Online program allows Sailors to verify medical, dental readiness
By Lt. Cmdr. James R. Hagen, NAVMISSA Public Affairs

Navy Medicine Information Systems Support Activity (NAVMISSA) based in San Antonio, announced the development of an online program that will support every Sailor.

The new NAVMISSA Web-based application allows Sailors for the first time to monitor their Individual Medical Readiness (IMR) status online.
Sailorscan now review IMR medical and dental data from the Medical Readiness Reporting System (MRRS) via BUPERS Online (BOL) by going to https://www.bol.navy.mil and selecting the IMR Status link under the BOL Application Menu. IMR status determines if a Sailor is medically eligible to deploy.

“This additional application within BOL allows Sailors to ensure that all of their IMR requirements are current and see what their current IMR status is,” said Elaine A. Shorkey, a NAVMISSA external liaison and project lead.

Maintaining accurate IMR status through MRRS is a high priority within Navy Medicine and directly supports the Navy Medicine goal of a fit and healthy force.

“The ability for individuals to monitor their IMR status will help to promote a healthy naval force and ensure our warfighters are medically prepared to meet their mission,” said Capt. Tina L. Ortiz, NAVMISSA commanding officer. “It’s every Sailor’s responsibility to maintain their individual medical readiness. This tool empowers them to keep track of their IMR status and update it as necessary.”

The new application is a module that displays information in an easy-to-follow format that resembles a report card. Sailors can review their physical health assessments, laboratory results, dental readiness and any medical conditions that may prohibit or limit deployment and post-deployment health assessments. It also shows when immunizations should be administered and when upcoming assessments should be completed. A Sailor’s overall IMR status is assessed into one of four categories:

• Fully medically ready
• Partially medically ready
• Not medically ready
• Medical readiness indeterminate

A fully ready status means the Sailor is current in all medical categories and is not considered at risk to experience a dental emergency, thus deployable worldwide. A partially ready status means the Sailor lacks one or more immunization, laboratory results or medical equipment such as a gas mask insert. These limitations can be quickly resolved and allow the member to deploy once corrected.

Not medically ready means the Sailor has a chronic or prolonged deployment-limiting condition and cannot deploy. This status includes Sailors who are hospitalized or convalescing from serious illness or injury, or they fall into a dental class three – considered to be at an increased risk to experience a dental emergency.
The last category, medical readiness indeterminate, applies to Sailors whose health status cannot be determined because of missing information such as lost medical records or an overdue assessment.

According to Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (SW) Amado A. Rivera, who is an administrative assistant for the Navy Medicine Support Command (NMSC) headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., NAVMISSA’s parent command, the IMR status of deploying Sailors has been a potential problem for a long time.

“IMR verification will [now] allow Sailors simple access to helpful medical information as they prepare to deploy,” said Rivera, who has served aboard three ships.
For Chief Storekeeper (SW) Sierra Elam, the new NAVMISSA Web-based application is a major breakthrough.

“I’ve served on four ships,” said Elam, NMSC command career counselor and administrative leading chief petty officer. “Knowing who’s in and who is out could turn a bad situation into a manageable one. For a leading chief, this is ground breaking.”