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DoD Extends Army Clinical Workflow Solution to Air Force, Navy

The U.S. Department of Defense has granted Vocera an authority to operate, which extends the potential purchase and deployment of the hands-free Vocera Badge clinical communication and workflow solution beyond the Army to facilities in the Air Force and Navy.

Department of Defense

Source: DoD

By Fred Donovan

- The U.S. Department of Defense has granted Vocera an authority to operate (ATO), which extends the potential purchase and deployment of the hands-free Vocera Badge clinical communication and workflow solution beyond the Army to facilities in the Air Force and Navy.*

The Army is currently using hands-free Vocera Badges to facility communications and workflow at Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) facilities worldwide.

“For many years the wearable Vocera Badge has been used in MEDCOM facilities around the world to improve care team communication,” said Gregory Young, vice president of military health systems at Vocera.

The ATO certifies that the product meets agency information security standards. The agency’s authorizing official makes risk-based decision to grant a vendor an ATO to enable the use of the vendor's system.

“With this new ATO, we are very excited to extend our customer base and offer our defense-grade solution to healthcare facilities in the U.S. Air Force and Navy,” Young said.

Vocera said that its badge meets federal government requirements, is Federal Information Processing Standards 140-2 compliant, and Joint Interoperability Test Command certified. It  integrates with 140 clinical systems, including electronic health records, nurse call systems, physiologic monitors, and real-time location systems.

Last year, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a five-year, $18 million contract to Government Marketing and Procurement to deliver, install, configure, engineer, furnish, and test hardware for the Vocera wireless hands-free communications system and supporting hardware/software infrastructure for Defense Health Agency facilities.

Shanna Hearon, a spokesperson for Vocera Communications, said there was no connection between the contract and the ATO.

DoD Focus on Mobile Medical Technology

The DoD is focusing on mobile medical technology to improve care to military personnel.

DoD announced this month that medical researchers are developing a mobile application to connect combat medics with on-call ophthalmologists either in-theater or at a clinic to treat eye injuries in the field.

The application will enable healthcare providers in a war zone to conduct eye exams, diagnose eye injuries, and treat them using a smartphone.

Around 10 percent to 15 percent of combat injuries involve the eye, according to Air Force Maj. William G. Gensheimer, MD, ophthalmology element leader and chief of cornea and refractive surgery at the Warfighter Eye Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

“If there is Wi-Fi connectivity, the user can video teleconference an ophthalmologist either in theater, in a clinic in Germany, or back in the United States and receive real-time consultation for their patient,” said Gensheimer. “When there is no connectivity, the application will function like secure email and the medic can send the necessary information.”

The 59th Medical Wing is providing funding for the application, and the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center is providing technical support.

“With the application a downrange provider can consult an ophthalmologist and the service member can receive treatment much sooner than before. This improves the chances of preserving their eyesight and potentially return them to duty much more quickly,” said Gensheimer.

“As it stands, the current technology does not have the technical requirements necessary for deployed eye care,” said Army Lt. Col. Jennifer Stowe, MD, an optometrist and deputy director of administration at the Virtual Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. “As an optometrist, it is without a doubt an expected capability to speed up recovery in a deployed setting.”

The mobile application could have a positive impact on the readiness of military medical providers, said Stowe. Increased exposure to a variety of patients through the application gives them a deeper and broader experience of practice, she added.

* A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that DoD had extended a contract with Vocera. In fact, an ATO is not a contract or an extension of a contract, but allows Vocera to sell its solution throughout the DoD.