The Military Health System has a mature, well-developed EMR, but it's still not as comprehensive as some in the Pentagon would like it to be. Some ancillary IT systems aren't integrated with the main AHLTA EMR, for example, including a system that tracks blood donations.

The Defense Health Information Management System, part of the Defense Department's Office of the Chief Information Officer, recently conducted site visits at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and the National Naval Medical Center in nearby Bethesda, Md., to develop a plan for integrating the Defense Blood Standard System with the rest of the MHS's vast health IT infrastructure. MHS officials currently are looking at migrating data from the aging, complicated system to an off-the-shelf product with more functionality, according to a story on the MHS website.

One key problem they identified is that military personnel may give blood at multiple locations even within the same region, but donor information doesn't always end up in the same database.

"Ultimately, the consolidation will ease the patient tracking process for healthcare providers and decrease labor associated with locating the correct patient information," the story says."It should create a seamless transition for healthcare providers accessing data because the manner through which they access the data will not change. With better checks and balances in place, the consolidated database will also help mitigate risks for all donors, reducing the time spent on pre-donation questionnaires and improving the already meticulous blood management safety process."

Military brass want to use the National Capital Region as a model for the rest of the country, but each facility nationwide does have some autonomy in deciding whether to consolidate its own blood management system.

To learn more:
- read this article from the Military Health System

Related Articles:
Military Health System extends two EMR support contracts
Pentagon calls for longitudinal EHRs in five-year HIT plan
DoD, VA move to SOA architecture to build interoperable systems