According to a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General report dated July 17, 2015 and Kevin Dwyer, Defense Health Agency spokesman, the Theater Blood Application, a U.S. Defense Department system for tracking and helping speed blood supplies to combat field hospitals does not work. The faulty system is threatening to cause blood shortages for wounded soldiers.
The Application was meant to automate the tracking of blood inventory, beginning with individual donors through delivery and use in a combat zone medical facility.
Dwyer said the Application, built to faulty specifications, was introduced in 2011 and is used at more than 249 military sites. The system does not meet basic needs for “a blood-tracking tool to ensure accurate blood inventory, patient safety, and deliver high quality products to support the warfighter,” per the report. Recommendations in the report suggest a halt to further spending on the Application until the faults are fixed.
Dwyer disputed the Inspector General's finding that the system could cause shortages where blood is needed urgently saying that individuals can correct problems and redirect blood if the system cannot properly handle demand.
The report said, “There was no clear connection from the user needs to the awarded contract,” and that specifications omitted a list of essential requirements that had been drawn up earlier.
Another flaw in the system is that it is being built to replace scores of separate, antiquated computer databases. The Application is incompatible with the new overall database and cannot feed information to it. The Pentagon is moving to integrate all medical records into a single Defense Department-wide system.
Contributed by Millennium Traders