DoD Plan Calls For Changes to MHS Structure WASHINGTON—A plan to reorganize the MHS features a Defense Health Agency that will allow the services to operate more jointly without drastically changing the military services’ medical delivery systems, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson, MD, told a House subcommittee last week. He was speaking about a DoD task force report released this month that recommended that new structure for the military health system over more drastic options considered, such as a Unified Medical Command. Please read this article and participate in this month's online opinion poll about whether military medical services should be combined instead of each branch of service having its own medical corps? More
Study Examines Mental Health Risk Factors Associated with Army Suicides WASHINGTON—Mood disorders, adjustment disorder, PTSD and alcohol-related disorders were prevalent mental health disorders associated with suicide in a recent Army study that assessed suicide rates among soldiers. The study, which looked at suicide rates in the Army for 2007 and 2008, reported that a total of 255 active duty soldiers committed suicide from 2007 through 2008. Of the 255 suicide cases, 44 had a previous hospitalization from January 2007 to December 2008, and 128 (50%) had a previous ambulatory visit for a mental health disorder during that period.More
Study Looks At Cost of Treating Recent Veterans WASHINGTON—A new study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gives an updated look at the cost to VA of treating veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. As of September 2011, about 740,000 veterans from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have received treatment from VA—about half the number eligible for care. About 21% of those were diagnosed with PTSD but not TBI; 2% were diagnosed with TBI but not PTSD; and 5% had both PTSD and TBI. According to CBO, patients with both conditions cost $13,800—over five times the amount spent on unaffected veterans.More
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MARCH ISSUE
DoD Launches Database for Personnel in Japan During Nuclear Meltdowns NATIONAL HARBOR, MD— A year after a massive earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan, resulting in a large tsunami that caused nuclear-plant meltdowns, the U.S. military is creating a database to help track possible radiation exposure for troops who participated in relief efforts and for servicemembers and their beneficiaries who were stationed or living in Japan at the time of the disaster.More http://www.usmedicine.com/articles/dod-launches-database-for-personnel-in-japan-during-2011-earthquake-nuclear-meltdowns.html
Pilot Program Promises Patients Greater Autonomy after Spinal-Cord Injuries MEMPHIS, TN — A pilot program in Memphis is bringing VA closer to meeting what perhaps is the greatest desire for its 42,000 veterans with spinal-cord injuries and disorders: more control of their environment. This month, VA Memphis will roll out an environmental control unit (ECU) which will enable that spinal-cord unit’s 60 patients to do things such as adjust their beds, call a nurse, use the Internet, select music and make phone calls, even if they can only move their eyes.More
Recent Investigations Question VA's Fiduciary Program for Disabled Veterans WASHINGTON — Recent investigations conducted by oversight committees have revealed serious flaws in VA’s fiduciary system, which, according to legislators and many veterans’ advocates, is plagued by fraud and lack of oversight. Evidence shows that the current system has little oversight of paid fiduciaries, allowing for numerous cases of fraud.More
Schoomaker Looks Back on Eventful Years as Army Surgeon General WASHINGTON — When Eric Schoomaker, MD, was named Army surgeon general in 2007, military medicine was facing an administrative and public relations nightmare. Widespread allegations of substandard living conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center rocked the Army, altering the careers of several high-ranking officials. Looking back after his retirement, Schoomaker said he believes the military stepped up to respond to the problems highlighted by the Walter Reed situation with “agility” and in “an innovative way.” More
“A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” ~Henry Ford (1863-1947)
Editor-in-Chief, Chester ‘Trip’ Buckenmaier III, MD, COL, MC, USA
During the Sundance Film Festival, held in January in Park City, UT, the documentary “Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare” was debuted by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke. I have not had the opportunity to see the 98-minute documentary, yet I was enthralled with descriptions of the project on the Internet.
A video trailer begins with the staggering statistic that the United States spent $2.5 trillion (or 17% of the U.S. gross domestic product estimated at $14.5 trillion in 2010) on healthcare in 2010. The basic premise of the film is that approximately 75% of this expenditure goes toward treating preventable diseases. More
