HILL AIR FORCE BASE — A new smart phone application, or App, that eliminates the need to maintain a paper copy pharmacy card has been created at Hill Air Force Base.

Tech Sgt. Robert Yarnell said development for the USAF Med Card App began a few months ago as the 75th Medical Group was witnessing a steady stream of pharmacy card reissues to their customers. While the card is required to authorize prescription pick-up, the process wasn’t the fastest and usually the paper card is misplaced or forgotten.

Quick thinking placed a phone call to the 367th Training Support Squadron, and the Mobile Application Section began work on the USAF Med Card App, Yarnell said. Although the project had posed new challenges for the development team, there were opportunities to learn more about building commercial Apps. 

Prior to this project, the 367th TRSS has built various Apps that were centered on aircraft maintenance training and related functions, in addition to their traditional products of training aides, eBooks, interactive multimedia instructions, desktop simulators, and 3D immersive environments. 

“The combined skills of the development team and a stringent training plan allowed for more than just an App to prove that someone was issued a pharmacy card. The USAF Med Card App validates a person’s identity, contains their personal signature, allows for family members’ use, tracks medication usage and dosage information, can connect you to a poison control center, and much more,” Yarnell said.

An additional feature is that while this App is only in use at Hill AFB, the development team has designed it to include additional bases if they choose to employ this tool.

To get the App, go to the Apple Store or Google Play and search for USAF Med Card from Griffin Mobile.