The Defense Medical Research and Development Program (DMRDP) within the Department of Defense https://cdmrp.army.mil/dmrdp/default, awarded a grant for $1,644,510 to Clemson University https://www.clemson.edu researchers to develop Complete and Resilient Documentation (CARD) for Operational Medical Environments. Researchers at Clemson will work in collaboration with Prisma Health on the research.
Recording complete and accurate information from an injury in order to provide care is critically important for the delivery of optimal care and to process post-injury benefits claims, in both the military and civilian environments. The project entails developing hands-free documentation for medical rescue missions when providing care from the point of injury and when transporting the injured to field hospitals.
The goal is to develop an advanced speech recognition solution to process recorded video and audio from a camera and then automatically store extracted information in the EHR system. The development of the new technology is going to change how medical documentation is collected.
The project designed to address medical workflow, assessment and develop the platform and software, is being led by a cross-disciplinary collaborative team of experts knowledgeable in EMS operations, advanced cyberinfrastructure, along with speech and video recognition.
So far, the technology developed consists of cameras and computers that EMS personnel will be able to carry, enable personnel to convert the audio into digital text, and incorporate the information into EHRs.
The researchers have conducted simulated drills of trauma patients as they are taken from the field to be transported in helicopters plus how field hospitals are able to handle procedures. Prisma Health at the University of South Carolina, School of Medicine Simulation Center, https://palmettohealth.org/classes-events/education/simulation-center conducted the drills.
As technologists and physicians work together on the project, they will be able to explore what is possible, what is desirable, and then recommend a path forward towards developing and adopting the technology beyond military medical care.
Go to https://cdmrp.army.mi/search.aspx?LOG_NO=DM160374 for more information on the award titled Complete and Resilient Documentation (CARD) for Operational Medical Environments (Award Number) W81XWH-17-C-0238.