'TurboMedical' Makes AME Visits Less Painful

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has informed ANN the Federal Air Surgeon has given Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs) permission to accept printouts from the association's first-of-its-kind online medical assistant called TurboMedical. The only stipulation is the printout must be signed in the presence of the AME or AME’s staff.

Until now, AOPA members who used TurboMedical had to transcribe the information from the printout to the appropriate FAA form.

"This is a tremendous change for our members," said AOPA director of medical certification Gary Crump. "Since we created TurboMedical in 2001, more than 75,000 members have used it to prepare for their aviation medical checkups.

"We made some minor changes to our printout that have apparently satisfied FAA aeromedical officials, allowing them to accept the printout when it’s attached to a Form 8500-8," continued Crump. "The change should really speed up a pilot’s visit to his AME and reduce the number of errors caused by faulty transcription."

AOPA created TurboMedical® nearly six years ago to simplify the process of applying for an FAA medical certificate. The online member benefit walks pilots through the process, asking questions about their health and helping to identify topics they should discuss with their AMEs.

Since that time, AOPA has pressed the FAA to accept direct electronic submission of TurboMedical information, rather than requiring members to printout and transcribe their results.

The FAA has been developing its own online medical system, known as FAAMedXPress, for several years. After resolving numerous legal and privacy issues, the FAA hopes to launch the site, which will permit pilots to submit information electronically, sometime this spring.

"Once the FAA’s system is activated, AOPA intends to renew its push to have TurboMedical information accepted online," said Crump. "Until that happens, though, the new change should make a trip to the doctor’s office a lot easier for AOPA members."

FMI: www.aopa.org