Medical professionals save millions with common-sense concept

  • Published
  • By Capt. Megan Schafer
  • 86th Airlift Wing public affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  As caretaker of the "Gateway to Europe," the 86th Airlift Wing is frequently rolling out the red carpet for visitors from across the globe.

While many units focus on the protocol aspect of such visits, the 86th Medical Special Operations Clinic here has developed a way to maximize time spent by guests on Ramstein, saving the Department of Defense millions of dollars along the way.

They use a simple yet inspired concept called "Conference Medicine;" most recently demonstrated during the U.S. European Command European Strategy Conference held here March 1 to 5.

"The whole idea is to provide a full year worth of medical requirements while the attendees are here," said John Mace, operations officer for the clinic. "The monies have already been expended for the travel and per-diem to come here from all over Europe, Africa and The Middle East, so it makes good financial sense to get all this accomplished without the member having to come out of country again for required medical items. With the DOD budget constantly shrinking, it behooves all of us to make maximum use of our resources to save these valuable dollars, wherever we possibly can."

Though the concept may sound straightforward, it comes with a hefty and complex share of leg work to ensure success.

Two months prior to the conference, each attendee was required to complete a medical questionnaire. Once the Ramstein team received the forms, they quickly inputted the data into their system to ensure all the appointments and required equipment were available for the duration of the conference.

The next phase included scheduling actual appointment times and creating informational packets for each individual, keeping in mind some of the appointments would require them to travel to other clinics in the Kaiserslautern Military Community. As the conference attendees checked in on Sunday, medical special operations technicians were at the registration center handing out the envelopes to each attendee, and answering questions.

"It takes an unbelievable amount of coordination and effort to pull off a successful operation such as this, and a great deal of assistance and guidance has come from our leadership," Mr. Mace said.

Since this conference involved military members from every service, one of the major challenges was engaging each service's medical community to find out what each member would need upon arrival.

"In essence, all active-duty members should depart this conference fully qualified and up to date on all their medical requirements." Mr. Mace said.

Approximately 500 individuals from nearly 50 nations attended this year's conference, equating to more than 340 appointments during the five-day event.

"This conference exceeded the previous one last year, at which time we did around 250 appointments for the attendees and the cost savings to our government was $1.3 million," Mr. Mace said. This year's savings totaled "$1.5 million, considering the travel and per-diem costs. This is in addition to the increased patient satisfaction and confidence factor incurred as a result of treating them in a real U.S. military medical facility."

Mr. Mace came up with the idea several years ago and, along with his small team of experts, has been constantly refining the service ever since; so much so that the "conference medicine" concept has been recognized by Air Force Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles Greene, who is working to implement the idea in other places throughout the Air Force.

"[Mr. Mace is] passionate about making sure he's got the right type of service for his customers and the medical community should be proud to have him here," said Robert Moore, EUCOM Strategy, Plans and Policies Directorate (J5) deputy director for security cooperation who has worked with and received care from the special operations clinic for the last three years. He also emphasized the major impact the care has on outlying forces. "Many of our folks are serving in places where the quality of medical care is not up to Western standards, so it's a tremendous success to the folks downrange."

But it's not just about the one-stop shopping that conference attendees receive from the clinic - the first-class service comes with everything the clinic team does. And the proof of it can be seen on the walls of one of their treatment rooms.

Where many doctor's offices may hang certificates, licenses or maybe medical charts, Mr. Mace and his team hang pictures of some of the more "distinguished" guests they see - 182 pictures to be exact, with three more in the queue to be framed and hung. The photos don't depict everyone who comes through their doors; however, it is quite a collection - ranging from general officers from all of the military services, to several U.S. presidents.

Though the mission of caring for general officers and other DVs may seem to be highlighted - the clinic's existence isn't all about executive-level service, hence the name "special operations." Their mission is to "provide a professional preventive and secondary source of medical care for active duty personnel and family members, who have special operations needs because of their duty positions and/or duty locations."

With this mission statement in mind, in a given string of appointments, the team may treat a three-star general after caring for a "three-striper" Airman. That's due to the fact that many of their patients include Airmen assigned to unique duty locations like geographically separated units. Like the care conference attendees receive in a week, Airmen who are assigned to GSUs also come to the clinic for that same streamlined care.

"Our regular assigned population is somewhere around 540," Mr. Mace said of the patients here at Ramstein. "Our GSU population we serve is about 1,600."

In a given month, that equates to 250 to 260 patients - not accounting for any large conferences that may make that number spike dramatically.

Though the numbers are impressive and the cost savings is remarkable, they aren't the driving force behind the operation according to Mr. Mace - it's about customer service.

"My greatest reward for the job is helping others, and hearing these folks say as they depart, 'this is the best I have ever seen in my entire military career,'" he said.