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Show Command surgeon disagrees with GAO study; says quality assurance key factor He said Air Force medical studentc we'll DV A FLC Office of Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSO- AFB, N Ohio (AFLCNS) The civilian medical field is often rocked by horror stories about huge malpractice claims and physicians leaving the profession because of skyrocketing malpractice insurance costs. From 1979 to 1984, malpractice claims in the civilian sector increased 114 percent. But in the Air Force, malpractice claims are not rising and the quality of health care is constantly improving, according to Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Willard L. Meader, command surgeon for Air Force Logistics Command. A recent General Accounting Office study, ' reported in the Air Force Times, stated that military malpractice claims are on the rise. General Meader has a different opinion. "Mal B B- -l keep any need for improvement, provid"We're said. working at it," he we can aling quality health care, but practice claims are not increasing and that can be directly traced to our Ron Fry strict quality assurance program." ways do better." General Meader said AFLC's qualkeeps close ity assurance program tabs on physicians and other medical creden-tiale- d personnel. All physicians arereviewed and their records are regularly. AFLC medical treatment facilities and the five air at and inlogistics centers are accredited by a medical inspected spector general's team. Also, officials from AFLC headquarters conduct an- The Air Force received 286 claims in fiscal 1986, about the number of claims received annually over the last decade. AFLC received only 20 claims in 1986. "We have a very good track record in AFLC," said General Meader from n office, "We're his strict on our medical staffs and we hold them to high standards." He said that in 1986, AFLC received only 8.5 claims per 100 physicians while the national civilian average for the same period was 30 claims per 100 physicians. General Meader said the Air Force tries to learn from the claims and use information in them to prevent future malpractice claims. "As long as we have claims and as long as we sense Wright-Patterso- Wright-Patterso- n nual staff assistance visits. General Meader said the Air Force conis in the first year of a three-yea- r conwill tract with a civilian firm that duct regular reviews to determine if medical records are properly are among the nation's best and their grade point averages prove it. He said the national GPA for medical students is 3.5 on a scale of 4. The average for Air Force medical students is 3.75. Their medical school admission test scores average nearly 20 points higher than the national average. "We're bringing quality people in, giving them quality training and they're practicing quality medicine," General Meader said. General Meader is particularly proud of a recent study that showed AFLC to be better than both Air Force and national averages in many areas of obstetrics care. "There's no question in my mind that AFLC is in the forefront of Air Force medical care," General Meader said. "And effective quality assurance programs have helped get us to where we are today." breaks four world records, sets 1 4 more VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. (AFNS) A B IB bomber broke four world speed, distance and pay-loarecords and established 14 others off the coast of California July 4. g The flight took off from the Rockwell International assembly facility at Palmdale, e closed course on the Calif., and flew a Western Test Range west of Vandenberg. The course extended from west of San Diego to northwest of San Luis Obispo. The flew 1,242 miles with a payload of 66,140 pounds at a speed of 669.52 miles per hour. proMaj. Ron Hinkle, a spokesman for the office said at Ohio, AFB, gram the bomber flew at 500 feet above the Pacific Ocean, occasionally rising to 2,000 feet so radar could track it. The records are to be certified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale through the National Aeronautics Association. The records were in two classes, at distances of 620 and 1,240 miles and pay-loa- d weights ranging from 0 to 66,000 pounds in 11,000-poun- d increments. One class specified a total gross weight of less than 440,000 pounds, the other was an open class. The had a gross of weight 399,093 pounds. Two of the performance records were set in 1959 e by the Soviet Union in a plane thought to be a Bounder Bomber. The Soviet plane flew at 639 mph for 620 miles at payload weights of 33,000 and 55,000 pounds. d record-breakin- i. ; j 500-mil- B-1- B B-1- B Wright-Patterso- n B-1- B four-engin- C WBtug) By Ross Day San Antonio B-1- B 7 B-1- B B-1- B B-1- B B-1- Nathan E. Gray. : , May 1 988, 1 00 B- Bs will be in the Air Force inventory at four bases:' Dyess AFB; Ellsworth AFB; Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; and McConnell By Wright-Patterso- : B-1- B. Wright-Patterso- C-5- A ' 'The occasion is not simply one marking the finish of a program," Colonel Roberts said. "It celebrates the end of an extremely successful, superbly managed effort that has stayed well ahead of schedule and finished approximately $200 million below original estimates." The project was approved in 1975 by the Department of Defense, but actual modification to add 30,000 flying hours to the service life of the "Galaxy" didn't begin until 1982. There was, however, extensive planning involved before a single rivet was punched out of the first four-phas- e ' and equipment specialists, production managers and engineers from throughout the directorate," Mr. Peterson recalled. "We knew from the beginning that what we did would either become a model for future programs or an opportunity to fail on a grand scale." It has fortunately been characterized as a success. According to Mr. Peterson, financial tracking systems developed by production managers, for the wing mod program have been adopted at Air Force ' level. tetailed investigations and studies by item sondl tf said Ms. Gorden. "With the help of the 2nd Information Systems Group in San Antonio and our people at Lockheed, a computer matrix was developed. We screened it very closely and managed to 'shave off more than $8 million worth of items nonessential to, the wing C-5- A fly-awa- y. mrass managers and equipment specialists helped cut 1,450 line items from the program resulting in a cost avoidance of $34.5 million. One of Mr. Peterson's section chiefs was Suzanne now deputy director of the Gorden, Communications-Compute- r Systems Directorate. "Our highly trained and dedicated cadre did extensive 'what if planning to counteract every situation that might cause budget or schedule delays," original wing assembly. Charles Cox, primary contracting officer for the wing mod program since 1978, was one of those planners. n "Aeronautical Systems Division at AFB, Ohio, ran the wing mod program in its early stages," Mr. Cox noted. "We sent several people there to assist in development of cost proposals, studies, evaluations, and all the other preparations that led to the final $1.5 billion contract. I spent 160 days TDY that year." In July 1981, ASD transferred program responsibility to the San Antonio ALC. Maurice Peterson, now Materiel Management Item Management Division deputy chief, headed the Wing Modification Program Of fice. "Early involvement brought together logistics Lockheed-Georgia'- -l AFB, Kan. The Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Division n AFB is managing the developat ment and production of the md!iiifiirfiiiri) piririinni N B B-1- B two-hou- AFB, Ohio (AFLCNS) s ceremony at plant in Marietta marked the end of the largest single aircraft modification effort ever managed by the San Antonio ALC the Wing Modification Program. Several Kelly AFB officials, who have worked closely with the program over the past nine years, were on hand to watch the 76th and final modified C--5 A on its way back into depart Lockheed-Georgi- a the Air Force inventory. CoL Ronald Roberts, director of materiel management, was one of those there for the memorable A July B-1- B C-1- 35 in 1962. 1,240 miles, also with 33,000 and 55,000-poun- d payloads. The that established the new records was a recently completed aircraft on a production acceptance flight. The Air Force routinely completes flight checks before a new aircraft is delivered to its first operational base. Water was used to simulate the weight of the weapons an operational might carry on an actual mission. Major Hinkle said the water payload was equivalent to the bomber carrying 24 short-rang- e attack missiles and three rotary launchers in its weapons bays. r mission The flight crew, for the nearly Command was from Air Force Systems and Strategic Air Command. The pilots were Lt. Col. Robert A. Chamberlain and Capt. Michael E. Waters. Offensive systems officer was Maj. Richard K. Fisher and the defensive systems officer was Capt. ALC Public Affairs WRIGHT-PATTERSO- used to set the Major Hinkle said the records did not differ in any way from those aircraft now at Dyess AFB, Texas, and Ellsworth AFB, S.D. He added that the record-settin- g flight demonstrated the strategic capabilities of the Air Force's newest bomber. can fly intercontinental missions The without refueling and penetrate sophisticated enemy defenses. President Reagan has described as "the cornerstone of the modernization the of the Strategic Air Command." The first was delivered to SAC at Dyess went on alert at AFB in June 1985. The first Dyess Oct. 1, 1986. jet set the other two records The transport plane flew at 616 mph for An Air Force modification." ' ! Maj. Gon. Lewis Curtis, San Antonio ALC commander, addressed the gathering at Lockheed-Georgifleet is now "It boils down to this: the structurally healthy and for the first time in 17 years we can proudly say the fleet is operating without flight or load restrictions," he said. "We can now carry loads approaching 250,000 pounds. "The benefit to the Air Force and other services cannot be overemphasized. With the completion of the wing modification, the Galaxy, the Air Force's largest airlif ter, will proudly fulfill its role into the a. C-5- A 21st century." |