CIO Report
MMT 2009 Volume: 13 Issue: 8 (December)
Saving Lives Through Logistics
Charles M. Campbell
Military Health System
Chief Information Officer
Even with all the amazing technological advances made at the Military Health System, at the end of the day we are all in the business of caring for our warriors whether they are on the ground, at home, at sea or in the air. Success in doing this depends at least in part on making sure supplies get into the right hands at the right time. Systems such as the Department of Defense’s Patient Movement Items Tracking System (PMITS) manage global inventories of mobile medical equipment vital to successful aeromedical evacuations.
PMITS electronically tracks and guarantees worldwide timely recycle of over 27,000 different items of mobile medical equipment used for medical airlifts. DoD developed PMITS for use in wartime and in peacetime to safely airlift wounded warriors or people injured in national disasters. In today’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, it has been vital to saving lives.
Before PMITS, there was no support system to provide equipment needed to deliver care while airlifting critically injured patients on ventilators and in need of further surgeries. Today, the battlefield survival rate stands at 97 percent and PMITS guarantees the right medical equipment is available to treat patients where it is needed, when it is needed. Though the medical equipment is not part of the technology we provide, tracking it by managing the information is, so that medical providers can serve those who need them the most.
In the past, equipment was taken from each unit and moved with each patient through the treatment points. Each unit’s equipment pool was degraded, causing inaccurate equipment inventories and even costly equipment loss. That was the past, and this is our present. With PMITS, an item’s serviceability, accountability and visibility are accurately reported as it delivers a precise patient movement item history to track assets and recover lost items. It allows the military to do more with less; more management control of inventory taking less time identifying equipment shortages.
PMITS’ inventory management capability alone saves DoD over $6 million a year and prevents deterioration of patient evacuation resources by providing accurate information to medical logisticians. By combining basic inventory tracking with “just-in-time” logistics, PMITS guarantees critical equipment is in the right place at the right time. The result is when a patient needs specialized medical equipment in an airlift, those pieces of lifesaving equipment are at the fingertips of any nurse, medic or doctor providing care.
One of the biggest challenges in medical logistics is the ability to accurately report what is in stock at any time or place. Now we can seamlessly report real-time information on the operational status and location of patient movement items anywhere in the world.
PMITS is a modification of the commercial software Plexus that was adapted to the specific needs of aeromedical evacuations. By adapting a piece of commercial software, we were able to save time and money in getting the product to our logisticians so they could better do their part in caring for our warriors.
Today, palm-sized mini-scanners record tracking information for each piece of mobile medical equipment and once loaded, data is downloaded to a global synchronized network and its centralized database. Data is automatically uploaded to a read-only Web-version for use by medical logistics planners and military leaders worldwide.
PMITS identifies equipment shortages immediately and replenishes aeromedical evacuation equipment supplies as needed— the essence of “just-in-time” logistics. This demonstrates the continuing efforts of military clinicians to support our nation’s military and their families, and reflects their vital role in supporting our military medical facilities and the nation’s emergency medical system.
According to DoD official statistics, 42,808 individuals have been medically evacuated during Operation Iraqi Freedom and 8,271 during Operation Enduring Freedom. Because of the automated tracking and reporting available today, not one of these medical missions was canceled or delayed due to a lack of medical equipment.
Medical personnel are vital to saving lives, but the equipment they use is almost as vital. Logisticians ensure equipment is where it needs to be and when it needs to be there, which is all part of exceptional battlefield medicine.
The Military Health System is delivering 21st century medical advancements for the improved health and safety for our entire nation. At the end of the day, what we are really doing is taking care of the health and well-being of our warriors and helping to ensure they come home to their families and a grateful nation.
For more about the Military Health System or the CIO’s efforts, go to www.health.mil or contact Karen Roberts, director of MHS OCIO communications, at (703) 681-8836.