The Army is fielding a major software upgrade to their EMR system called “Communications for Combat Casualty Care” or referred to as MC4. The software upgrade will produce significant changes when treating soldiers wounded on the battlefield.
More than 500 active duty, National Guard, and Army Reserve working in deployed medical units use the MC4 system in 16 countries. Combat medics or physician assistants’ are able to record how a soldier was injured along with the soldier’s treatment and patient care using a handheld device to encrypt all the information.
The most significant change that MC4 customers will notice is an upgraded Window 7 operating system. Also, each MC4 standalone system and server will require Public Key Infrastructure-Equipment (PKI-E) certificates to enhance security and to assure the integrity of the information transmitted through the networks. The upgraded MC4 system includes updates related to patient safety along with information on allergies and medications.
According to Lt. Col. Keith Harley, Assistant Product Manager for MC4,”When the laptop is connected to the internet, the documentation becomes available to any provider in the world that has access to the system.”
He added “In Theater, we capture data in a repository known as the theater medical data store. This enables medical information to be available to treat soldiers from the point-of-injury all the way to the time that the soldier is evacuated to a military hospital such as Walter Reed or San Antonio.”
Once in a medical treatment facility, providers can use the MC4 system to document inpatient or outpatient care, use laboratory and radiology services, document pharmacy orders, or needed medical supplies.
Eventually all the medical information for the soldier moves to a clinical data repository that contains all the medical care received from the time the soldier enters the service until the time the soldier is discharged from the Army.