Healthcare simplified

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brittain Crolley
  • 4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Making an appointment at the base clinic or asking a question about a symptom is now as easy as signing on to a website. The mind-numbing paperwork which accompanies a doctor's visit can all be done with a few simple keystrokes. And the waiting room, which was once a collection of the sickly, now lies in the privacy of one's own home.

The MiCare program is an online service that gives patients more control of their healthcare by providing a secure messaging system to interact with their providers and exchange medical information.

"MiCare is an effective tool that provides secure messaging between patients and their provider team," said 2nd Lt. Timothy Williams, 4th Medical Support Squadron Information Services Flight commander. "It allows patients to request appointments and medication refills, access lab results, review education materials and ask various questions about non-urgent medical needs. MiCare enables patients to be proactive and take ownership of their personal healthcare and receive timely medical information that could save a clinic appointment."

The clinic's dedicated medical teams aim to provide a response to all messages within a 72-hour timeframe, but according to Master Sgt. Anthony Smith, 4th Medical Operations Squadron Family Health Clinic Flight chief, they have been able to respond within 24 hours to the majority of inquiries.

With private information so readily available, there is the potential for security issues to be a concern.

To ensure privacy and security, MiCare users, patients and providers alike, are required to have a registered account so that messages can only be viewed by the individual parties. The website also uses a secure connection to encrypt personal information for transmission and storage.

As an added measure of security, MiCare beneficiaries have to see a healthcare provider in person in order to get enrolled in the program. From there, enrollees will receive a confirmation email that they must respond to before the registration process can be completed.

"One of the requirements [of the registration process] is that it has to be a face-to-face due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA) and privacy concerns," Smith said. "We want to make sure that we communicate with the right person."

Unfortunately, not responding to the confirmation email is where there has been a kink in the system. According to Lt. Col. Christian Lyons, 4th Medical Operations Squadron commander, approximately 47 percent of applicants respond to the confirmation email and get enrolled in the program properly.

To help bridge this gap, a MiCare office has recently opened in the Family Health clinic to help ensure proper enrollment and provide education about the program.

"Initial enrollment must be done in person at the front desk or the MiCare office," said Staff Sgt. Shara Haddenham, 4th MDOS Family Health Clinic team leader said. "During the registration process, the enrollee will be learning about how to access MiCare, send messages, and view their current health information. The best part about this process is that we can close the gap between the invitation and registration completion process, as well as inform the patient about all the valuable benefits of MiCare."

Once the reply to the confirmation email has been completed, MiCare beneficiaries are ready to start privately messaging with their healthcare team and enjoy the other benefits that come with the program.

"Signing up for MiCare took about five minutes and I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to set up medical appointments and communicate with my provider," said Maj. Jennifer Swazay, 4th Comptroller Squadron commander. "Anything that's efficient and saves time is great."

For questions or more information about the MiCare program and how to get enrolled, contact the Family Health clinic at (919) 722-1526 or visit www.afms.af.mil.