Patient movement in the Pacific theater: changing the strategic focus from airplane to patient

The U.S. military health care system forms a vast network across thousands of miles to serve patients in the Pacific theater. The medical treatment facilities in the Pacific, however, act independently and do not effectively track patients in the air evacuation system. The patients and the tracking systems are so disconnected that patients' whereabouts are unknown to both the command structure and the medical treatment facilities as soon as the plane leaves the ground. Furthermore, the databases cannot analyze treatment trends, and the cost of transport--a major part of the cost of health care in the Pacific--is hidden inside the air evacuation system. To ensure that managed care works effectively in the Pacific, Tricare Pacific has created an Internet-based database that will support a new network of case managers and effectively track patients. The Lead Agency's analysis of aeromedical evacuation also concluded that the wartime method of routine patient transport is not efficient in peacetime and, in fact, delays treatment. The recommendations from this financial analysis will reduce patient delays, enhance access, and save millions of health care dollars.