During the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many departments at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune working around-the-clock to ensure our patients and personnel are cared for. When many think of a Medical Center, doctors and nurses may first come to mind, but hospitals and medical centers require many “behind the scenes” teams to operate. NMCCL’s Information Management Department provides the technological tools necessary for our medical teams to care for patients.
The department provides a technological infrastructure which incorporates all tech-assets; computers, phones, printers, fax machines, and are also responsible for the networking systems and software to make them work. In addition, they maintain software programs necessary for patient care; AHLTA and Essentris. IMD is comprised of 57 employees and is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays and weekends. Like all clinics and office spaces, IMD has adapted their workflow during the pandemic. The department quickly stepped up to establish networking systems at the Acute Respiratory Clinic and COVID-19 screening sites.
Susan Morrison, IM division officer states the biggest challenge during initial onset of the COVID pandemic was “having to relocate to temporary buildings and telecommute, all while still maintaining close communication with other team members.” The department rotated schedules in order to maintain a physical presence to assist customers on-site.
Taryn Strachan, customer service representative said the team worked diligently during the pandemic at “limiting close customer contact during training and servicing equipment.” In order to achieve a safe environment for staff members and customers, two rooms within the Medical Center, were established as COVID Command Centers. Strachan explained appointments were set up with customers to retrieve their equipment; during pick-up they would interact via telephone with an IT representative located in another room. According to Strachan, “this was a more efficient method of training the customer since it involved the customer signing directly into the system themselves and alleviated difficulty when they arrived at their telework locations.”
IMD services another 110 locations outside of the main Medical Center to include branch clinics, regiment aid stations, and battalion aid stations. During the pandemic, IMD carefully coordinated with personnel at these remote locations to assist them during strict COVID safety measures.
Date Taken: | 10.15.2020 |
Date Posted: | 10.15.2020 12:04 |
Story ID: | 380965 |
Location: | JACKSONVILLE , NORTH CAROLINA, US |
Web Views: | 131 |
Downloads: | 0 |
This work, We are NMCCL! Help us give a shout-out to our Information Management team!, by NMCCL Public Affairs, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.