ABSTRACT

A series of ham radio operators would establish a schedule of time available for the long-distance communication between remote locations and more centralized locations. Tripler Army Medical Center (TAMC) was the test site for the Composite Health Care System, a database of the US Department of Defense. It was deployed in the late 1980s, and included modules for order entry, retrieval of radiology and laboratory results, pharmacy, patient administration and coding information. In 1993, telemedicine consultations with TAMC were begun from the US Army Kwajalein Atoll Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. Children with asthma were enrolled from military facilities in Guam, Okinawa, mainland Japan and Korea. The US military’s transition to an electronic medical record has resulted in further challenges for the Pacific Asynchronous TeleHealth system, paediatric cardiologists can differentiate normal from abnormal heart sounds with a high degree of accuracy.