New secure messaging system to come to JB MDL's 87th MDG Published April 6, 2012 JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The Air Force Medical Service is scheduled to begin patient registrations for the military's online confidential secure messaging service April 9 at the 87th Medical Group. The messaging service, MiCare, has been shown to significantly reduce the number of phone calls between patients and providers, increase patient satisfaction and save time for the medical office staff and the patients. The system is scheduled to go live May 1. The AFMS aims to enroll as many patients as possible into MiCare and utilize secure messaging as the primary form of communication between patients and their healthcare teams. Patients currently enrolled in MiCare are already talking about the ease, accessibility and benefits of this Internet-based service. One MiCare enrollee said, "it is always empowering to be able to communicate via the Internet about routine health issues - and can very well prevent visits to the clinic..." Another enrolled patient said MiCare "will answer lots of questions and save so much time for both doctors and patients." MiCare gives patients the ability to do many things with their healthcare. Patients can request appointments with healthcare providers, get test results, request prescription refills, or ask their healthcare team medical questions via a secure electronic message. The secure electronic message bypasses phone-trees, voicemail and phone tag. MiCare is currently set for secure messaging and will be adapted to include Personal Health Records at a later date. Patients should visit their medical treatment facility to initiate the face-to-face registration process. Patients will need to show their military identification card and provide basic information such as their name, social security number, birth date and email address. An email will be sent to patients to finish enrollment. Confidential messages may begin as soon as the enrollment is complete. MiCare has been designed to support patients and healthcare teams and will be implemented Air Force-wide. A patient will remain in the system wherever the Air Force takes them. For more information, visit www.sg.af.mil/micare.