromes. ESSENCE automatically alerts users to these unusual increases and uses geographic information system mapping to display occurrences geographically. At the conference, we will highlight ESSENCE and the building of a better public health surveillance mousetrap, as well as the development of a premier global electronic health record.
Other education sessions include sessions entitled “DoD Health Care IT Acquisition— Process Improvement,” “Lessons Learned from Developing a Premier Global EHR Globalization” and “Protecting Our Service Members as They Protect Us.” I will present information on current military health IT initiatives at the “News from the MHS OCIO” education session.
If leading edge military technologies that have applications for the commercial health IT industry appeal to you, you’ll want to visit the MHS exhibit at the conference. This year’s exhibit will display and demonstrate some of the latest deployed IT products that support the nation’s wounded servicemembers and that provide a comprehensive and integrated health care delivery system. Exhibit kiosks will provide attendees the opportunity to learn firsthand about the successes and challenges of interoperability, deploying complex systems and the applicability of IT products to the commercial sector. The Nationwide Health Information Network, developed last year by the Health and Human Services Department, provides the gateway for interoperability between DoD, VA and the private sector. The Veterans Health Administration, DoD and Kaiser Permanente will exchange health information using the NHIN Connect solution. The latest efforts of the NHIN will be showcased at the conference.
The MHS will also participate with other federal government agencies in showcasing a health information exchange network with a shared connection to the NHIN at the HIMSS Interoperability Showcase. Visit the showcase to see interactive, live demonstrations on how applications share patient data across a range of health care settings.
The HIMSS, founded in 1961, is a comprehensive health care-stakeholder membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology and management systems for the betterment of health care.
The HIMSS Conference continues to serve as a great opportunity to share the MHS message with health IT professionals. The MHS can be found at booth number 3107 at the 2010 HIMSS Conference. For more information, visit www.himssconference.org. ♦
Visit health.mil to learn more about the Military Health System or the CIO’s efforts. Please direct any questions to MHS OCIO Communications Director Karen Roberts at (703) 681-8836.