News

55th Medical Group earns outstanding rating

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. James M. Hodgman
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  They've been preparing for this moment for three years. In the final months leading up to the inspection they meticulously reviewed hundreds of medical records and thousands of documents. Their goal was to achieve the highest rating possible; and they did just that. 

The 55th Medical Group earned an outstanding rating during their Health Services Inspection here June 8 - June 12. With the top rating, the 55th MDG becomes only the second medical unit in the Air Force to achieve such a feat this year. 

An HSI is conducted by the Air Force Inspection Agency every three years. The inspection is conducted in conjunction with a civilian accreditation inspection and consists of a four-day evaluation covering several areas including medical readiness, public health, aerospace medicine and training. 

During the inspection, a 13-member team analyzed 14 focus elements, or items of high interest such as mental health consultation, deployment health surveillance and dental management. The 55th MDG scored outstanding on 12 of 14 focus elements. 

Col. Linda L. Eaton, 55th MDG commander, said she is very proud of the Airmen and civilians who worked so hard to earn the group's outstanding rating. 

"I'm proud of everyone and appreciative of the effort they put forth," Colonel Eaton said. "It's an honor to receive an outstanding rating and being an inspection team member for three years I know how difficult it is to obtain." 

Preparing for an HSI as well as the upcoming Operational Readiness Inspection presented quite a challenge to the 55th MDG, which is one reason why Colonel Eaton said she was somewhat surprised with the outstanding rating. 

Leading up to the inspection the group had some key people deployed so others had to step up and ensure the group was ready, Colonel Eaton said. "We've spent a great deal of time preparing for the ORI as well as the HSI which is why I was surprised by such a high rating." 

With this year's inspection, the 55th MDG achieved an overall score of 93, two points higher than its last HSI in 2006. An accomplishment Col. David Williams, 55th MDG deputy commander, said he is very proud of. 

"I'm very proud of the great teamwork the members of the group showed. Everyone put a lot of work in to this and what we did was something very special," Colonel Williams said. 

In preparing for the HSI the group had to ensure it met almost 1,700 different criteria and almost 2,000 other elements for the accreditation process, Colonel Williams added. 

But what does accreditation mean and why is it important? 

"Accreditation means your organization meets a high standard of care, your facility is run appropriately, it's safe and clean," Colonel Williams said. "Our military beneficiaries can sleep well at night knowing that we aren't taking short cuts with their health care, we meet the same high standards as civilian organizations." 

During the inspection, 363 medical records were meticulously reviewed and prepared for possible evaluation. Of those 363 records about 230 were actually inspected. Ensuring these records were in inspection order was the responsibility of Staff Sgt. Christopher A. Roegler, supervisor of the primary care records room for the 55th MDG. 

Every record went through an intense review process, Sergeant Roegler said. "First a medical technician reviewed the records and updated them as necessary, then the records were reviewed by a nurse, a provider or doctor and finally by an administration team." 

Reviewing records was a long process, Sergeant Roegler said. "We had to make sure each record was properly maintained, it had the correct labels on it, all the correct paperwork for each patient was inside it and the correct stamps were on the outside as well." 

Another challenging task the medical group had to overcome, was tracking each record as it went through the review process. To do this, Sergeant Roegler designed a records database. 

"I designed the database to maintain 100-percent accountability of the records," Sergeant Roegler explained. The database consisted of numerous categories including why the record was pulled, its current location and the record's review status. 

Tracking the records was also vital to the outstanding rating, Sergeant Roegler added. "If we couldn't provide a record the inspection team requested it would have been incredibly bad for the group, thankfully due to this database not one record was lost or misplaced." 

After the inspection, some of the 55th MDG's top performers were recognized as three coins and three certificates were presented. 

One coin recipient, Robbin L. Alex, the chief of quality services for the 55th MDG, said she was thrilled to receive the honor. 

"This was my first inspection and I was very honored to receive the AFIA coin, it validated the hard work I've done especially since I've only had the job for a year," Ms. Alex said. "My goal was to get an outstanding and when the group got that rating it was phenomenal, but to be coined on top of that was icing on the cake for me." 

Leading up to the inspection Ms. Alex played a key role in ensuring the group was ready. 

"My role in the inspection was to oversee our preparation process," she said. "I had to make sure we met all Air Force standards, thousands of documents and hundreds of medical records were prepared." 

During the preparation process, 70 boxes of binders containing information from medical group instructions to appointment letters were carefully scrutinized, all under the watchful eye of Ms. Alex. However, she refuses to accept credit for the group's success. 

"An outstanding rating was possible because we have a great team here. Everyone worked very hard and did their part to help us prepare for this inspection and ultimately earn an outstanding rating," Ms. Alex said. 

"The outstanding rating is a high point in my career," Colonel Eaton said. "But there's no way I could have done it on my own, I have to thank all the people who work in the group for doing their best, the results reflect their outstanding performance." 

They performed well during the HSI largely because the 55th MDG was very well prepared for the inspection, said Col. Roger R. Hesselbrock, deputy director of medical operations for the AFIA, and chief of the HSI team. 

The 55th MDG's physical plant was extremely well maintained, he added, which is an accomplishment considering the main building's age.

The group's record of achieving sustained program compliance is an example for other Air Force medical units to emulate, Col. Hesselbrock said.

"Even with an outstanding rating, there are some things we can always improve on," both Colonel Eaton and Colonel Williams said. 

"We have plenty still to do, we'd like to have every section that scored excellent on this HSI reach the outstanding level, so we'll continue working toward that," Colonel Williams said. 

"An outstanding rating is not a perfect score," said Colonel Eaton "there's still things that need to be worked."