FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY -- The Commander for Regional Health Command Atlantic Brig. Gen. R. Scott Dingle visited Blanchfield Army Community Hospital recently and saw how Virtual Health initiatives are keeping Fort Campbell medical readiness high among the force.
Army Virtual Health uses electronic communication, like video-teleconferencing and secure networked computer data bases to connect patients, their information and providers to health care across the world or across the post. Downrange it can be used to connect a medic with a specialty provider stateside who can access the patient’s medical history on a computer and, using video technology, guide an examination to the medic on the ground instructing what to check for and offer possible treatments.
On Fort Campbell, Blanchfield is currently using Virtual Health to help update Soldiers’ Periodic Health Assessments. A PHA is an annual screening required by the Army to evaluate the medical readiness of a Soldier. It includes updating personal health information questionnaires, measuring height, weight and blood pressure, a review of current medical conditions with a healthcare provider, a focused exam if required, recommendations for improvement of identified concerns, and a behavioral health screen. Incomplete or missing PHAs can delay necessary medical care and impact unit readiness.
"This is probably one of the primary reasons why Fort Campbell is always leading the way across FORSCOM with medical readiness. The Soldiers who are in processing are showing up to their units at the right medical readiness level because they are getting their PHA done virtually and this really helps in that matter," said Col. Anthony McQueen, commander, Blanchfield Army Community Hospital, during Dingle's Virtual Health demonstration.
When Soldiers check-in on post or process for deployment, a health technician at the Soldier Readiness Processing Site, within the Soldier Support Center, screens their record to check for a current PHA. Soldiers who are due to update their PHA then complete their electronic health questionnaire on a computer at the SRP site. The technician records the Soldier’s vital signs, and enters the information in a database. Meanwhile an on-call healthcare provider at Blanchfield or an outlying medical home can review the Soldier’s information and any concerns they may have before meeting, “face-to-face” online in a video chat where the provider and patient can talk more in depth.
“If they are a really healthy Soldier, we can probably complete one of these Virtual Health appointments in four minutes,” said Maj. Tammy Smoak, Chief of Soldier Health Services at BACH, during the general’s Virtual Health demonstration. “If we see something in their record that needs to be addressed, we can notify their unit medical leader, schedule care and work toward getting them medically ready. If there is an immediate need we can get the patient into a clinic.”
This method is convenient for Soldiers because in most cases they can complete their PHA at the same time they are in-processing on post and be medically ready before they report to their unit. For the hospital, it eliminates having to keep healthcare providers at the SRP site where they may not see any patients if it’s a slow day for Soldiers reporting to the site. Instead the health providers take shifts at their clinics where they are on-call to handle Virtual Health PHAs as required.
“Typically the video-teleconference connection works very well. Once in a while we might have a few issues that we will work through,” said Smoak.
Other areas Blanchfield is looking to use this technology is in Endocrinology, Neurology, and Nephrology.
Following his Virtual Health demonstration, Dingle asked a few questions and praised the health team’s efforts in incorporating the technology to improve readiness.
“Here at Fort Campbell they are doing phenomenal with (medical) readiness and as you know, for the (Army) chief of staff, the (Army) surgeon general, readiness is number one. Fort Campbell leads the way,” said Dingle.
To learn more about Army Virtual Health visit http://armymedicine.mil/Pages/VirtualHealth.aspx
| Date Taken: | 11.07.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2017 17:22 |
| Story ID: | 255612 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 39 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Virtual Health helps keeps Soldiers battle ready, by Maria Christina Yager, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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