Inspection Tools at Work For You: Medical

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Morgan Brown
  • 940th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

Visiting medical used to be a lengthy process, but the 940th Aerospace Medical Squadron has worked to shorten the time you spent and streamline their day-to-day activities utilizing internal reviews and inspection tools.

The goal is to complete even the most complicated physical exam within two hours of a patient’s arrival time to include all labs, immunizations, hearing, specialty tests as well as completing a final review of the patients’ records to anticipate future needs. They do this by incorporating the Management Internal Control Toolset, otherwise known as MICT, into the planning process.

MICT is a web-based application that uses checklists to help leadership gain visibility and prioritize deficiencies in their unit. It standardizes the self-inspection process and provides a guide for decision making.

“MICT was previously addressed as a separate program,” said 940 AMDS Commander Lt. Col. William Lucas. “Our checklist items are now presented to the group, to ensure we have continuous monitoring of the Commander’s Inspection Program. This avoids duplicate work being done.”

Implementing the MICT and CCIP into their workflow has allowed the medical unit to see more patients in a shorter timeframe and helped them become more thorough and comprehensive in their work, said Lucas.

It starts with a planning meeting every month which sets the tone for a successful unit training assembly. There they use their checklists to identify trouble areas and assign work groups to remedy any issues. SMSgt. Amy Stultz, 940 AMDS superintendent, then uses that information to create the schedule for the clinic and 65 personnel.

“We track a member’s time through the stations and are able to objectively identify trouble areas,” Lucas said. “That feedback is then presented at the next month’s planning meeting.”

MICT also helps show transparency and deficiency trend data to unit commanders, major commands, and Air Force Headquarters.

“In addition to executing their mission to "green 'em up," during the unit training assembly, the unit also actively works on internal process improvement and professional development for their reservists,” said Col. Stephanie Williams, 940th Air Refueling Wing commander.

Lucas explains that the process has been effective, demonstrated by the statistics and awards the Air Force Reserve unit has received.

“There is nothing more wasteful than doing something efficiently which should not be done at all,” said Lucas.