FEDERAL HEALTH UPDATE
July 4, 2008Produced by Kate Connelly Theroux in collaboration with the Institute of Federal Health Care (IFHC) To subscribe, please visit http://fedhealthinst.org/subscriber.cfm. Sponsored by
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Congressional Schedule
The contract also provides required beneficiary support services, including monthly pharmacy Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and new specialty pharmacy services for DoD identified specialty drugs. The contract award is for a phase-in base period and unexercised options. The phase-in base period is July 27, 2008 through Aug. 31, 2009. The options provide five full years of prescription services at both mail order and retail pharmacies. If exercised, delivery of mail order pharmacy dispensing services will begin on Sept. 1, 2009. Network Retail pharmacy dispensing services will begin Dec. 1, 2009.
The symposium, held June 30 in Bethesda, Md., featured presentations in trauma and casualty care, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, infectious diseases research and response, and advancements in cancer research, and concluded with a discussion by senior military and civilian medical leaders, among them S. Ward Casscells, M.D., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, H. Clifford Lane, M.D., deputy director for clinical research and special projects, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, and Lee Helman, M.D., scientific director for clinical research and deputy director of the National Cancer Institute, NIH. The symposium also offered an opportunity to discuss novel ways to bring the federal sector (DoD, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy) together with the civilian sector to improve our nation’s health. http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=259
The PDBR will reassess the accuracy and fairness of the combined disability ratings assigned to service members who were discharged as unfit for continued military service by the military departments with a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and were not found to be eligible for retirement. The PDBR will not review the military departments’ determinations of fitness for continued military service. Instead, the PDBR will review the combined disability ratings assigned to the specific conditions that resulted in a member being declared unfit for continued military service, acted upon by the military department Physical Evaluation Boards. Any service member may have his or her case reviewed by the PDBR if he or she meets certain conditions. The member must have been separated from the Armed Forces between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2009, due to unfitness for continued military service resulting from a physical disability under chapter 61 of title 10, U.S. Code. Additionally, the member must have received a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and have been found not eligible for retirement. By law, once adopted by the service secretary, a PDBR recommendation is final, and removes the service member’s option to pursue subsequent review through the respective military department’s Board for the Correction of Military Records. Service members may request the PDBR review their case if these conditions are met. Alternatively, the PDBR may itself decide to review an individual’s case, pending consent of the service member. Generally, individuals will apply for PDBR review through their respective military department. However more specific guidance will be provided by the Air Force. http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12029
Established by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as the premier producer and coordinator of medical intelligence, NCMI produces medical intelligence for global force protection and homeland health protection to safeguard U.S. interests worldwide. Medical intelligence is the assessment of potential health risks and health care capabilities that allows planning for medical countermeasures, health care support and medical personnel support. NCMI, formerly known as the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center, was established in 1982. NCMI’s designation as a national center reflects the growth in its roles and responsibilities which has been under way for several years, officials said. This growth has included expanded relationships beyond the Defense Department and the intelligence community, and now includes the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, the State Department, coalition and foreign partners and other domestic, non-Defense Department customers. The growing integration between homeland health protection and medical intelligence allows NCMI to focus on a broader range of foreign medical threats to U.S. military and civilian personnel, allies, and other critical national interests, officials explained -- pandemic flu, avian flu or other animal diseases that potentially could threaten the United States, for example. The national center includes a growing network for enhanced situational awareness and early warning, which will strengthen the integrated picture of health threats to U.S. citizens at home and abroad. NCMI officials expect to break ground in December on a 15,000-square-foot addition to the existing facility. http://www.defenselink.mil/utility/printitem.aspx?print=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50408
The contract also provides required beneficiary support services, including monthly pharmacy Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and new specialty pharmacy services for DoD identified specialty drugs. The contract award is for a phase-in base period and unexercised options. The phase-in base period is July 27, 2008 through Aug. 31, 2009. The options provide five full years of prescription services at both mail order and retail pharmacies. If exercised, delivery of mail order pharmacy dispensing services will begin on Sept. 1, 2009. Network Retail pharmacy dispensing services will begin Dec. 1, 2009.
The symposium, held June 30 in Bethesda, Md., featured presentations in trauma and casualty care, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, infectious diseases research and response, and advancements in cancer research, and concluded with a discussion by senior military and civilian medical leaders, among them S. Ward Casscells, M.D., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, H. Clifford Lane, M.D., deputy director for clinical research and special projects, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, and Lee Helman, M.D., scientific director for clinical research and deputy director of the National Cancer Institute, NIH. The symposium also offered an opportunity to discuss novel ways to bring the federal sector (DoD, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy) together with the civilian sector to improve our nation’s health. http://www.health.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=259
The PDBR will reassess the accuracy and fairness of the combined disability ratings assigned to service members who were discharged as unfit for continued military service by the military departments with a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and were not found to be eligible for retirement. The PDBR will not review the military departments’ determinations of fitness for continued military service. Instead, the PDBR will review the combined disability ratings assigned to the specific conditions that resulted in a member being declared unfit for continued military service, acted upon by the military department Physical Evaluation Boards. Any service member may have his or her case reviewed by the PDBR if he or she meets certain conditions. The member must have been separated from the Armed Forces between Sept. 11, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2009, due to unfitness for continued military service resulting from a physical disability under chapter 61 of title 10, U.S. Code. Additionally, the member must have received a combined disability rating of 20 percent or less, and have been found not eligible for retirement. By law, once adopted by the service secretary, a PDBR recommendation is final, and removes the service member’s option to pursue subsequent review through the respective military department’s Board for the Correction of Military Records. Service members may request the PDBR review their case if these conditions are met. Alternatively, the PDBR may itself decide to review an individual’s case, pending consent of the service member. Generally, individuals will apply for PDBR review through their respective military department. However more specific guidance will be provided by the Air Force. http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12029
Established by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as the premier producer and coordinator of medical intelligence, NCMI produces medical intelligence for global force protection and homeland health protection to safeguard U.S. interests worldwide. Medical intelligence is the assessment of potential health risks and health care capabilities that allows planning for medical countermeasures, health care support and medical personnel support. NCMI, formerly known as the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center, was established in 1982. NCMI’s designation as a national center reflects the growth in its roles and responsibilities which has been under way for several years, officials said. This growth has included expanded relationships beyond the Defense Department and the intelligence community, and now includes the Department of Homeland Security, the White House, the State Department, coalition and foreign partners and other domestic, non-Defense Department customers. The growing integration between homeland health protection and medical intelligence allows NCMI to focus on a broader range of foreign medical threats to U.S. military and civilian personnel, allies, and other critical national interests, officials explained -- pandemic flu, avian flu or other animal diseases that potentially could threaten the United States, for example. The national center includes a growing network for enhanced situational awareness and early warning, which will strengthen the integrated picture of health threats to U.S. citizens at home and abroad. NCMI officials expect to break ground in December on a 15,000-square-foot addition to the existing facility. http://www.defenselink.mil/utility/printitem.aspx?print=http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50408
Varying strengths of risperidone tablets, manufactured by TEVA Pharmaceuticals USA, have been approved. Specific information about the strengths approved can be found at http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/. The labeling of the generic risperidone may differ from that of Risperdal because some uses of the drug are protected by patents and exclusivity. The generic risperidone products will have the same safety warnings as Risperdal, including a Boxed Warning that cautions that older patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with atypical anti-psychotic drugs are at increased risk of death compared with those taking placebo. Risperdal, and other antipsychotic medications, are not FDA-approved to treat dementia-related psychosis. The decision to use antipsychotic medications in the treatment of patients with symptoms of dementia is left to the discretion of the physician. Such use is often called "off-label" use and falls within the practice of medicine. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01855.html
The report, “Import Safety – Action Plan Update,” outlines steps taken by the federal government, private sector and international partners to bolster import safety. Since November 2007, there have been strong enforcement actions, signed agreements with key trading partners, bilateral and multilateral discussions, critical information shared on safety and best practices, and a process begun to improve safety practices both inside and outside of government. President Bush established an Interagency Working Group on Import Safety in July 2007 and charged the Working Group with conducting a comprehensive, government-wide review to identify actions and appropriate steps to promote the safety of imported products. In November 2007, the Working Group completed the “Action Plan for Import Safety,” a national strategy based on the principles of prevention, intervention and response. It contains 14 broad recommendations and 50 specific short- and long-term action steps to better protect consumers and enhance the safety of the increasing volume of imports entering the United States. The new Action Plan Update chronicles the substantial progress made by the federal government, private sector and international partners over the last eight months and also previews selected plans for the near- and long-term. Last year, the United States imported more than $2 trillion worth of products. These products were brought to the United States by roughly 825,000 importers, through over 300 ports of entry. All projections indicate that this volume will continue to rise over the coming years as the scale and complexity of international trade multiplies. More information on efforts to improve import safety, including the new report “Import Safety – Action Plan Update,” is available at www.importsafety.gov.
The study is based on technologies discovered at VCU that have demonstrated a naturally occurring hormone called Androstenediol, AED, is biologically active and can reverse stress-inhibited wound healing. In addition, AED has been shown to have biological ability to combat bacterial, viral and fungal infections as well as protecting against lethal radiation poisoning. VCURES is VCU’s critical injury and illness research group, which also has developed a combat casualty care research program. VCURES has generated approximately $36 million in research funding since 2000 in work that has a myriad of applications in areas as diverse as the military, homeland security, emergency medicine and traumatic brain injury. With AED, the research group is taking the novel approach of systemically modulating the body’s immune and inflammatory system to enhance wound healing. Previously, VCURES has demonstrated the ability of these compounds to improve survival in traumatic shock. VCURES will be collaborating closely with scientists at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, Texas. This technology and approach also will have potential benefits for veteran and civilian populations, trauma and burn victims, patients having delayed wound healing problems, and for patients at risk
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) will instruct its contractors to delay the processing of any physician or non-physician Medicare claims for health care services given during the first 10 business days of July. Claims for services received on before June 30 will be processed as usual. CMS will not be making any payments at the 10.6 percent reduced rate until July 15, at the earliest. CMS estimates that the delay in processing claims will result in a week delay in claims paid. Another option would have been to issue on-time payments at the lower rate and pay the rest later after Congress fixes the problem. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080630/ap_on_go_co/congress_medicare
SureScripts was formed in 2001 by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA). RxHub, founded in 2001 by the nation’s three largest PBMs – CVS Caremark Corporation, Express Scripts, Inc. and Medco Health Solutions, Inc.; RxHub provides patient identification and drug benefit information to the physician at the point of care complements SureScripts’ focus on electronic prescription routing from the physician’s office to the pharmacy. The merger combines these strengths with a shared focus on more access to patient medication history to form a single suite of comprehensive services. The new organization will enable physicians to securely access vital health information when caring for their patients through a fast and efficient health information exchange. This will allow them to transmit electronic prescriptions and renewal requests to both retail and mail-order pharmacies. In 2008, the combined organization expects to transmit 100 million electronic prescription transactions and respond to more than 70 million requests by physicians confirming information about their patients’ drug coverages and medication histories. With appropriate patient consent, the combined organization will extend this information to clinicians caring for more than 200 million patients across the United States. With this information more readily available, the process of prescribing medications is measurably improved by:
There are hundreds of technology vendors developing electronic medical records – as well as other clinical software that includes e-prescribing functionality – used by physician practices across the United States. For these vendors, the merger of RxHub and SureScripts will offer a single, unified process for testing and certifying their products’ connection to a single network and the services it provides. Streamlining these processes will save the industry time and money and will offer physicians more of the information they need to provide quality care to their patients. The boards of directors of both organizations approved the cashless merger of equals. SureScripts’ owners (NACDS and NCPA) will retain 50 percent ownership as will RxHub’s owners (CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions). The new organization will remain privately owned and continue to operate under a cost-recovery model as a low-cost health information utility. Initially, the new organization will be jointly managed by the acting CEO of RxHub, J.P. Little and the acting CEO of SureScripts, Rick Ratliff. The new board has begun a process to select a CEO and has retained Spencer Stuart to conduct a nationwide search. Driscoll and Roberts will serve as co-chairmen of the board of directors through 2009. The co-chairmen will rotate on an annual basis to include one co-chair representing PBMs and the other representing retail pharmacies. The new six-member board includes a single director each from CVS Caremark, Express Scripts, Medco Health Solutions, NACDS and NCPA. The sixth member of the board is designated by NACDS and NCPA. The combined company will have more than 75 employees and will maintain its existing office locations in St. Paul and Alexandria. The new organization is undertaking a rebranding initiative. In the interim, the company will be referred to as SureScripts-RxHub. For more information regarding this merger, please visit www.SureScriptsRxHub.com.
Rear Adm. Grim, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, was recognized for his strong focus on preventive health care while serving as the IHS director. He began special initiatives in health promotion/disease prevention, chronic care, and behavioral health that were directed at reducing health disparities among American Indian and Alaska Native people through a systematic approach to preventive health. Rear Adm. Grim also worked intently for ensuring a steady budget for American Indian and Alaska Native health care during a time of fiscal constraint, as well as leading the IHS in restructuring its approach to performance management. In addition, Rear Adm. Grim formalized beneficial health care improvement partnerships between the IHS and renowned entities such as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard University, and Johns Hopkins University, as well as establishing working relationships on indigenous health issues with Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and the Pan American Health Organization. Before his nomination as IHS director, Rear Adm. Grim held various positions in the field, including serving as area director of the Oklahoma City Area Indian Health Service. Rear Adm. Grim graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry and was commissioned as a Public Health Service officer in 1983. He subsequently obtained a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. The IHS is the primary source of health care services to American Indians and Alaska Natives. As director, Rear Adm. Grim was the senior officer in command of over 2,100 commissioned officers and was responsible for the provision of a comprehensive health service delivery system for approximately 1.9 million of the nation’s estimated 3.3 million American Indians and Alaska Natives.
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If you need further information on any of the items in the Federal Health Update, please contact Kate Connelly Theroux at (703) 447-3257 or by e-mail at katetheroux@fedhealthinst.org. To subscribe, please visit http://fedhealthinst.org/subscriber.cfm. To unsubscribe, please send an email to newsletter@fedhealthinst.org with UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject. Back issues availiable at Federal Health Update Archives. |
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