Sharing Prescreen Workload Cuts Review Time

A pilot program to speed up the medical prescreen review process was recently conducted by United States Military Entrance Processing Command.

The pilot involved transferring medical prescreen information from Baltimore Military Entrance Processing Station to Eastern Sector headquarters to eliminate a backlog. If the program is implemented, files might be shared between two MEPS or between a MEPS and sector headquarters.

The length of time allowed to review a prescreen file varies based on the number of pages.

Sharing the workload between MEPS and/or sector headquarters will reduce the time between when recruiters submit the prescreen to the MEPS and when an applicant processes.

A medical prescreen details the medical history of an applicant for military service. Backlogs most often occur at high-volume MEPS or those experiencing staffing shortages.

"The pilot was very successful," Navy Cmdr. Christopher J. Carmichael, Eastern Sector deputy commander, said. "We were able to take a MEPS that was behind approximately 170 prescreens and bring them back to being on time within two weeks."

Carmichael said he sees sharing the prescreen workload as something that will be used "as needed to scratch an itch." The intent is to provide better customer service, he said.

"We want to solve the problem and build relationships with our recruiting partners instead of always being back on our heels trying to fix something."