Health information technologies are not being used to their full potential in the Defense Department’s efforts to perform mental health check-ups for service members about to deploy.
That was the primary IT finding of a report released by the Government Accountability Office on May 30.
The 2007 Defense Authorization Act required DOD to issue mental health standards for service members about to be deployed. The department has done so, and has also issued a policy mandating pre-deployment screenings and a review of medical records as part of those evaluations, GAO found.
However, GAO identified several IT-related problems connected with the review of records and the tracking of referrals. For one, DOD health care providers use two different electronic medical records systems, the Composite Health Care System (CHCS) and the Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA).
CHCS is a localized system, with information available only to medical providers working on a particular military base. Information in AHLTA is available to military clinicians across different installations and to providers in theater.
Facilities without access to AHLTA are unable to get a comprehensive review of medical records. And those without CHCS are unable automatically track the completion of pre-deployment evaluations.
Also, AHLTA lacks the capability found in CHCS to automatically alert health care providers by email when a referred service member makes, completes, or cancels an appointment.
The division psychiatrist’s clinic at Camp Lejeune does not have access to either AHLTA or CHCS, the GAO found, while the air wing and logistics group at Camp Lejeune have greater access to AHLTA.
Some installations lacking electronic capabilities have developed manual systems for tracking pre-deployment referrals and the completion of exams. Health care providers at Camp Lejeune track referrals to the division psychiatrist using hard-copy logbooks. Health care providers make referrals by phoning the division psychiatrist and then follow-up every two weeks to determine whether service members have kept their appointments.
“Manually tracking referrals is labor-intensive and time-consuming,” the GAO concluded, but “necessary to ensure that referred service members receive their evaluations.”
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