The Defense Health Agency has announced the first of a series of plans for military hospitals and clinics to give beneficiaries easier access to medical services information for Brooke Army Medical Center and Womack Army Medical Center. I created a resource app for .
The Brooke Army Medical Center Access to Care app, released in February 2023, was the first of what is expected to be a wave. Based on a brochure developed by BAMC, it was turned into an app by DHA’s Mobile and Web Technology Program Solutions Delivery Division. Former BAMC commander, U.S. Army Brigadier General. Gen. Deydre Teyhen called for an app to be developed to help patients navigate their care and better understand treatment options, including telemedicine and urgent care.
Users can access the app from their computer or mobile phone. It features a simple layout, quick access tabs with frequently used services, maps of local military hospitals and clinics, and access to medical guidelines for adult and pediatric beneficiaries. Provides information about BAMC, Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgery Center, 10 independent military hospitals and clinics, and more than 100 specialty service providers.
BAMC serves more than 250,000 military beneficiaries throughout the San Antonio area. For more than a decade, BAMC has been recognized by the College of Health Information Management leadership as one of the nation’s “Most Wired” health care facilities for its innovative use of health information technology.
“We believe BAMC and the San Antonio market are ahead of the curve in developing this type of resource that will make it easier for beneficiaries to receive care,” said DHA Mobile and Web Technology Program Development Division Director David Coleman said.
The Web Technology Program Solution Delivery department designs, programs, hosts, and operates and maintain apps.
Womack came next.
Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Liberty, North Carolina’s mobile-friendly app includes phone numbers, business hours, pharmacies, labs, prescription refills, access-to-care guidance, the latest announcements, and additional health information. It contains. Nursing care services.
The app also includes access to information about how to maintain personal data in the MHS GENESIS Patient Portal, Telebehavioral Health, Bereavement Support, and the Defense Registration Eligibility Reporting System.
Womack serves more than 160,000 beneficiaries in the region.
The Womack resource app has received “a lot of praise from patients, hospital staff, and leadership,” said U.S. Army Maj. Elbert T. Osborn Jr., director of information management. He said, “We appreciate the active collaboration with DHA’s mobile and his web technology programs and look forward to future application enhancements.”
Womack’s app will be released in September 2023, and Osborn said she would like to add to current pharmacy wait times and the ability to send push notifications to patients through the app.
Advantages of the app
“From a distribution perspective, anyone with a compliant web browser can now access information on products that used to be paper on a smartphone or computer,” Coleman said. said.
“The app takes advantage of native features on your smartphone, so you can dial a phone number in a directory with one click, link an email address to your email client, and add references to external websites and other apps to them. You can link directly to resources. Physical addresses can be linked to map applications for navigation.”
The development schedule for a mobile-friendly resource app depends on “what customizations are needed and how much content is played,” Coleman explained. “Some smaller projects can be completed in just a few weeks, while more complex projects can take him over a year.”