LIFESAVING POSSIBILITIES
Throughout the years, users have presented product concepts from the mundane to the unusual—including an idea for camouflage toilet paper. Each submission is carefully reviewed by a qualified product evaluator.
process, maintain the NPI site and serve as a go-between for
the vendors and
reviewers as needed. Should the team receive a promising concept outside the program reviewers’ expertise, SPO staff will look across and outside the com- mand for assistance.
Te SPO’s participation in on-site medical materiel trade shows positions the com- mand well to connect product developers with medical acquisition representatives. Vendor days provide the services’ medical logistics agencies with strategic market analysis of products and technologies that may be well-suited to austere medi- cal environments. SPO staff often invite NPI users to attend a Vendor Day event or discuss the benefits of the NPI website with session participants.
PLANS FOR NPI 2.0 As with any product, there is always room for improvement. Site administrators conducted a focus group in spring 2013 to identify ways they could improve both the site and the submission process.
Te SPO maintains a close working rela- tionship with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), which became a part of USAMRMC in 2013. Te DCoE is charged with working to improve the lives of service members,
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families and veterans by advancing excellence in psychological health and prevention of traumatic brain injury and care. It maintains a website similar to the NPI called the DCoE Concept Submission Program (CSP). During focus group discussions attended by DCoE staff, participants worked to inte- grate the CSP into NPI, creating a more inclusive site to reflect USAMRMC’s expanded missions.
Perhaps one of the most important sys- tem upgrades that staff identified is giving reviewers greater flexibility in generating the dispositions they send to vendors regarding their product or idea. While the current system gives reviewers a selection of automated responses they can send to vendors, they can’t easily cus- tomize their input.
Te new system will also include a searchable archive of submissions, giv- ing acquisition personnel access to nearly a decade of product
concepts. Other
updates include a mouse-over feature that will provide contextual help and a more robust method for capturing success sto- ries. Te new site will also incorporate Google Analytics, giving administrators insight into how visitors are using the tool.
Some other added site features will focus on the workflow itself—for example, how
user input is entered and then routed to SMEs. As users complete fields, the web- site prompts them to select categories describing their idea or innovation from drop-down lists. Administrators noticed that users sometimes failed to under- stand category nomenclature and would misfile their items. Tis, in turn, would delay review of the product by the appro- priate specialist. To remedy this problem, staff developed a triage function that helps users more accurately determine who should evaluate their submission.
Reviewers who fail to see a use for a prod- uct often refer the item to a teammate for consideration. In the past, the NPI did not capture the rationale for redirecting a product. However, NPI 2.0 will prompt reviewers to elaborate on why they are referring the item. Tis functionality will provide the next reviewer added detail that can make the next assessment more efficient. Similarly, submissions in the past could only be routed to one research area at a time. Now they can be routed to multiple areas simultaneously, further reducing review times.
Another workflow enhancement is the integration of questions at various phases throughout the submission process, surveying participants about their experi- ence. Te team plans to use this feedback to continue advancing the tool.
Working closely with USAMRMC’s Information Management Office, the SPO will launch a beta site in spring 2015. Representatives within the user commu- nity and program partners will test the updated site and identify any system glitches or workflow adjustments.
Te office is also forming an NPI gover- nance committee to oversee contextual changes to the site. As proposed modi- fications arise, such as adding a new
Army AL&T Magazine
April–June 2015
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