thedrifter
04-22-06, 06:21 PM
CAMP LESTER, OKINAWA, Japan (April 21, 2006) -- A Marine is shot in combat in Iraq and medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for treatment. Somewhere along the trip, the Marine loses his medical record and the doctor who treats him has no idea about the Marine's prior health and will have a difficult time finding out how to treat the Marine.
To prevent this scenario from occurring, the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, along with the entire Department of Defense, is in the first phase of a transfer from the Composite Health Care System to Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, a new, global medical record database, according to Cmdr. Margaret Beaubien, the project officer for USNH Okinawa.
The AHLTA system makes patients' health information immediately available to civilian and military medical professionals around the world via a computer global database, Beaubien explained.
Under the current health care program, the method of storing health information is varied from one military treatment facility to the next, making transference of data difficult, Beaubien explained. The new system eliminates a lot of problems related to the paper medical records.
"Doctors depend on health records for a patient's medical history," Beaubien said. "Those records can easily be misplaced, or left at a different medical treatment facility. Once fully employed, AHLTA will provide a secure, comprehensive and legible computerized health record, available to any provider at any time, anywhere in the world."
The new system is a major step forward for the military medical profession, according to Beaubien.
"The first transition (to the new system) will be complete on Okinawa in May," she said. "At that point AHLTA will contain the last 25 months of data for each patient and will have the ability to document all new outpatient encounters."
Because the new medical record is a computer database, the program will eventually become a smart program, Beaubien explained.
"AHLTA will be able to scan records and medical histories to spot trends," Beaubien said. "This will help identify anything from a possible medical condition in a single person to an epidemic in a local area."
When the program reaches full functionality in 2011, AHLTA will also contain laboratory information, in-patient records, X-rays and pharmaceutical information. Although that time is still a long way off, the ultimate goal of the medical database is to completely eliminate the paper health record, Beaubien explained.
"There will not be enough data to give up the paper health record for some time yet," Beaubien said. "Until AHLTA can function completely as a global system, the old paper records will not go away. The paper record is still the official method of maintaining a health record.
"Until the records are phased out, doctors will print an outpatient encounter sheet, to be placed in the record," she continued. "After the phase-out, patients will still be able to request printed records from their doctors."
Ellie
To prevent this scenario from occurring, the U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa, along with the entire Department of Defense, is in the first phase of a transfer from the Composite Health Care System to Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application, a new, global medical record database, according to Cmdr. Margaret Beaubien, the project officer for USNH Okinawa.
The AHLTA system makes patients' health information immediately available to civilian and military medical professionals around the world via a computer global database, Beaubien explained.
Under the current health care program, the method of storing health information is varied from one military treatment facility to the next, making transference of data difficult, Beaubien explained. The new system eliminates a lot of problems related to the paper medical records.
"Doctors depend on health records for a patient's medical history," Beaubien said. "Those records can easily be misplaced, or left at a different medical treatment facility. Once fully employed, AHLTA will provide a secure, comprehensive and legible computerized health record, available to any provider at any time, anywhere in the world."
The new system is a major step forward for the military medical profession, according to Beaubien.
"The first transition (to the new system) will be complete on Okinawa in May," she said. "At that point AHLTA will contain the last 25 months of data for each patient and will have the ability to document all new outpatient encounters."
Because the new medical record is a computer database, the program will eventually become a smart program, Beaubien explained.
"AHLTA will be able to scan records and medical histories to spot trends," Beaubien said. "This will help identify anything from a possible medical condition in a single person to an epidemic in a local area."
When the program reaches full functionality in 2011, AHLTA will also contain laboratory information, in-patient records, X-rays and pharmaceutical information. Although that time is still a long way off, the ultimate goal of the medical database is to completely eliminate the paper health record, Beaubien explained.
"There will not be enough data to give up the paper health record for some time yet," Beaubien said. "Until AHLTA can function completely as a global system, the old paper records will not go away. The paper record is still the official method of maintaining a health record.
"Until the records are phased out, doctors will print an outpatient encounter sheet, to be placed in the record," she continued. "After the phase-out, patients will still be able to request printed records from their doctors."
Ellie