SAN ANTONIO –
Throughout one’s military career, several pages of medical records are normally accumulated including documentation of immunizations, physical exams and dental records. These records are vital in determining post-service care or compensation for injuries received on active duty, and the Air Force Service Treatment Records Processing Center in San Antonio is ensuring each Airman’s records are readily available to them.
The staff of the center processes thousands of paper service treatment records each month into a digital format and recently hit a milestone this March by having validated and digitized 200,000 records, according to Sherice Briggs, AFSTRPC chief.
“We are digitizing service members medical records so that the Department of Veteran’s Affairs can access them in a timely manner and process any claims that the members may file,” said Briggs. “Digitizing service treatment records is essential for veteran’s to be able to file VA claims as the VA no longer accepts paper documents.”
The processing center was established in December 2012 after the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense created a joint strategic plan that identified a goal of ending paper, hard copy medical records. Since May of 2014, the AFSTRPC staff began verifying and digitizing a backlog of 17,000 physical records, said Briggs.
From September – December 2014, the team of three government service civilians, one active Air National Guard liaison, one Air Force Reserve liaison, 119 contractors and 23 active duty Airmen processed the backlogged records and maintained a steady rate of 5,500 records uploaded monthly, explained Briggs.
“Contractors review the records as they come in from the military treatment facilities to make sure they are complete,” said Theresa Rodriguez, a program manager at the AFSTRPC. “If the documents are complete, they are prepped for scanning and checked by quality control personnel before being digitized into the system.”
Briggs elaborated that a complete service treatment record includes a service members medical and dental records. If the records received aren’t complete for any reason, the AFSTRPC reaches out to the military treatment facilities to obtain the missing information and ensure accuracy, as inaccuracies can lead to disapproved claims or an extended wait time to have VA claims processed.
“Our goal is to digitize service treatment records within 45 days of service members date of separation to ensure that the VA has access to records in a timely manner to process member’s claims,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez imparted the AFSTRPC reaches their self-imposed processing goal about 85 percent of the time, but adds they would like to reach 100 percent in the near future to provide optimal support to veterans.
“It’s important to us that we take care of our veterans because they’ve taken care of us by serving our country,” said Briggs.