Finally! Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) now have the ability to upload a pilot’s required medical documentation directly to the FAA website.
This is a vast improvement over the traditional “paper chase” of document submission that has previously been required. As I have discussed in prior blogs, the typical document submission protocol involved mailing data (most AMEs and aviation medical consultants, however, use priority delivery services with tracking) to the FAA, hoping that the data does not get lost in the transfer to the mail room, waiting for that data to go to the scanning room, then waiting several more weeks for that data to actually get scanned into the system.
All of that must take place before a single person, either an analyst or physician, can begin any review of the data itself. Therefore, there had always been potential pitfalls and wasted time when submitting data to the FAA.
This archaic system added to the already lengthy review process, whereby pilots spend weeks to months hoping that their medical certificates will be approved. Or even knowing whether or not additional data is going to be required by the FAA.
A few years ago, AMEs finally obtained a mechanism to upload data for the voluminous documentation required for the Human Intervention Motivation Study (HIMS) program—the highly successful drug and alcohol abatement and pilot special issuance protocol—and then also for the data submissions for antidepressant-use cases. Both of these types of cases went directly to the Federal Air Surgeon’s office in Washington, D.C.
Other than these very limited number of cases, all other data had to be delivered in hard copy—the old-fashioned way—to the Aerospace Medicine Certification Division (AMCD) in Oklahoma City.
The newly issued protocol for documentation upload seems to be meeting with early success and—dare I use the word—accolades. The AME can choose from a comprehensive drop-down list of applicable categories of documents and then simply attach the appropriate scanned data directly into the AME transmission of the pilot’s medical exam.
Further, additional or follow-up data can be uploaded afterward, as needed, up until the time of the pilot’s next formal FAA examination. Therefore, if interim documentation is required between FAA examinations, this data can still be uploaded directly into the pilot’s FAA medical file by the AME.
At AME conferences that I have attended in recent years, the ability to upload data directly into the FAA system has usually been the top priority in surveys filled out by AMEs regarding desired improvements to the system. Finally, that ability is here.
While additional categories of documentation are already being added to the preliminary list, and while I’m certain that the system will be tweaked and improved further as experience with it broadens, this is about the best enhancement to the system that I have seen in many years.
Bottom Line? Pilots will next ask, of course, whether this new system will lead to speedier reviews of their cases. Only time will tell, of course, but I’m cautiously optimistic that at the very least some improvement—perhaps a few weeks—in review times should result.
Additional delays that sometimes occur due to lost documentation can also be avoided, given that required data can now be uploaded directly into the pilot’s FAA medical file. I certainly hope that reduced waiting periods do result, as you have heard me discuss many times how badly pilots lament the interminable waits for their FAA medical reviews. Often the AME bears the brunt of the pilot’s frustration while awaiting their FAA review.
While the AMEs are already enjoying this new capability to streamline data submission to the FAA, the pilots will, quite understandably, only be thrilled about the program if it indeed does reduce waiting periods for their individual FAA reviews.
Dr. Robert Sancetta is a former DC-10 captain with 11,000 flight hours. He has worked as a Senior AME since 1993 and is appointed as AME Consultant to the FAA Federal Air Surgeon.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily endorsed by AIN Media Group.