European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 22, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 4 the stars and stripes wednesday june 22,1994satellite to Aid military health car new network to assist with appointments prescriptions by Marian Hamilton Mediterranean Bureau Naples Italy a a new satellite network is expected to soon link military facilities around the Globe and improve health care operations a defense department medical official announced tuesday. The network known As the composite health care system or chs is expected to be on line throughout Europe in six months said rear adm. Harold m. Koenig the Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for health services operations in Washington. Koenig in about two weeks will become the Deputy surgeon general of the Navy. A it should make health care More readily available to All eligible americans a Koenig said. A the bugs Arentt All gone. But it the composite health care system has now reached a Point where it is Bug free enough that we can take it Koenig was in Naples this week to inform commanders and staff of american military health care facilities in Europe about the new system. The health care system has already been tested at 14 military hospitals and 100 clinics worldwide Koenig said. For several years the program was tested in Europe at the army Hospital in Nurnberg Germany and its satellite clinics. That Hospital is now closed. Once the system is installed Koenig said patients will be better served in at least four areas. A the first thing people will notice is 1hat getting appointments will be a lot easier a he said. With a computerized system every department within a clinic or Hospital will be Able to tap into the schedule for the entire organization. Health care specialists can also make appointments with other locations for their patients for instance visits to specialists in Lari Stuhl Germany or Walter Reed medical Center in Washington . Another expected improvement will be Shorter Waits for patients at the pharmacy he said. A in fact once the doctor writes the prescription in the computer generally the patients find that by the time they can walk from the doctors office to the pharmacy the pharmacist or pharmacy tech is standing there waiting for them to get there with the prescription a Koenig said. Koenig also pointed to a better Way for patients to refill their prescriptions. A once the system is on line. Patients will be Able to refill prescriptions by he was not sure How this system would work in Europe where touch tone telephones Are still rare. Laboratory tests will be another area where patients will notice improvements As results Are transferred directly into the system eliminating lost paperwork problems. However dental care a is not part of the network. A a we re working on a dental system at the same time As chs and its borrowing a lot from that system he said. Chs is updated two to three times a year As refinements Are worked out he said. The system is not compatible with civilian computerized health care systems. A the big thing for me is improving Access to medical care a Koenig said. A i think its going to make things a lot better a not perfect but a Little closer a by years end the health care system is expected to be on line at the following military hospitals and their associated clinics a Lan Stuhl Vaihinger Heidelberg and Wurzburg in Germany Naples Italy Rota Spain Lakenheath England Lajes azores and be Finvik Iceland. A la Maddalena Sardinia Gaeta and pin Tamare Italy Izmir and in Ciurlik Turkey and Souda Bay Crete would All fall under the Purview of Naples. A Simonella Sicily would be handled from Rota Spain. A health care facilities in Augsburg Germany and Aviano Vicenza and Livorno Italy would be handled from Vaihinger. A clinics in the United kingdom would be handled from Lakenheath. Some . Offices hit by German mail strike by Joseph Owen Heidelberg Bureau the 2-week-old strike by German postal workers has had Little effect on most of the country a . Military population but in at least a few offices it is creating problems. A we Haven to been getting tickets on time and our clients arc irate a said Connie Hinds assistant manager of the information Tours and travel ticket offices at Ramstein a. That itt office and its Kaiserslautern counterpart have been sending duplicate ticket orders using commercial delivery services and driving to a Mannheim ticket distributors office to fill orders Hinds said. Itt also uses a courier service that for an extra fee will drop off tickets at the Airport for travellers she said. Sat travel outlets that serve army communities have had similar but less drastic problems according to Lynn carbine manager of the Bamberg Sahotra vol office. A there have been delays. There have not been any emergencies a carbine sporadic strike actions have hit big cities but Bamberg a German Post office has been in service every Day since the the Start of the strike june 9, she said. Carbine said she has instructions to postpone mailing anything to sat travel Headquarters in Frankfurt until the strike ends because mail delivery there has been spotty. When the strike began the Post office accused the postal workers Union of jeopardizing jobs by insisting on lavish benefits when the government is trying to make postal operations More competitive before privatizing intermittent work stoppages have left about 50 million pieces of mail undelivered throughout Germany according to Reinhold Kohlmeir spokesman for the Frankfurt based postal workers Union. Telecommunications services and the postal Banks also Are affected. At Mannheim a 293rd base support in the mail strike has prevented the directorate of engineering and housing from receiving locally hired employees sick slips on time said Christine thamm spokeswoman for the base support battalion. The strike has had Little Impact at the Headquarters of the . Army Europe in Heidelberg and the . Air forces in Europe at Ramstein a according to command spokespeople. A we do a lot of our business Over the phone or by fax a said capt. Perry l. Nouis of Safe. As a result he said delays affect less critical material such As official invitations to social engagements which Are sent by German mail. Army spokeswoman Millie Waters said she canvassed several agencies at the army a Headquarters and found that incoming mail had been arriving a Day or two late but that tardiness had not impaired operations. A a we re directing this the strike at the unreasonable behaviour of the Post office not at the customer a said Kohlmeier of the postal workers Union. The Post office has issued no statements about the strike since last weekend. As labor contract negotiations continued tuesday in Cologne a judge in Nurnberg was considering postal officials request that the court order a halt to the strikes. The results of the court Case were unknown late tuesday. Russia nato reach Broad Accord Brussels Belgium a Russia and nato ended four Days of talks tuesday with an Accord on close military and political cooperation that stops Short of giving Moscow a say in How the Western Alliance runs its affairs. The two sides were to make the Accord Public today when russian foreign minister Andrei visits Alliance Headquarters in Brussels to sign a partnership for peace Accord officials said. The signing ceremony will be attended by . Secretary of state Warren Christopher who also will discuss with Kozarev the standoff Over North koreans nuclear program. The Accord will initiate a relationship Between the North Atlantic treaty organization and Russia that far exceeds Basic cooperation such As joint exercises contained in a partnership for peace Accord. Already 18 of Moscow a former cold War allies have signed such an agreement with the for Rwanda a . Army truck delivers armoured personnel carriers to Rhein main a Germany tuesday for transport to Uganda. There the vehicles will be turned Over to , Pecac keeping troops for use in Rwanda. France proposed last week to Send an inter Ventu Force to Rwanda to help Stop ethnic massacres. The United states has agreed to lease armoured personnel carriers to Aid in evacuating trapped refugees
