In response to an internal cost-saving initiative, the Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), Texas, U.S. military facility, which is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Air Force 502nd Air Base Wing, Air Education and Training Command, announced that it will take orthotics fabrication in-house, thereby saving taxpayers thousands of dollars.
Tech. Sgt. AnnaMaria Brown, 59th Medical Operations Group orthotic course supervisor, prepares a custom orthosis at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center on JBSA. Photograph by Staff Sgt. Christopher Carwile, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.
To arrive at this decision, Staff Sgt. Taylor Hilliard, Business Innovation NCO in charge, examined his regular job as an orthotic technician and asked questions about how much money was being spent on outsourced orthotic products.
“Our wing vice commander, Col. [Glenn] Yap, told me the clearest way to save money is to recapture leakage for services that are going downtown,” said Hilliard. “So I asked if I could get a list of orthotic-related services that were being sent out.”
The San Antonio Military Health System provided Hilliard with a list that showed about $700,000 worth of orthotic services are outsourced annually to medical firms in the local area. These products include anything from custom-made shoe inserts and leg braces to off-the-shelf, knee, ankle, wrist, and back braces. He then met with Master Sgt. Sean McClintock, the Orthopedic and Rehabilitation flight chief, to figure out why these services were not being done in-house. Working together, Hilliard and McClintock found ways to maximize the services that were available for patients on base and provided referral management with an expanded list of products and services that the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, the only military outpatient lab in San Antonio, is able to provide.
“While expenses for active-duty military members are typically covered, dependent family members aren’t covered for outsourced custom orthotic products, which can cost patients up to $500 in out-of-pocket expenses,” Hilliard said. “Plus, we are able to provide quality products with convenience for patients who work on or live near the base.”
As a result of these changes, the 59th Medical Wing, the Air Force’s largest medical wing and its functional medical command for JBSA, is now postured to reclaim about $150,000 within the next year.
