I had an amazing experience last Thursday. I encountered some of the smartest, fastest-thinking, most motivated healthcare transformation thinkers I've ever seen. The ideas were flying so fast it was like transformation popcorn. And this was in an organization I'd never heard discussed as health leaders: a U.S. Army "Physician Champions" meeting in Boston.
The people I met with have a particularly passionate commitment to effective care: having chosen the military themselves (not the world's best working conditions), they're distinctively committed to their patients. They have a long-running EMR system (electronic medical record), so that any "doc" who encounters a patient can see what previous providers have entered. And because of frontline military circumstances (at the front, a medic is the one you call "doc"), the records are used by all tiers of providers. In these conditions the value of accurate information is acutely apparent - as are the challenges of system usability and workflow.
The event leaders who invited me to speak were as passionate about patient engagement as anyone I've met anywhere. I spoke about participatory medicine, and heard discussions of real-world workflow issues and best practices for working with the system to get the job done. It was concrete and practical.
I had a strong sense that U.S. hospitals will have lots of meetings like this in the next few years as they implement EMRs.
I wondered why in all our civilian discussions of EMR I haven't heard of this group of change leaders. Sure, I've heard about the DOD's long-standing use of their medical record, and I know about the VA's system (which is not the same as DOD's). But I had no idea there was a group aggressively advocating for patient engagement in the military.
And to me that makes a ton of sense, because for the most part, when soldiers leave the service their medical record will no longer be visible to their new providers. They'll need to be engaged in their care.
My gratitude to Dr Bob Walker from the Europe Army Medical Command in Heidelberg and his team for introducing me to this special operation. Great people with an inspiring passion.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
US Military Pursues Patient Engagement
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Hey its really nice
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this
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Really interesting. I have a friend who is an Army doc. If you like Army care, there's a reason: soldiers are essentially a massive group of professional athletes. The Army is payer, provider, and employer, so all the incentives are aligned. My friend is empowered to spend as much time with a patient as the patient needs, completely at his discretion. In the civilian healthcare system, we separate every stakeholder so that patient, payer, provider, and employer are all focused on their own interests. In the Army, it's really patient and employer et al -- just two stakeholders. With today's recruitment environment, their interests are pretty much aligned.
ReplyDeleteGiven this alignment, they can really benefit from the kind of insight you have, Dave!