CIO Report
MMT 2009 Volume: 13 Issue: 6 (September)
Better Access to Data Means Better Medical Decisions
Charles M. Campbell
Military Health System
Chief Information Officer
The amount of data the Military Health System gathers each day is mind-boggling. When you multiply it with the 9.4 million beneficiaries each with individual health records, the numbers soar.
Some people think the data we gather electronically is fed only into the electronic health record, but this is just one of many tools and resources that we use to collect, monitor and analyze data. This basic premise is lost on many people because they do not understand that data come in multiple forms and can be used for various purposes. Health data can tell us when, where and what vaccine was given to a patient, and also allow us to study trends or share visual laboratory results with multiple sources.
One of the tools we use to shape how providers approach health promotion, disease prevention, care delivery and other treatment options is the Clinical Data Mart.
The data mart collects information gathered during more than 134,000 daily patient encounters and is fed into electronic health records, creating a repository of 1.5 terabytes of health information. Health care providers use this robust clinical reporting tool as part of their care delivery practice.
When I look at comparable health care organizations, I have yet to find one with a larger automated clinical reporting tool.
What makes this tool so unique, besides its size, is that it can capture discrete bits of data. These data allow analysts and clinicians to measure, analyze and manage performance of direct patient care. The real-time, positive impact on health care delivery and treatment of our beneficiaries is what makes the capture and sharing of electronic health information so exciting.
For example, diabetic patients have benefited from the Clinical Data Mart’s capability to allow physicians to access recent test results and visual displays of lab trends. These reports can be shared with beneficiaries, their families and providers through the Diabetes Provider Panel Web portal, another function of the data mart. In addition, the reports include summary pages as well as individual pages for different data types, including appointments, vitals, diagnoses, counseling, medication and immunizations.
And it doesn’t stop there. The Navy effectively recalled flu and hepatitis vaccines as a result of the information stored in the data mart. Specifically, the Navy used the Clinical Data Mart to determine which patients had potentially been affected by the recall of Haemophilus Influenza Type B and Hepatitis B vaccinations. A search of the data mart identified 8,000 patients at risk, and nearly 340 patients were identified to receive personal notification. The process, including drafting letters to notify patients, took less than three hours. A previous manual review of individual medical records for another recall had required six weeks and 3,840 labor hours to perform the notification. Using the data mart, all patients affected by the recall were contacted swiftly, thus reducing the potential medical error.
The Clinical Data Mart also identifies patients who are at risk for disease. Eighty percent of the 56,000 patients found to be at risk for kidney disease through our search had not been diagnosed. Paper records or other electronic systems do not have the same type of capability to gather, synthesize and analyze data.
As I mentioned earlier, health data can tell us specifics about treatments and allow us to study trends. This will be an important capability that we may need to use during flu season. I know that we will be able to better serve our beneficiaries due in part to the data mart’s capability. For example, we could easily access the data mart’s vast database to determine which patients are high risk and might require additional treatment or assistance if they contracted any type of flu. The data mart would allow us to identify the type, number and date of vaccinations provided to those patients. With this information, we could quickly alert providers and patients who might require additional treatment.
The data mart allows us to apply those same processes to alert providers and patients throughout the military health care system about health warnings or information if facing a pandemic, health crisis or national disaster. I expect that we will continue to find innovative ways to tap into this capability to improve the quality of care and delivery to our beneficiaries. We will continue to make those improvements by gathering feedback from patients and providers about ways we can more effectively use the data mart and other health information programs. I see this tool as one of many in our arsenal able to transform real-time data and health information into lifesaving care and treatment. We still have more ground to cover, but with the Clinical Data Mart, we are steps closer to helping providers on the front lines of health care delivery be more effective and efficient in their treatment of our beneficiaries. ♦
Visit health.mil to learn more about the Military Health System or the CIO’s efforts. For more information, contact Karen Roberts, director of MHS CIO communications, at (703) 681-8836.