In the first phase of a broader realignment, the Defense Health Agency has created nine Defense Health Networks (DHN) to take the place of what had been 20 direct-reporting medical markets, each a grouping of military hospitals and clinics with varying leadership rank structures.
VA is working to establish a set of national credentials for more than 50 healthcare occupations, allowing the department to transfer care workers more easily from state to state.
During the first year of the pandemic, the nation learned just how susceptible its healthcare system was to supply-chain problems and how relying on overseas manufacturers for pharmaceuticals and medical supplies can be dangerous when shipping lanes slow or stop entirely
VA’s main website, va.gov, and several of its support systems have been the victim of bugs that have caused tens of thousands of VA benefits claims to go unprocessed.
VA medical providers and veterans need more education about the risks and benefits from continuing antidepressants during pregnancy, according to a new study.
Although amputations are medically necessary and could decrease pain, improve mobility and expedite return to activity, limb loss could negatively impact metabolic regulation and contribute to a higher risk of obesity, according to a recent military study.
Traditionally treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been reserved for people who have abstained from alcohol—in some cases for as long as 12 months—largely due to concerns about adherence to treatment protocols, which stemmed from experience with previously used interferon-based regimens.
Anyone with a 68W military occupation specialty signs up to go above and beyond the call of duty as a matter of course. As combat medic specialists, they provide life-saving treatment in the chaos and trauma of battle and accept responsibility for the health and well-being of their fellow soldiers on base.
On Sept. 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that every American 6 months and older should receive the updated COVID-19 vaccination from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna. Having avoided COVID-19 infection since its arrival on our shores in 2020, I was pleased that an updated booster would soon be available, and my wife scheduled a time for us to receive both the COVID-19 and flu vaccinations. Alas, my number was up, and the fickle finger of fate allowed COVID-19 to set up shop in my body.
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) are the most common forms of adult leukemia. More than 13,000 veterans have the diagnosis, which is associated with the toxic exposures included in the Pact Act, according to the VA.
Diagnosing B-cell lymphoma-associated mononeuritis multiplex, a peripheral neuropathy, can be challenging because of its rarity and the potential co-existence of other causes of the symptoms.
Nearly one-half (49%) of all veterans in the United States are 65 years or older. Most of those older veterans (5.5 million) served during the Vietnam era, while 183,000 were World War II veterans, according to the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS).
Polypectomy can reduce the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer death worldwide.
There is a troubling increase in the incidence of CRC in adults younger than age 50 in the United States and other high-income countries.
Which is better: laparoscopic or robotic surgery? That is the question raised in a recent study from Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven.
At the beginning of this year, VA announced a program whereby veterans in suicidal crisis could go to any VA or non-VA healthcare facility for free emergency healthcare.
Over the last decade, VA has increased the percentage of employees who are non-white, but those employees are more likely to be paid less, be fired more and receive fewer raises and awards, as well as, less vacation time, according to a new report.
As VA approaches the 3-year anniversary of the Cerner electronic health record system going live at its first site, the roll-out remains on indefinite hold as the department endeavors to fix problems at the five facilities where the system is active.
A new Special Communication in JAMA Network Open decried that military medicine’s contribution to healthcare advances often are overlooked and that not enough communication occurs between civilian and military clinicians.
In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked manufacturers to remove from the market all products containing ranitidine, a histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2RA) that has been widely used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease and peptic ulcer disease.
Because human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients are at high risk for anal cancer, screenings are recommended annually for U.S. veterans with HIV.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, uterine cancer mortality has increased, especially among Black and Hispanic women, according to a new study.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, significant declines in cancer diagnoses occurred. But what happened from the end of 2020, the first year, and after widespread vaccination occurred?
Daily use of naltrexone, a medication that blocks the effects of opioids with minimal side effects, doesn’t adversely affect the physical, cognitive or marksmanship performance of U.S. Army soldiers, according to a recent study.
Breast cancer screening within the Military Health System (MHS) plummeted by 74% in the early COVID-19 pandemic period and 22% in the late pandemic period, compared with the prepandemic period.
Older veterans diagnosed with frailty are at much greater risk of developing long COVID after acute infection with SARS-CoV-2, according to a new study. Making that especially significant is that so many older VHA patients, including those living in the community, meet the criteria for frailty.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of primary liver cancer, is the fastest-growing cause of cancer-related death in the United States. But a new study points out that the burden of the often deadly cancer is not spread equally.
Inhaled glucocorticoids do not appear to be effective in shortening the time to symptom resolution or preventing hospitalization or death among outpatients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, according to a recent study.
The risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, is low for veterans who spontaneously clear hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
The devastating toll of acute COVID-19 infections on human lives is well documented. Yet a pressing question remains: Do survivors of acute COVID-19 face a higher risk of mortality in the aftermath of their infection and, if so, for how long does this risk persist?
