MHS CIO Report
MMT 2010 Volume: 14 Issue: 5 (August)
Charles M. Campbell
Military Health System
Chief Information Officer
Although the smell of backyard grills and summer heat are still around, students and parents are looking at the fast approaching school year as the signal to visit the doctor for routine vaccines. Meanwhile, throughout the year, the military’s servicemembers are receiving various vaccinations for their operational deployments around the world. Throughout the month of August, the Military Health System hopes to increase awareness about the importance of immunization health during 2010 National Immunization Awareness Month.
We in the MHS must ensure our servicemen and women are properly immunized and medically ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, while continuing to care for their family members and loved ones on the home front. We are consistently adding and improving functionalities to support our electronic health record, such as incorporating immunization information through the development and pilot of the Universal Immunization Tracking System.
Currently, our electronic health record is deployed to support our more than 9.6 million beneficiaries. The systems that make up our EHR support our patients whether they are deployed to a hostile environment, in garrison at a brick and mortar military treatment facility, or transitioning to veteran status. Including crucial immunization information in the EHR aids providers in making better treatment decisions.
Medical immunizations are an enduring component of military health care delivery and have a direct impact on military readiness. In the past, when a military member presented at a care facility, the patient and provider had to ensure paper copies of their immunization records, or the little yellow books, were present. These important vaccine records were often hard to locate due to the high mobility of MHS patients and providers across the world. The geographically dispersed nature of the military work force allowed for frequent errors and missteps, which could result in not only a patient safety issue but also impact our force readiness. These instances also waste time and resources and ultimately, can be detrimental to the health and frustration level of the patient.
Global immunization awareness is needed to make certain individuals do not receive duplicate or unnecessary immunizations while, at the same time, ensuring all appropriate immunizations are given. This is critical to protecting the health of individuals across the spectrum of peacetime, contingency and wartime scenarios.
The transition from our traditional shot records packaged in bright yellow booklets maintained in both paper and electronic formats to the Universal Immunization Tracking System [UITS] will drastically reduce past patient safety problems. As a result, UITS, which is currently a pilot project and still in development, will consolidate multiple service immunization systems into a single system within the clinical workflow with reporting to service readiness systems.
All vaccines and shots administered in military medical facilities will be recorded in Universal Immunization Tracking System, regardless of the location of the facility. The stored immunizations will not be restricted to a single type of vaccine or shot. The tracking system will record immunizations for all military personnel and their family members.
In addition, UITS will be designed with an Immunization Data Repository. The new data repository will be created so approved government agencies and MHS partners can access immunization data for the purpose of reporting or building data and Web-based services. This allows for not only immunization tracking, but also a more comprehensive electronic health record for servicemembers and beneficiaries.
Vaccines prevent infections such as hepatitis, tetanus, typhoid, measles, mumps and rubella, just to name a few. Receiving immunizations for these and a host of other diseases can be the difference between life and death. Tracking these shots is just as important.
Tracking the thousands of immunizations given to our 9.6 million beneficiaries each year remains vital to ensuring the safety of our patients. This monumental task not only requires a high level of technical expertise, but also an understanding of the dynamics of MHS and the importance of its mission.
It is important to keep our guard up by immunizing. We know that up-to-date immunizations will provide 24-hour aroundthe- clock protection against vaccine preventable diseases. Even if there are only a few cases of disease today, if we take away the protection given by vaccination, more and more people will be infected and will spread disease to others.
While OCIO is heavily invested in electronics, wiring and software—it is our people that remain our most valuable asset. While vaccines keep our servicemembers healthy and units at home and abroad fit to fight, they also help families and loved ones at home stay healthy and thrive.
Visit health.mil to learn more about the Military Health System or the CIO’s efforts. ♦
Charles M. Campbell is the chief information officer for the Military Health System. Please direct any questions to director, MHS OCIO Communications, Karen Roberts: 703-681-8836.