Clinical & Translational Research Support, USAF

Case Studies, US Air Force

Title: Military Medical Modernization Support Services
Customer: U.S. Air Force Medical Support Agency (AFMSA), AFMS/SG5 South
Services: Strategic planning, cross-functional alignment, development of functional processes/practices, return on investment.

Situation: The Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) leadership linked clinical research as a vital element of their mission and required sufficient resources to design processes, develop strategic compliance methodologies enterprise-wide for planning, operations, and visibility. They required a greater resource pool of expertise to conduct a compliant research program. The AFMS wanted to link into best practices, as well as, into collaborative research opportunities with other federal healthcare organizations, academia, and the corporate sector. Lastly, the AFMS wanted to identify and measure the return on their investment.

Project Goal: Create alignment across the enterprise both vertically as well as horizontally to develop functional and efficient processes to ensure compliance, efficiency, and accountability, to garner a return on investment, and to move research into practice.

Solution: Leveraging both our Corporate Advisory and Program Management Consulting models, we provided a dynamic team of subject matter experts who provided just in time, just as needed support. Working with leaders, we assisted in defining their strategic destination and then modified practices to create functional best practice research models that could be used AF-wide. We inserted subject matter expertise as needed to cause research to expand and to produce usable outcomes.

Results: Created alignment and synergy through our Corporate Advisory methods and functional enterprise practices with our Program Management resulting in:

1. Phased, progressive efforts to develop new or refine existing clinical practice guidelines
2. Stakeholder buy-in to an alignment of Clinical Research focus areas vs. Human Performance focus areas
3. Organization Structure Development and Process Governance to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory guidance
4. Return on investment resultant: return of $7 for every $1 spent
5. Moved research into practice – collaboration, inventions, patents, licenses