The Federal Air Surgeon’s Column: The Vagaries of Budgets

From The Federal Air Surgeon's Medical Bulletin, Spring 1999.

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The Federal Air Surgeon’s Column

The Vagaries of Budgets

Editorial, by Jon L. Jordan, MD, JD

My several years as a manager of afederally funded program has taught me the necessity of paying close attention to allmatters related to budget administration. In essence, it has become clear to me that allprograms—productive or nonproductive, good or bad—all live or die by the skillof the manager in securing and judiciously expending funds.

I have been blessed with an energetic and knowledgeable staff to assist me in thesematters, and I can say without hesitation that the funding successes experienced by theOffice of Aviation Medicine have been more a product of the work of my staff than my ownpersonal effectiveness.

There are times, however, when even the most effective manager and staff are unable tosecure the optimum resources that would permit program growth and the most desirableproductivity.

Over the years I have seen many "ups" and "downs" in the financialposture of the FAA and, in particular, the Office of Aviation Medicine. Among others, Iremember quite well those instances when the agency verged on total shutdown, whenreduction-in-force notices were prepared for distribution to employees, when certainemployees were given financial incentives to vacate their positions so that staffinglevels could be painlessly reduced, and when travel and training were canceled to conservefunds (including the conduct of AME seminars). Unfortunately, the FAA, including theOffice of Aviation Medicine, again finds itself experiencing financial difficulties.

The fallout for the Office of Aviation Medicine, while not disastrous, is damaging. Tomeet funding shortfalls, we have curtailed employee travel and training, and hiring of newemployees to fill vacated positions has been "frozen." To accommodateanticipated continuing funding shortfalls, the staffing level for future years has beenreduced by seven positions. Further actions will have to be taken if additional reductionsare required.

The short-term impact of our funding limitations is being felt throughout the Office ofAviation Medicine, but, with a few exceptions, will not be felt by AMEs. One majorexception, however, is in respect to a potential resurgence of extensive delays in theprocessing of airman medical certification applications at the Aeromedical CertificationDivision, where we currently have a number of position vacancies that cannot be filledbecause of the employment "freeze." By its nature, the processing of medicalcertification applications is heavily personnel-dependent, and even a small reduction instaffing severely compromises our ability to make the system run smoothly.

It is, in part, these ups and downs in funding that lead us to develop systems forprogram delivery that are less personnel-dependent. Automation of ECG transmission andprocessing is one, and, of course, implementation of the Airman Medical CertificationSystem (electronic transmission of medical certification examination data) and DocumentImaging Workflow Systems (scanning of medical information into a computer data base) areothers. The development of the Computer-Based Information module as a substitute for someseminar attendance was another initiative driven not only by a need to relieve a financialburden on AMEs, but also to lessen our dependence on funding.

It is essential that we continue to seek ways to become less dependent upon thevagaries of our budget process and the undulating availability of resources. I am hopefulthat all of you will join us in our objective of providing the best possible service tothe flying public in the most cost beneficial manner.

Your diligence in the accurate recording and transmission of Form 8500-8 data, soliddecision-making, and adapting to full use of the new electronic systems will helpsignificantly.


The Federal Air Surgeon’s Medical Bulletin • Spring 1999

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