According to the newsletter “The Portal” published by the Office of the Chief Information Officer within the Military Health System (MHS), the Department of Defense is striving to consolidate defense blood systems. Tracking accurate up-to-date blood donation records through a web of legacy systems without access to a consolidated electronic system remains a challenge in the MHS National Capital Region.
Within the National Capital Region, it is possible for a patient treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center or at the National Naval Medical Center to also receive treatment at the DeWitt Army Community Hospital for both emergency and routine care. Also patients can also donate blood and receive transfusions at either facility. Therefore, it is important to consolidate legacy donor and transfusion information to help reduce the risks of incorrectly identifying donors and blood units.
The Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Defense Health Information Management System (DHIMS) program office wants to overcome this challenge. The DHIMS Enterprise Blood Management System team recently conducted site visits at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C, and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda Maryland to observe current blood donor center business practices.
After the visits, the team conducted a limited scope gap analysis of the current blood donation process flow as it relates to federally regulated and accreditation agency manufacturing of blood products. The gap analysis enabled the team to assess the risks associated with transitioning from the Defense Blood Standard System to the projected Enterprise Blood Management System commercial off-the-shelf product.
“DHMIS Enterprise Blood Management System will consolidate the blood donor information including demographics, testing and transfusion data, and then merge all existing Defense Blood Standard System data into a single global dataset,” said John Welch, Public Health Service Lt. Commander for DHIMS.
