Abstract
This paper discusses the innovation process of the Battlefield Medical Information System– Tactical (BMIST), a point-of-care mobile computing solution for reducing medical errors and improving the quality of care provided to our military personnel in the field. In such remote environments, medical providers have traditionally had limited access to medical information, a situation quite analogous to that in remote areas of underdeveloped or developing countries. BMIST provides an all-in-one suite of mobile applications that empowers providers via access to critical medical information and powerful clinical decision support tools to accurately create an electronic health record (EHR). This record is synchronized with Department of Defense (DOD) joint health surveillance and medical information systems from the earliest echelons of care through chronic care provided by the Veterans Administration. Specific goals met in the initial phase were: integration of the PDA and wireless interface; development of the local application and user interface; development of a communications infrastructure and development of a data storage and retrieval system. The system had been used extensively in the field to create an EHR far forward that supports a longitudinal medical record across time and across all elements of the Military Healthcare System.
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