Washington D.C. Health System Implements WebChart from Medical Informatics Engineering to Manage Military Physicals and Maritime Medicine Worldwide

FORT WAYNE, Ind., Oct. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for patients on eight U.S. Military bases throughout the Area Support Group - Kuwait while also keeping costs down, Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE) today announced that The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates (GW-MFA) is utilizing MIE's WebChart to collect, track and manage medical information gathered from field physicals in the Middle East and patient encounters.

In Phase One of the project, implemented in January 2011, MIE developed a Web-based system to help GW-MFA physicians in the Middle East easily and quickly record and manage medical information.  Patient encounters are also documented in the field and shared with physicians at GW-MFA.

Phase Two of the project, rolling out now, will give physicians the ability to collect medical data in the field even when they have limited internet access, and then automatically synchronize the information with WebChart when internet access is available.  In addition, MIE is creating an electronic telemedicine application in support of Maritime Medical Access – the flagship telemedicine service provided by The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates.  The Web-based telemedicine application will assist GW-MFA Emergency Physicians when responding to and treating ill crew members at sea.  These patient encounters will be kept within WebChart and HIPAA-compliant information will be forwarded to the ship's company to inform them of the treatment and follow up protocols. 

"WebChart from MIE has greatly improved patient care for our Maritime Medical Access patients and has already started to reduce costs," said Kyle Keenan, Director of Remote Medical, GW-MFA Department of Emergency Medicine. "Not only are we able to give our patients -- all of whom are thousands of miles away on a ship -- the best possible care, we're also able to provide this care more efficiently.  MIE was able to scale its web-based system to provide quick point and click entry.  Since WebChart is internet based, we also don't have to worry about servers being down and / or inaccessible overseas."

"MIE's WebChart is expected to save us approximately $3,000 per year in servers on the ships, and an additional $3,000 per month on bandwidth airtime on our big vessels," continued Keenan.  "Further cost savings and improved patient care will also be realized if one of our crew members needs to be transferred to a port for further treatment.  Diverting a vessel at the last minute can be very costly.  WebChart gives us a big picture look at our patients so there are no surprises."  

As part of the application, MIE and The GW-MFA will also create a personal health record (PHR) for the patient and automatically transfer the information into the patient's account.  Crew members will also have the option of setting up their own NoMoreClipboard PHR prior to deployment, to allow the ship's medical officer and the clinical staff greater access to their full medical history.  

"We are honored to be working with The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates on these very innovative projects that will help improve the quality of healthcare for America's military, while significantly reducing costs," said Bruce Lisanti, president and CEO of Medical Informatics Engineering.  "WebChart will help GW-MFA easily collect and manage medical information on remote patients that will help improve their medical care while in the military and then be available for them whenever they need it, either at a military or civilian facility."

About Medical Informatics Engineering (MIE)

MIE offers a Minimally Invasive™ suite of products that are easy to use, flexible and cost effective. MIE systems are ONC-ATCB certified for Meaningful Use and are CCHIT Certified with a 5-Star usability rating - the highest possible rating.

MIE solutions are in use today by over 2,500 clinics and hospitals; corporate employee health clinics worldwide in multiple languages and safety net providers caring for the indigent and uninsured. MIE also provides advanced solutions for chronic disease management, personal health records and complete wellness modules. For more information, visit http://www.mieweb.com.

About Maritime Medical Access at The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates

Maritime Medical Access has been delivering Remote Medical Services to the worldwide maritime and aeronautical industries since 1989, and is part of the world-renowned George Washington University Department of Emergency Medicine and affiliated with the International Emergency Medicine Program at the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine.  For more information, visit www.gwemed.edu/maritime.

SOURCE Medical Informatics Engineering