Photo by Spc. Darrell Lavoie, Warrior Transition Brigade Officials from Walter Reed and the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs attend a ceremony to launch a new electronic information transfer system between DoD and VA Tuesday in Heaton Pavilion’s Joel Auditorium.

Transfer Summary Note is an electronic template that allows health care professionals at the receiving hospital to access inpatient medical notes minutes after patients leave Walter Reed.

Questions about the treatment provided to date can be identified before the transfer takes place. VA nurses will be able to identify and set up specialized equipment and have it in place by the time servicemembers arrive at the next stop in their treatment process. Electronic transfer will ensure the patient handoff is a smoother process, while giving access to medical notes to everyone in the system that has a role in the patientís recovery, officials said at a ceremony in Joel Auditorium Tuesday.

ìAll of the various agencies that have scrutinized care for Warriors in Transition have highlighted the importance of effective communication between DoD and DVA,î said Maj. Gen. Carla G. Hawley-Bowland, North Atlantic Regional Medical Command and WRAMC commander. ìThey have also urged us to move forward in the era of electronic medical records. The achievement we recognize today helps us with both of these critical goals.î

Prior to the new system, patient medical data was transferred through a Bi-Directional Health Information Exchange interface/connection ó a proven secure solution for medical data transfer within the DoD health care facilities. Nurses at VA polytrauma centers identified a need for a standardized tool that could be used by both DoD and VA computer inpatient records systems.

Since April 2008, Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the VA Polytrauma Center in Tampa have piloted the note receiving information directly from Walter Reed. The Tampa VAMC Information Technology staff also assisted in the implementation at the three remaining centers in Richmond, Va., Minneapolis; and Palo Alto, Calif.

ìWhat makes this such a unique celebration is not only what we have accomplished, but how we have accomplished it,î said Cathy Rick, chief nursing officer, VA. ìThere are those who think that two of the largest federal agencies canít work together to solve problems but this is an example of what ëcan- doí staff from both agencies have achieved.î

ìWe must do everything in our power to provide the best care possible in a very complex health care environment. This endeavor supports coordinated care for our wounded warriors across the continuum of care,î she added.

The key benefits to the electronic transfer system are that it provides clinical information at the bedside, saves time, documents and tracks patient transfers between DoD and VA facilities, provides data for collaborative research between the agencies, and improves patient safety and care. This system will ensure the utmost accuracy in patient records while delivering notes on rehabilitation and recovery from the nurses stationed here to those nurses who will continue to treat and care for the patients on their road to recovery, Hawley-Bowland said.

ìIn todayís fast paced medical and surgical environment, maximizing use of technology becomes crucial. Our troops deserve the best care possible in the world, and this new electronic interface will help us deliver on that promise,î she said.