DVIDS – News – Health Clinic Expands Services to Better Serve the Yuma Proving Ground Community

The U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground Health Clinic recently made numerous improvements that will make treating the community far more effective.

The biggest investment is the new, much more powerful X-ray machine, says Maj. Joshua Chase, the responsible officer of the YPG Health Clinic (OIC).

“It was the culmination of more than two years of efforts to upgrade our 12-year-old machine to our all-digital machine,” he said.
Clinic staff can now take x-rays to identify sprains or fractures, and chest x-rays to help assess, diagnose, or rule out disease.
Convenient for occupational health examinations, the x-ray machine allows the clinic to better assess and treat foot and back injuries such as those encountered by Military Free Fall School students without having to refer to off-post radiological services.

Clinic administrators are working to source accessories for the machine that will enhance its capabilities.

The digital machine can be connected to MHS GENESIS, the new electronic health record system, and the images can be accessed at other Department of Defense (DoD) medical centers.

In addition to the extended diagnostic tools, the staff at the health clinic now has two new devices that can be used to provide laboratory results on site.
In the past, specimens were sent to a laboratory in Yuma, resulting in a waiting period of several days for results.

“There are certain tests that when we get the results are no longer useful,” Chase cited the flu as an example. “By the time you get the flu results, it will either be recovered or too late to take Tamiflu.”
The rapid swab tests eliminate this problem and provide solid data for the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and strep throat.

“It allows us to differentiate between conditions with very similar symptoms,” said Chase.

In addition, the clinic now has a blood glucose meter and a urine pregnancy test.

After a year and a half, the clinic was completely converted to MHS GENESIS in April. The transition began with several Department of Defense medical facilities on the west coast and will continue until all Department of Defense medical facilities migrate to the new record-keeping system.

Once complete, the service member’s medical information can be easily transferred to other medical facilities in the Department of Defense and also to the Department of Veterans Affairs once the service member leaves the military.
“It makes it easier for the patient to have continuity of care across services,” said Chase.

The local benefit is that the clinic can send prescription orders directly to the Marine Corps Air Station-Yuma pharmacy, as well as other pharmacies in Yuma.

Using MHS GENESIS to fill out prescriptions has had an impact on the speed of filling out prescriptions as the system checks a lot of information. Due to the extra time, using the YPG drive thru to fill out prescriptions became inefficient and was closed on May 14th.

Still, Health Clinic Non-Commissioned OIC Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Bray said the clinic’s prescription fill time was relatively quick.

“When you talk about medical treatment facilities, 25 to 30 minutes is a quick turnout,” he said.

Patients can log into the MHS GENESIS patient portal to request a refill and collect their medication from the clinic as soon as they are ready.

In order to expand the diagnostic services, some procedural changes have been made in the clinic. In-person appointments are available and patients can continue to use the virtual visit format.

“We’ll always be virtual,” said Chase. “This is one of the Defense Health Agency initiatives.”

The clinic has increased the number of telephone lines to four, with two lines for advice lines and two for scheduling.
Staff also answer phones during the clinic’s lunch break, which means a live person will answer calls between 7:30 pm and 4:30 pm
Overall, the clinic staff look forward to serving their community better.

Services provided by the US Army’s YPG Health Clinic

• Primary care
• Aviation medicine
• Health at work
• Vaccinations
• Radiology
• pharmacy
• Women’s health
• Recommendation management
• Medical records
• Occupational medicine
• Preventive medicine
• Medical supplies
• Trauma / first aid training
• Drop zone coverage
• Physical therapy
• Behavioral Health

Schedule line:
328-2666 and 328-2501
Note:
328-2758 and 328-2221

Recording date: 05/19/2021
Release Date: 05/19/2021 6:45 pm
Story ID: 396874
Place: YUMA PROVING GROUND, AZ, USA
Web views: 38
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