Medical Simulation & Information Sciences Research Program (MSIS)
Mission
To responsively and responsibly coordinate emerging military medical simulation and health information technologies/informatics research across all stakeholder communities and transfer research solutions and knowledge to meet Military Health System goals.
topBackground and Environment
The Joint Program Committee-1 (JPC-1), established in 2010, is part of the United States Army Medical Research and Development Command's (USAMRDC) research area directorate. The MSISRP is responsible for programming research in three distinct portfolio domains: Medical Simulation & Training, Health Information Technology/Informatics, and the Military Capabilities to Support Dispersed Operations. The MSISRP works with all the services and joint agencies to address gaps, threats, and requirements as identified by the Military Health System (MHS).
The MSISRP is tasked with planning, coordinating, and overseeing a tri-service science and technology program to improve strategic planning and process development related to research in three portfolio areas:
The establishment of the MSISRP has enabled a collaborative process to identify and validate the research initiatives pertaining to the military, thereby allowing USAMRDC to better align its research and development efforts with the needs of the MHS. This program assists in the identification of relevant emerging technologies, the assessment of technologies through a structured process, and the transition of technologies that are of value to the MHS.
Goals and Objectives
The MSISRP seeks to improve patient safety and quality of care through strategic over-the-horizon research; by transitioning more capable healthcare information and medical simulation technologies and systems; by addressing stakeholder driven priorities to bridge existing and future capability gaps in the MHS, and through proactive integration and implementation of emerging technologies into military healthcare relevant applications.
MSISRP JPC-1 Medical Simulation and Training
Research Programs
Joint Evacuation and Transport Simulation (JETS)
The JETS program provides the Department of Defense (DoD) with standardized Joint Patient Movement simulation training capabilities, by replicating the chain of evacuation. The objectives of the JETS system is to ensure patients receive the most effective medical care throughout the patient movement process within the DoD chain of evacuation, while decreasing overall DoD training costs and technology fielding timelines. The JETS program will link the operational needs of the Services and Combatant Commanders to standardized patient movement training platforms inside the Military Health System (MHS) continuum of care while sustaining and/or improving clinical standards of patient management.
Specific goals include:
Point of Injury Training System (POINTS)
The POINTS program provides a Point of Injury (PoI) training capabilities to sustain and improve first responders and combat medical skills to support a disbursed multi-domain battlefield. POINTS research will develop the next generation inter-professional, open source training platforms, toolkits, and models to the Role 1 care scenarios to improve the clinical outcomes of the warfighter. The POINTS program will link the operational needs of the Services and Combatant Commanders with highly trained warfighters that possess a high state of medical readiness and the capability to deliver PoI medical skills and enhance their ability to respond to prolonged care situations.
Specific goals include:
Warfighter Performance, Resilience, Effectiveness, and Protection (WarPREP)
WarPREP is a future concept program to develop tools to deter skills degradation, enhance medical capabilities, and increase patient protection and pre-intervention rehearsal. The research efforts support studies that measures skill acquisition, maintenance, and minimize skill decay through simulation systems. WarPREP research centers on patient safety and improvement of clinical outcomes. This program will develop healthcare pre-intervention systems & proficiency assessment tools for sustained military medical readiness. Efforts in this domain are evidence-based driven with measurable outcomes that will lead to transference to clinical settings, hence patient safety and improved clinical outcomes throughout the continuum of care.
Specific goals include:
Theater Hospital Operations Replication (THOR)
One important concern faced by Medical Modeling & Simulation is how to train medical personnel in peace for the realities of war. THOR is a future concept program to develop in-theater, Role 2 and Role 3 simulation training capabilities; deliver rapid deployment of prepared and skilled medical teams, task forces and theater hospitals. THOR will link the operational needs of the Services and Combatant Commanders with highly trained warfighters that possess a high state of medical readiness and the capability to provide care at Role 2 and/or Role 3. THOR provides a wider range of medical interventions and enhanced laboratory and imaging capabilities. It is anticipated that the carry-over of lessons learned from previous medical contingency operations will influence how future forward surgical hospitals and personnel will operate. Training for these environments is vital to understand the field hospital operations and how hospital personnel work in that environment.
Specific goals include:
Simulated Hospital Operations and Treatment System (SHOTS)
The SHOTS a future concept program that provides common Military Treatment Facility (MTF) based simulation capabilities for the training of medical providers and clinicians who are not operating within a MTF. The SHOTS program provides real time learning for specific medical environments, for example, surgical suites, inpatient wards, and other MTF operational environments. SHOTS program ensures patients receive the best care at the Role 4 environment by increasing the efficiency of the training platforms for medical personnel who operate in an out-patient clinic setting. The SHOTS program will link the operational needs of the Services and Combatant Commanders to standardized patient care training platforms inside the Military Health System (MHS) continuum of care while sustaining and/or improving clinical standards of patient management.
Specific goals include:
MSISRP JPC-1 Health Informatics Technology Research
Research Programs
Theater/Operational Medicine
Since FY16, guidance has prioritized Theater/Operational Medicine/military relevant research to develop timely, clinically relevant and secure health information technology (HIT) solutions that close significant asymmetric information and medical situational awareness gaps and challenges at the point of care in-theater and far forward environments. Enhance efficiency of healthcare operations in combat and operational environments through multi-faceted, novel technology-based research that advances the state of the art in military medicine for 24/7 globally integrated operations.
Specific goals include:
Military Healthcare Services
Research to enhance the efficiency of health care operations; ensure the delivery of high-quality healthcare services by improving information accessibility and by providing better decision support for clinicians to include big data analytics, patient engagement, medical device information, end user usability and the mobile environment.
Specific goals include:
MSISRP Military Capabilities to Support Dispersed Operations Research
Research Programs
Autonomous and Unmanned Systems
Research, design, and prototype autonomous and unmanned capabilities to deliver high quality combat casualty care in dispersed operations with limited or absent medical care personnel in support of the Army Multi-Domain Battle concept and the Army Force 2025 and Beyond vision.
Specific goals included:
Medical Robotics
Research, design, and prototype future medical robotic systems capable of providing or supporting combat casualty care while optimizing the medical logistic footprint in far-forward and dispersed geographic environments in support of the Army Multi-Domain Battle concept and the Army Force 2025 and Beyond vision.
Specific goals included:
Virtual Health
To develop future Virtual Health enterprise process architectures, approaches for delivery of care, and integrated physical solutions capable to supporting prolonged field care and dispersed operations in conditions with limited or lacking traditional field communications and extended enroute care scenarios.
Specific goals included: