MHI 504 SYSTEMS ANALYSIS FOR HELATH INFORMATICS

MODULE 3
SLP

Introduction
A function is a string of linked activities that involve one or more entities carried out for
the direct or indirect purpose achieving the goals of the organization, realizing revenue, customer
care, production, management, administration, monitoring, recording or reporting on the

conditions and processes of the organization. A function should be one that can be defined and
identified but may or may not be measurable (Modell, 2007). A process is a series of linked
activities or a series of linked tasks that constitute an activity. The activities and tasks normally
depend on each other and there is a well defined flow from one activity to another or from one
task to another (Modell, 2007).
Understanding Systems Analysis for Health Informatics
Inpatient services functionality is a functional area which exploits full integration with
other patient management and clinical processes. Army regulations require that a copy of
inpatient treatment record be an adjunct to each and every patient but most of the times the
patients do not have complete or even any documentation when they get to Walter Reed Army
Medical Center. Tracking of missing paper records mostly takes long leaving the soldiers in
agony because the clinicians can not attend to the soldier until they get the records. Some of the
records are incomplete hence unnecessary medical tests are carried out. The wounded soldiers at
the medical center were very frustrated and gave official complaints to the House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform (Brewin, 2007).
The soldiers were frustrated due to things such as the antiquated clipper database that was
in use by the Army Physical Disability Agency (PDA) to manage Physical Evaluation Board
(PEB) cases through its Physical Disability Case Processing System (PDCAPS). The PDCAPS
clipper database was in use since the mid 1980s and was designed to operate on the Windows NT
or Novell operating systems and does not provide for communication between PEB sites. The
PEB technicians are responsible for uploading PDCAPS data every day to the main database in
Washington hence the system does not operate in a real time basis. PDCAPS is so outdated that it

is not possible to insert Microsoft Word documents into a file hence the administrative assistants
have to retype documents from the medical or personnel management officers into PDCAPS.
That process was obsolete and a new and more efficient process needed to be adapted by
Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I would propose that they change to Essentris which is
designed for use in military acute care hospitals. It provides point of care data from physiological
devices, ventilators and other patient care machines. Physicians can be able to monitor real time
crucial care data such as heart rate while interfacing with the Composite Health Care System.
Essentris is able to store all inpatient documentation plus real time data back up for every
transaction. The data can be amassed, trended and analyzed to manage care for an individual
soldier or for all the soldiers requiring medical attention.
Essentris is more of automated and will help in the elimination of the paper based
inpatient documentation. The implementation of this system will allow for the standardization of
processes and the sharing of information across the departments. The system will improve the
provision of acre to the injured soldiers, increase efficiency by reducing the number of paper
record and to enhance the delivery of patient care. The system capable of Bidirectional Health
Information Exchange data sharing with the Department of Defense and department o0f Veterans
affairs electronic health records. It is also capable of Global Data Repository which is the local
relational database for analyzing and trending all data elements (Melvin, 2010).
The militarys electronic health record (HER) also known as AHLTA is a medical and
dental information management system that enables secure online access to Military Health
System (MHS) beneficiaries records. It is used by medical clinicians in all Military Treatment
Facilities. The system provides access to full and accurate health data to the medical clinicians
all over the world so as to make informed patient care decisions during the time of care at any

place any time. It is the first system that allows for central storage of standardized EHR data that
can be shared all over the world. It was implemented after a presidential directive that supported
the need for a centralized patient record system for military personnel that could be accessed
across the Department of Defense enterprise. AHLTA was introduced in January 2004. The main
objective was to enhance the medical assistance fast and to benefit more than nine million people
with continuity of care and administration benefits.
AHLTA is utilized by health care personnel in all fixed and deployed military medical
facilities. Several users can access the system but access to view or retrieve information is
restricted according to the level of an individuals role. Users of AHLTA may include: nurses,
physicians, corpsmen, medics, technicians, clerks and office managers. The most recent AHLTA
version is 3.3 that were released in December 2008. The version has an eyewear order entry and
tracking support (SRTS) and integrates dental modules. The new version is important in the
providing the military with the best health care in the world. Some of the enhancements include:
drawing module, performance and speed enhancements, improved editing, health assessment
management tool, more efficient signing of multiple encounters, and multi site access for users.

REFERENCES

Brewin, B. (2007). IG: Soldier Care Hampered by Antiquated Database. Retrieved on 21st
February 2011 from http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?tid=69&nid=70453

Melvin, V. C. (2010). Electronic Health Records: Program Office Improvements Needed to

Modell, M. E. (2007). Functional Analysis: Chapter Synopsis. Retrieved on 21st February 2011
from http://www.martymodell.com/pgsa2/pgsa12.html

Modell, M. E. (2007). Process Analysis: Chapter Synopsis. Retrieved on 21st February 2011
from http://www.martymodell.com/pgsa2/pgsa13.html