Hospital seeks to increase beneficiaries, expand services Published March 1, 2016 By Jasmine Porterfield Team Eglin Public Affairs EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A team of medical data analysts recently visited Eglin Hospital to help the 96th Medical Group discover opportunities and utilize its capabilities to the fullest. The visit stemmed from a 2013 study of the entire Military Health System that included medical functions from across the services. It was designed to streamline and improve hospital capabilities across the Department of Defense. The medical data analysts focused on the three main tenants of the study: increasing enrollment, production and decreasing private sector care costs, according to Col. Eveline Yao, 96th MDG commander. "Our goal is to be our beneficiaries' health care of choice," said Yao. "We've made great strides over the past several years to bring state-of-the-art facilities and desired services to the area, and we will continue improving our capabilities." Eglin Hospital excelled in many of its programs, to include having the number one producing operating room and second busiest labor and delivery in the Air Force. Despite these marks, however, the study found the hospital wasn't reaching the DOD's goals for production. One of the main factors identified was maximizing health care delivered within the hospital's walls, considering the vast array of services it provides to beneficiaries, according to Yao. Eglin Hospital offers 58 different clinical services, ranging from acupuncture to vascular surgery. As a result of the findings, the study team recommended the hospital increase its beneficiaries, adding 2,500 enrollments by this summer. The 96th MDG also needed to reduce private sector referrals to fully utilize the hospital's services and programs. "As a military-based hospital, we face unique challenges that set us aside from our commercial counterparts, with the most obvious being our support of the military mission," said Yao. "Our focus is not only quality patient care, but also assure our medics are current and proficient in wartime skills to support our Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coasties in harm's way at any time." Balancing the two can hinder production, as some services are limited while active duty medics conduct mission-required training. However, hospital leadership is aggressively pursuing and implementing modernization initiatives and new services to meet the ever-growing demand for diverse medical care. Some of the new initiatives recently implemented and in the works include: - Increasing intervention therapies for heart disease through the hospital's new diagnostic cardiac catheterization service - Providing rheumatology services through a visiting active duty rheumatologist with future plans to provide such services permanently given patient demand - Detecting diseases early through the hospital's newly available positron emission tomography scan capability - Reducing wait times and increasing appointment availability for magnetic resonance imaging services through the installment of an additional MRI machine - Offering sleep studies to be available in the coming months - Increasing availability to anti-obesity procedures In addition to new services, the hospital continues to undergo several construction projects aimed at enhancing its safety, accessibility and amenities. The current initiative, called the Envelope Project, calls for installing antiterrorism/force protection windows, unifying the exterior aesthetics to match buildings that were built over four decades, and modifying the main entrance to be covered wheelchair friendly, according to Yao. Other construction initiatives on the horizon include modernizing the labor and delivery suites, operating rooms and aging infrastructure. In spite of its busy environment, Eglin Hospital's level of care speaks for itself. With four Air Force and 27 Air Force Material Command level awards under its belt, the goal of its leadership is to continue to provide the highest level of customer service while expanding their care to as many beneficiaries as possible. "We strive to make your patient experience the best and of the highest quality," said Yao. "If you would not recommend Eglin [Hospital] to your family and friends, let us know. We want to be your healthcare of choice."