VA Care for Mental Health Patients is Costly, Inconsistent WASHINGTON--Veterans with mental illness and substance abuse represent approximately 15% of veterans using VA health care services, but accounted for 32.9% of costs, according to a study looking at data from one year of care (2007). The VA-commissioned study by the RAND Corporation evaluated VA’s mental health treatment system and found that cost for veterans with mental illness and substance use issues was 2.7 times the cost for the average veterans—$12,337 per patient, or $12 billion total. More
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Tricare Data Breach WASHINGTON -- A $4.9 billion class action lawsuit was recently filed against the Department of Defense in response to a data breach that involved personal information on an estimated 4.9 million military clinic and hospital patients. According to Tricare, the data involved in the breach was contained on backup tapes from an electronic health care record used in the military health system to capture patient data from 1992 through September 7, 2011, and may include Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers, and some personal health data such as clinical notes, laboratory tests and prescriptions. More
Vaccine Reduces Risk of Malaria by Half in Young Children, Study Finds WASHINGTON - DC A malaria vaccine candidate was able to reduce the risk of malaria by half in young children in a Phase III trial conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new study. The preliminary results were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Known as RTS,S, the vaccine has been in development since the 1980’s and was initially developed as a result of work done by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and GlaxoSmithKline. More
Specialty Update: Arthritis/Rheumatology
RA Puts Veterans at Greater Risk for Heart Disease; VA Targets Risk Factors Two recent studies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have sent up a red flag for physicians caring for veterans with the disease; such patients appear to be at increased risk for cardiovascular disease due to inflammation and several other risk factors. VA is adapting care of these patients to control risk factors for heart issues. More
Osteoarthritis More Common in Servicemembers, Presents Challenge for Military Though most servicemembers are relatively young, osteoarthritis is a serious problem for the U.S. military. A recent study found that military troops are more likely to develop osteoarthritis than civilians, and that arthritis is especially an issue for enlisted personnel and those serving in the Army. One of the most common causes is repetitive joint motions. More
Specialty Update: Coagulation
Pulmonary Embolism Higher at Low Volume Hospitals Patients who underwent elective total hip (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgeries in low-volume hospitals had a higher risk of venous thromboembolism and mortality following the procedure, a recent study suggests. For the study, VA researchers sought to examine the relationship between hospital surgical volume and postoperative complications. More
Specialty Update: Oncology
Minimally Invasive Techniques Preferable in Colon Cancer Surgery Minimally invasive surgery for colon cancer can lead to improved short-term outcomes without compromising long-term oncologic results. According to a retrospective analysis performed by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine, veterans at the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center who underwent colon cancer resections using minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques had more favorable outcomes compared with those who had open surgery. More
Brenda L. Mooney Editorial Director, U.S. Medicine mooney@usmedicine.com 39 York Street Lambertville, NJ 08530
