Computer program crash was a good thing

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kimberly Spencer
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  There's nothing like a computer program crash to ruin your day, especially when it’s used to track patients in the Air Force’s largest medical facility.

But with luck, a computer expert can help figure out the problem.

And if you’re really lucky, the solution can be even better than the original.

That’s what emergency medicine staff physician Capt. (Dr.) Allen Holder and software engineer Ed Hander did. The 59th Medical Wing members at Wilford Hall Medical Center put their talents together and came up with Emergency Medicine Three, a new state-of-the-art patient tracking system.

EM3, which got its name by default as the third program used for patient tracking at Wilford Hall, was a case of necessity encouraging invention. When the previous tracking system went down and was declared unrepairable the staff looked for a replacement program, but $450,000 cost was too much.

Captain Holder, an admitted computer hobbyist, understood what the program needed to do, and Mr. Hander understood how to make it happen. Together they developed EM3 at a cost of $50,000.

The system works so well Air Force officials are now looking at using EM3 Air Force-wide.

“EM3 is basic and easy to learn,” Captain Holder said. “Most users can pick it up in five minutes and it will work the same everywhere, even in a deployed setting.” Users can also tailor it to their specific needs, the doctor said.

“EM3 is a phenomenal program designed by emergency physicians for emergency physicians and helps us manage all aspects of ED patient throughput –- registration, triage, evaluation, treatment, disposition and follow-up,” said Lt. Col. Shawn Varney, the wing’s emergency department flight commander.

The program was built from the bottom up with quality patient care being the top priority, Dr. Holder said. Doctors, nurses and medical technicians were able to give direct input to him and Mr. Hander. The team then worked their way up the chain of command to see how they could incorporate tracking elements not directly tied to patient care for metrics used to hone in on problems and improve patient throughput and satisfaction.

“The ED runs more smoothly since incorporating EM3 into our daily business,” Colonel Varney said. “We now have visibility of the entire department from patient registration to disposition.”

The program captures vital signs, patient history and nursing assessments; can print physician charts, nursing worksheets and other forms on demand; assigns initial patient location and can get appointments, demographics, lab and radiology results; and displays patient allergies and medications along with military and civilian information.

It can list all the patients in the emergency room and sort them to show which patients are in the waiting room, main ED, minor care unit or discharged. It color codes patients awaiting discharge, transfer or admission.

“It’s very rewarding to see the results of our hard work paying off,” Mr. Hander said. “EM3 has definitely proven itself, tracking more than 17,000 patients already.”

He and Mr. Hander will continue to update and improve the program as long as helpful suggestions keep coming in, the captain said.

The next time your computer crashes, don’t panic. It just might be the best thing that could have happened.