The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates is using WebChart EHR from Medical Informatics Engineering to collect, track and manage medical information gathered from field physicals on eight U.S. military bases throughoutArea Support Group Kuwait.
In phase one of the project, implemented in January, MIE developed a Web-based system to help GW-MFA physicians in the Middle East easily and quickly record and manage medical information. Patient encounters are also documented in the field and shared with physicians at GW-MFA.
Officials say Phase 2, which is rolling out now, will give physicians the ability to collect medical data in the field even when they have limited Internet access, and then automatically synchronize the information with WebChart when Internet access is available.
In addition, MIE is creating an electronic telemedicine application in support of Maritime Medical Access – the flagship telemedicine service provided by The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates. The Web-based application will assist GW-MFA Emergency Physicians when responding to and treating ill crew members at sea. These patient encounters will be kept within WebChart and HIPAA-compliant information will be forwarded to the ship’s company to inform them of the treatment and follow up protocols.
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“WebChart from MIE has greatly improved patient care for our Maritime Medical Access patients and has already started to reduce costs,” said Kyle Keenan, director of remote medical in the GW-MFA Department of Emergency Medicine.
“Not only are we able to give our patients – all of whom are thousands of miles away on a ship – the best possible care, we’re also able to provide this care more efficiently," he added. "MIE was able to scale its Web-based system to provide quick point and click entry. Since WebChart is Internet based, we also don’t have to worry about servers being down and / or inaccessible overseas.”
Keenan also noted that WebChart "is expected to save us approximately $3,000 per year in servers on the ships, and an additional $3,000 per month on bandwidth airtime on our big vessels. Further cost savings and improved patient care will also be realized if one of our crew members needs to be transferred to a port for further treatment. Diverting a vessel at the last minute can be very costly. WebChart gives us a big picture look at our patients so there are no surprises.”
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MIE and GW-MFA will also create personal health records for patients and automatically transfer information into their accounts. Crew members will also have the option of setting up their own NoMoreClipboard PHR prior to deployment to allow the ship’s medical officer and the clinical staff greater access to their full medical history.
“We are honored to be working with The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates,” said Bruce Lisanti, president and CEO of Medical Informatics Engineering. “WebChart will help GW-MFA easily collect and manage medical information on remote patients that will help improve their medical care while in the military and then be available for them whenever they need it, either at a military or civilian facility.”
