Docs diagnose new program as success

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Samuel Morse
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Military medical facilities have strived over the years to maintain the delicate balance of available manning and patient care; however, increased deployments have only created more challenges. To overcome challenges and improve healthcare, Misawa Air Base was chosen to take a new patient-oriented approach aimed to create a closer bond between healthcare providers and patients.

The Family Health Initiative, advocated by Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green, Surgeon General of the Air Force, reflects the national family medicine model where a patient sees the same doctor and medical staff each time they make an appointment.

"It ensures continuity between patient and provider, which ultimately results in better care and improved relationships and trust between doctors and patients," said Capt. (Dr.) David Farnsworth, 35th Medical Operations Squadron family health clinic medical director.

The hope is to minimize how many patients need to go to the urgent care center, said Maj. (Dr.) Tricia Garcia, 35th MDOS director of operations. By having a closer doctor-patient relationship, family doctors should be able to reduce the number of medical emergencies through preventative medicine. This means fewer trips to the doctor and easier scheduling for patients, she added.

The Family Health Initiative gives physicians greater control over their schedules to meet their patients' needs, said Doctor Farnsworth. "There is more communication between technicians and providers and more technicians per provider."

Misawa was used as a test bed for the Family Health Initiative, which is now scheduled to go Air Force-wide by the end of 2011. To help with the transition, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Timothy Kosmatka, Air Force chief consultant for family medicine services, visited Misawa in early April. Doctor Kosmatka said he was very pleased with the progress in the 35th MDOS.

"Despite the unique issues of being our first overseas location to implement the Family Health Initiative as well as our first inpatient facility," said Doctor Kosmatka, "the 35th Medical Group has done an excellent job with implementation. We have taken many lessons learned from Misawa and used them as we continue to press forward with the implementation of the Family Health Initiative across the entire Air Force."

By the end of 2009, 13 Air Force medical facilities were converted to the new model and 20 more are scheduled for 2010, according to Doctor Kosmatka.

Key indicators of the program's success are the morale of the staff and the satisfaction of the patients, which rose to 98 percent, according to Doctor Garcia.

"We have an excellent team at Misawa," said Doctor Farnsworth. "We will continue to lead the Air Force in care for our patients."