403rd ASTS readies for new health records system

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kristen Pittman
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs

A team from the Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, visited the 403rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron to provide assistance and training as a new electronic healthcare record medical system, MHS GENESIS, is set to rollout at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, Saturday.

MHS GENESIS is an electronic health record system that provides both doctors and patients secure, digital access to medical records.

Once fully deployed, the program will be the single health record for military personnel, veterans and their families, allowing medical records to transfer seamlessly from base to base, or to non-Department of Defense medical providers.

                                        

Lt. Col. Jonathan Semple, Air Force Reserve Command’s Chief, Health Services Management Division, and an MHS GENESIS support team comprised of Maj. Trinh Ramirez and Herman Orr, took the time to meet with 403rd Wing leaders, providers from the 815th Airlift Squadron and 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and members of the 403rd ASTS, to provide guidance and answer questions about the upcoming transition to the new system.

The 403rd ASTS is responsible for ensuring the medical readiness and keeping health records of the 403rd Wing’s approximately 1,500 reservists.

“The concept of GENESIS was initially built with active duty operations in mind,” said Orr. “After I completed the six-week training course in Kansas City, Missouri, I took that information and tailored it to the needs of our Reserve operations.”

The significant difference in operations between active duty and the Reserve is the high volume of required annual physical health assessments, or PHAs, performed one day a month during a Unit Training Assembly weekend rather than having the flexibility of five days a week throughout the year.

“This visit was to give us a clearer idea of any changes we might need to make in order to adjust to this new system and to answer any questions that maybe the virtual training didn’t,” said Master Sgt. Octavia Cooper, 403rd ASTS noncommissioned officer-in-charge of medical records.

According to Semple, the unit should be able to complete the full transition in three to six months.

The squadron plans to do a soft rollout of the system during the October UTA where they will run a small number of PHA patients through the system from start to finish.

“Soft launching the system will be ideal for the traditional reservists to learn the system without being overwhelmed by the high volume of PHAs completed during any given UTA,” Ramirez said. “It will also allow the unit to work through any issues with the on-site support representative that will be there during that weekend in October as well as the online support that day and moving forward.”

For more information about MHS GENESIS and what it means for military personnel, veterans, and their families, visit https://www.health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Technology/MHS-GENESIS.