Air Force Medical Service turns to secure messaging Published March 13, 2012 By Senior Airman Jack Sanders 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Patients at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Mike O'Callaghan Federal Medial Center will soon be able to communicate securely and privately with their health care teams anywhere and anytime thanks to the Air Force-wide expansion of MiCare. The MiCare portal enables secure messaging to patients. The MiCare portal is built to facilitate secure, online communications between patients and their healthcare team. "MiCare will make routine health care more convenient for our patients, while reducing unnecessary visits to the (medical center), thus freeing up our providers to see more acute patients. This is an important goal in Air Force Patient-Centered Medical Home," said Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Charles B. Green, Air Force Surgeon General. Nellis' use of MiCare allows for an improvement in the quality of healthcare patients receive and provides a mechanism allowing patients a better access to their own health information whenever is most convenient for them. MiCare will streamline communication and access to information between office visits, reducing the frequency of office visits for some patients. It will also reduce reliance on telephone calls, providing more convenience for the patients, AFMS officials said. Benefits from MiCare's secure messaging tool include patient access to: · Communicate privately with their healthcare team online without waiting in phone trees or playing phone tag · Ask their healthcare team for advice about non-urgent symptoms · Receive medical test and lab results · Request medication renewals · Request a copy of immunization records · Access physician-approved health resource links at their convenience MiCare also allows the healthcare team will be able to contact patients via MiCare to provide: · Appointment reminders · Follow up on a condition without requiring a trip to the medical center · Medication alerts/refill information · Medical test and referral results · Notifications regarding Flu vaccinations, school and sports physicals, medical center closure dates, etc. In addition, according to Air Force Medical Service officials, in the near future MiCare will offer patients secure access to their personal health record (PHR). The PHR feature will allow patients to capture medical information in a central, online location. Officials emphasized that this has not been an option for patients in the past, making it difficult for them to keep track of health information coming from different doctors, treatment locations, emergency providers and overseas stations. Since MiCare is a patient-driven service, the beneficiary must register with their medical center to have an active account. MiCare signup sheets are avalible at the medical center at most counters and will continue to be available to customers through the remainder of 2012. To find out more, visit www.sg.af.mil/MiCare or ask your local medical center representatives. Original story by Gary Pomeroy and Jon Stock Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
