Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY98 Annual Report

Interface with current DOD medical logistics systems, including DMLSS, TAMMIS and TEWLS; Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) Customer Assistance Module (DCAM) is a medical logistics ordering tool that enables operational units to monitor medical supplies (class VIII) and replenish levels when required.

Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) Users Manual - Scholar's Choice Edition U.S. Air Force on Amazon.com.FREE. shipping on qualifying offers. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact. The Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) program defines and implements a more efficient medical logistics capability for military medical treatment facilities and field units to support health care operations both in peacetime and during contingency operations. SUBJECT: Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support – Facilities Management (DMLSS-FM): Requirements Module. References: See Enclosure 1. This Defense Health Agency-Technical Manual (DHA-TM), based on the authority of References (a) and (b), and in accordance with the guidance of References (c) through (h), establishes the.

FY98 Annual Report

Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support Dmlss User Manual Free

ASD(HA) ACAT IAM Program:	Prime Contractor
Total Number of Systems:	108 Sites	Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and
Total Program Cost (TY$):	$273M	International Business Machines (IBM)
Average Unit Cost (TY$):	$2.5M	Service Certified Y2K Compliant
Full-rate production:	4QFY96	No (Expected 1QFY99)

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) program defines and implements a more efficient medical logistics capability for military medical treatment facilities and field units to support health care operations both in peacetime and during contingency operations. The DMLSS automated information system (AIS) is intended to enhance operations by automating manual processes, improving processes already automated, and eliminating existing processes that add no value. The system will support four major functional areas: (1) materiel management; (2) facility management; (3) equipment and technology; and (4) wholesale. The first three of these are retail medical logistic functions that will be supported by DMLSS AIS at hundreds of medical treatment facilities and field units worldwide; the wholesale area will be supported by DMLSS AIS at only one site¾ the Defense Personnel Support Center in Philadelphia, PA.

Dmlss Training Modules

DMLSS AIS is being fielded incrementally, with each release containing new functions and enhancements to existing functions. The required applications are installed on each user's personal computer and the server is accessed via existing medical treatment facility local area networks. DMLSS supports the Joint Vision 2010 concept of focused logistics by integrating the medical logistics systems of the three Services, reducing medical treatment facility inventories of medical and pharmaceutical items, and decreasing the medical logistics footprint. This decreases the vulnerability of logistics lines of communications to deployed forces while still protecting lives.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Medical Electronic Customer Assistance, one of five wholesale systems to be developed for the Defense Personnel Support Center (subsequently renamed the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia), was the first DMLSS AIS system fielded. Its retail counterpart and near twin, Forward Customer Support, was deployed to test sites at about the same time, beginning in 1995. The IOT&E of these initial modules were generally successful.

DMLSS AIS Release 1, which contains all of the functionality of the Forward Customer Support system, began the automation of both the medical materiel management and facility management processes. Subsequent DMLSS AIS releases will continue to introduce new automated processes, while replacing eight retail systems currently in use bymilitary medical treatment facilities and field units.

In February 1996, OT&E was conducted by the Office of Health Systems Evaluation (the OTA at the time) on the Medical Electronic Customer Assistance system at the Defense Personnel Support Center in Philadelphia, and on the Forward Customer Support system at Lackland AFB, TX, and the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. Although the test results were generally very favorable and most users enthusiastically supported the new system, some concerns were noted. The concerns were in the areas of data base accuracy and currency, user training, system availability, and response times. The DMLSS PM took immediate action to correct these deficiencies, and DOT&E concurred with the OTA that the use of both the Forward Customer Support system and Medical Electronic Customer Assistance system should continue, as should the planned DMLSS AIS development program.

In August 1996, OT was conducted on DMLSS AIS Release 1 at Camp Lejeune, NC; Fort Hood, TX; and Maxwell AFB, AL. OPTEVFOR, the new lead OTA, determined that the system was 'potentially operationally effective' and 'potentially operationally suitable.' (The word 'potentially' was used because this was an early OT&E that did not test all the DMLSS AIS required capabilities, many of which are still being developed.)

TEST & EVALUATION ACTIVITY

No OT&E was conducted between 1997 and 1998. The OT&E of DMLSS AIS Release 1 in 1996 was conducted in compliance with the TEMP approved by DOT&E on July 30, 1996. The updated Release 2 TEMP was approved by DOT&E in March 1998. FOT&E is scheduled for Release 2 in June 1999.

TEST & EVALUATION ASSESSMENT

In its evaluation of the Release 1 OT, the OTA commented that the DMLSS AIS users were extremely satisfied with the new capability and were eagerly and aggressively using the system during their normal work routine. The OTA noted that the deficiencies from the previous OT&E of the Medical Electronic Customer Assistance system and the Forward Customer Support system had been corrected. However, many of the facility management functions of Release 1 could not be tested due to insufficient time to populate the data base and user inexperience with some of the new features. The OTA's evaluation included many recommendations for improvement. It noted major deficiencies in the areas of contractor-provided maintenance, data base building and updating, and interfaces with related systems. DOT&E concurred with the OTA findings. The DMLSS AIS PM quickly took action to address all of these concerns.

Subsequently, DOT&E concurred with the deployment of DMLSS AIS Release 1, but further OT of the system is clearly needed. FOT&E is scheduled for DMLSS AIS Release 2 in June 1999. Release 2 will contain upgrades to both the materiel management and facility management modules, and will replace two materiel management legacy systems. In addition to focusing on new functional capabilities (particularly those of the facility management module), FOT&E will address the operational effectiveness concerns (e.g., data base accuracy, security) and operational suitability concerns (e.g., maintainability, interoperability, training) noted in previous OT&E.

LESSONS LEARNED

Much of the difficulty in testing the facility management module of Release 1 was