Photo By Derrik Noack | Army Col. Megan McKinnon, command surgeon, presents Dr. Megan Hart Lee, lead clinical...... read more read more
Since first directly hiring behavioral health providers in December 2023, USMEPCOM has made significant strides in improving processing efficiency and reducing the wait times for military applicants requiring behavioral health consultations. What started with just six MEPS has now expanded to 12, with plans to grow to 16 MEPS based on identified needs.
The first clinical psychologist on the team, Dr. Megan Hart Lee, developed the infrastructure that would guide and train three other psychologists that joined her since 2023, including Dr. Connor Rose, who came on board in February 2025.
“I was active duty in the Air Force and am now in the Air National Guard,” said Rose. “I think the thing that pulled me into this role at USMEPCOM was, both on active duty and now even more so in the Guard, is being on the receiving end of these applicants. I immediately saw the value in a program like this.”
The team of four providers conducts virtual behavioral health assessments for applicants, as determined by the applicant’s service waiver authorities. Out of 65 MEPS, locations selected for the program were based on three key criteria: how long it takes applicants to see a psychologist, how many evaluations on average they need a month and how many queued. The program was intended to help with a backlog of applicants waiting to be reviewed by contracted civilian doctors.
“The purpose of the program was never to take over all consults,” said Army Col. Megan McKinnon, USMEPCOM command surgeon. “It was to fill a gap that the consult contract was not able to meet.”
One of the program’s notable achievements has been reducing the average wait time for appointments. Before implementation at selected MEPS, the average wait time for a behavioral health consult was 25 days. Now, it has dropped to just 12.
“Decreasing the average days to appointment has been the goal,” said Air Force Maj. Daniel Strickland, USMEPCOM deputy command surgeon. “Wait times are continuing to drop as we add more providers. Personally, I feel like hiring four psychologists is a huge win. That’s a very competitive field in hiring right now. We have got four high-quality providers who do a really good job and work well together. Across the board, their notes look the same so waiver authorities love it because they can conceptualize them quickly.”
Hart Lee has been pivotal in the program’s growth and capabilities. She developed the standardized note template used by all providers, even sending it to the contracted civilian doctors for use. She is currently collaborating with USMEPCOM Western Sector’s medical officer to create an auto-text tool for exams, further ensuring consistency in behavioral health documentation. As the program grows, she adds lessons learned from different MEPS locations, such as strategies to mitigate no-shows and refine operations.
“In 2025, I’d like to add more MEPS and continue to grow as much as we’re capable of without pushing the bounds of our availability being too far out,” said Dr. Hart Lee. “We don’t want to have four of us, but we’re all booked out for two months. I’m also looking to have more flexibility in getting our hands in the pot of helping other programs or behavioral health projects as needed.”
With behavioral health consults increasing from 4,000 in 2020 to 14,000 this past year, the program has become a critical component of the accessions process.
“We’re seeing more applicants,” said McKinnon. “If you have more medical exams, you’d expect to have more behavioral health consults. The more efficiently we can support our waiver partners assists the accessions enterprise.
The faster the waiver comes back, the faster they’re able to move onto the next applicant – whether it’s because that recruit was successful, or the answer was no.”
Read more about the program’s initiation here: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/459757/behavioral-health-providers-increasing-processing-efficiency
| Date Taken: | 02.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2025 16:23 |
| Story ID: | 491487 |
| Location: | NORTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 97 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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