FEDERAL HEALTH UPDATE
November 14, 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
TRICARE beneficiaries and providers in the Philippines who filed TRICARE claims during the past two years are receiving letters from TMA notifying them of the fee schedule change, which went into effect Nov.1, 2008. The new allowable charges and inpatient per diem rates are available on the TRICARE Web site at http://www.tricare.mil/CMAC. TRICARE Standard deductibles and cost-shares will not change for beneficiaries in the Philippines under the new fee schedule. Annual out-of-pocket caps for active duty family member costs will continue at $1,000 and $3,000 for retirees and their eligible family members. TRICARE beneficiaries living in, or traveling to, the Philippines should be aware that they must use TRICARE certified providers to receive claims reimbursement. A list of certified providers for the Philippines is available on the Pacific Area Office page in the TMA portal at http://www.tricare.mil. http://www.tricare.mil/Pressroom/News.aspx?fid=476
The American Association of Pastoral Counselors, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association and the National Association of Social Workers are now part of the “Give an Hour” nonprofit group. According to a Rand Corporation report released in April, about 300,000 of the 1 million service members who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan have reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. Being able to heal from the effects of combat may be difficult for some Guard and Reserve members, who may not live near a military or Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility, especially as resources are stretched thin. In addition, post-traumatic stress, depression and other mental health issues can have a devastating effect on the families of military service members who are afflicted with PTSD. And while military members may be able to receive care through the military or VA, many times their parents, siblings or an unmarried partner are not entitled to those benefits. They can find help through the Give an Hour network. Give an Hour now has almost 3,000 licensed mental health professionals in its network, covering all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. http://mhs.osd.mil/Press/Release.aspx?ID=421
The independent assessment of the USFHP used a protocol known as the Health Plan Employer Data & Information Set (HEDIS(R)), which incorporates a methodology called the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS(R)) 4.0H Survey. The survey methodology — the most comprehensive tool for measuring consumer satisfaction with health plans — was developed jointly by the NCQA and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) at the Department of Health and Human Services. Designed to produce standardized results, the survey measures members' experience with health plan care and service over the preceding 12 months. For the 14th year in a row, independent surveys of USFHP members have confirmed that they are among the most satisfied health plan beneficiaries in America. The US Family Health Plan is made available by nonprofit healthcare providers on the East, West and Gulf coasts. It offers the full TRICARE Prime benefit to more than 100,000 military beneficiaries, including active-duty family members, activated Guard and Reserve family members and retirees and their family members. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/US-Family-Health-Plan-Earns/story.aspx?guid=%7B6AC5E00D-29B4-48AC-B060-BB03EB6E0BB9%7D
The Idaho National Guard and Reserve Family Support Fund helps many of the more than 5,000 National Guard and Reserve families in their times of need making it crucial that adequate financial resources are available. TriWest also announced it is contributing $15,000 to the North Dakota National Guard Emergency Relief Fund. The fund provides emergency support to the families of the more than 4,300 National Guard members during times of need. The contribution will be presented to Maj. Gen. David Sprynczynatyk, the adjutant general of the North Dakota National Guard, on Nov. 14, 2008. Prior to the presentation, North Dakota First Lady Mikey Hoeven will officially proclaim Nov. 16-22 as Family Week. Family Week recognizes the dedication of mothers, fathers and grandparents that play an integral role in children's lives, as well as recognizing the service and sacrifice of military families in North Dakota "who have borne the hardships of war with courage and devotion." TriWest's contribution is part of its annual holiday "Giving to the Guard" campaign, providing support to the National Guard throughout 21 western states. Last year, TriWest contributed $15,000 to the fund. For more on TriWest's community outreach programs, please visit www.triwest.com, which includes a Guard and Reserve Resource Center.
Participation in the Smokeout is a component of the DoD-sponsored educational campaign, Quit Tobacco—Make Everyone Proud. Its mission is to assist active-duty service members in their efforts to quit tobacco—for themselves and for the people who look up to them and care about them. Despite decades of work focused on reducing the use of tobacco by military populations, it remains firmly entrenched, especially in the youngest segment of the military population, with new smokers and smokeless tobacco users starting every day. In 2005, the prevalence of smoking among 18 to 25 year olds on active duty was significantly higher than among their civilian counterparts (42.4 percent vs. 37.6 percent of men, 29.2 percent vs. 25.8 percent of women). Nearly 23 percent of those men started smoking after joining the military. The use of smokeless or “spit tobacco” is also relatively high among military men in this age group, at roughly 25 percent. During November, military personnel, their families, and others who support them are invited to visit the campaign Web site, http://www.ucanquit2.org. This interactive information and support tool is specifically aimed at enlisted active-duty personnel who want to become tobacco free. Here they can access live instant-message help from a trained cessation coach, privately and anonymously. Users can also customize and download a quit plan; find research-based information; learn strategies for coping with triggers; play games with embedded tips and motivational messages; discuss issues on the message board; listen to podcasts; and locate local cessation programs. The Great American Smokeout is the American Cancer Society’s nationally recognized day when it advocates for people to put down their cigarettes, cigars, spit tobacco and other tobacco products. http://www.tricare.mil/pressroom/news.aspx?fid=478
This interagency initiative, championed by Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs S. Ward Casscells, M.D., and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness Ellen P. Embrey, advances DoD objectives to achieve seamless interoperability between government agencies. The collaboration between the SSA, the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) and the Force Health Protection and Readiness Program (FHP&RP) developed a solution to expedite claims for disabled veterans. Tommy Morris, director of Force Health Protection and Readiness’ Deployment Technologies and Support Services group and Scott Henderson, manager of Web technology, led the interagency effort on behalf of DoD Health Affairs and, in a matter of months, developed the Military Casualty Alert. The Military Casualty Alert project created a program to link the service-related disabilities of veterans to their Social Security numbers providing immediate identification information on them as wounded warriors. Having this link allows the SSA to expedite the claims of disabled veterans to quickly provide much deserved benefits.
Health Net ranked number 33 out of nearly 2,500 companies, each with an annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, considered for the honor. Selection was based on company criteria including strength of company military recruiting efforts, percentage of hires with prior military service, company policies toward National Guard and Reserve members and commitment to veterans and military families. Visit http://www.gijobs.net/content/top50.cfm to view GI Jobs’ 2008 Top 50 Most Military Friendly Employers.
On Oct. 1, 2008, the pilot was expanded to Fort Meade, Md., and Fort Belvoir, Va. The remaining 17 installations will be introduced to the pilot upon completion of site preparations and personnel orientation and training, during a seven-month period from November 2008 to May 2009. The remaining installations to begin the program are: Army: Fort Carson, Colo., Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Richardson, Alaska, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, and Fort Polk, La.; Navy: Naval Medical Center (NMC) San Diego and Camp Pendleton, Calif., NMC Bremerton, Wash., NMC Jacksonville, Fla., and Camp Lejeune, N.C.; and Air Force: Vance Air Force Base, Okla., Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska., and Travis Air Force Base, Calif. In November 2007 the VA and DoD implemented the pilot test for disability cases originating at the three major military treatment facilities in the national capital region. The pilot is a test of a new process design eliminating the duplicative, time-consuming, and often confusing elements of the two current disability processes of the departments. Key features of the DES pilot include one medical examination and a single-sourced disability rating. To date, more than 700 service members have participated in the pilot during the last ten months. The pilot is focused on recommendations from the reports of the Task Force on Returning Global War on Terrorism Heroes, the Independent Review Group, the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors (the Dole/Shalala Commission), and the Commission on Veterans’ Disability Benefits.
"While our foremost thoughts are with those in distant war zones today, Veterans Day is an opportunity for Americans to pay their respects to all who answered the nation's call to military service,” said Peake. “Participation in Veterans Day can be as simple as putting out the porch flag or reminding youngsters of the story of a relative who served in the military.” As part of the national Veterans Day observance, Peake joined White House and military officials and leaders of the major veterans’ organizations at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. From parades and ceremonies to military exhibits and tributes to distinguished veterans, major national observances were held at 33 sites in 20 states.
Several instances have been reported to the FDA of calls enticing consumers to purchase discounted prescription drugs by wiring funds to one of several locations in the Dominican Republic. No medications are ever delivered. A subsequent call is received from a fraudulent "FDA special agent" informing the consumer that a fine of several thousand dollars is required to be sent to an address in the Dominican Republic to prevent incarceration or other legal action. Consumers should note that the fraudulent calls appear to be from telephone numbers located within the United States, but are in fact from either ported voice-over-the-Internet-protocol numbers (calls made directly from a computer and moved or "ported" to other computers to avoid detection) or cellular phones. Reports to FDA describe the callers as having Hispanic accents. The scheme most likely began with the theft of personal information from consumers who previously purchased drugs via the Internet or telephone or who were victims of credit card fraud. The FDA is investigating and complaints or information regarding this scheme should be reported to the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations at (800) 521-5783. The FDA reminds consumers to purchase prescription drugs only from licensed pharmacies located in the United States. Information about the proper purchase of on-line medicine can be found at: http://www.fda.gov/consumer/features/drugsonline0707.html.
Traditional surveillance systems take between one and two weeks to collect and release data, while online-search queries can be automatically calculated more quickly. Google says it hopes that releasing its data will provide early warning of flu outbreaks.
Under the terms of the $9.7 million contract, Medsphere will provide support, training and development for VueCentric(R), a graphical user interface (GUI) framework used in hundreds of healthcare facilities nationwide serving Native American and Alaska Native populations. Within the IHS healthcare delivery network, VueCentric serves as the GUI for RPMS and enables a modular approach to the configuration of disparate application views in a single tab for a group of users or a single user. As part of the contract, Medsphere will provide user support for assigned RPMS applications and develop interfaces between RPMS and third-party applications. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) recently named Cherokee Indian Hospital, which employs VueCentric and RPMS, a 2008 Davies Award recipient in public health for excellence in the implementation and use of health information technology. The Cherokee Indian Hospital Authority is operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and is a power user of RPMS in both ambulatory and inpatient settings. http://www.medsphere.org
The curriculum, a product of the Diabetes-based Science Education in Tribal Schools (DETS) program, integrates science and Native American traditions to educate students about science, diabetes and its risk factors, and the importance of nutrition and physical activity in maintaining health and balance in life. Applying an inquiry-based approach to learning, the curriculum builds research skills in observation, measurement, prediction, experimentation, and communication. The project was developed in collaboration with eight tribal colleges and universities and several Native American organizations, with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Diabetes, a major cause of heart disease and stroke and the most common cause in adults of blindness, kidney failure, and amputations not related to trauma, now afflicts nearly 24 million people in the United States. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, is linked to older age, obesity, physical inactivity, family history of the disease, and a history of gestational diabetes. In the last 30 years, the incidence of type 2 diabetes has been steadily rising. The rate of diagnosed diabetes in American Indians and Alaska Natives is two to three times that of non-Hispanic whites. Nearly 17 percent of the total adult population served by the IHS has diagnosed diabetes. After adjusting for population age differences, diabetes rates vary from 6 percent among Alaska Native adults to 29 percent among American Indian adults in southern Arizona. Once seen only in adults, type 2 diabetes is increasingly being diagnosed in youth, especially in American Indian and other minority populations. The curriculum units provide accurate, culturally tailored materials and lesson plans for use in more than 1,000 tribal schools on reservations and in public schools that have a sizable number of Native American students. CDC, through its Division of Diabetes Translation, funds 59 diabetes prevention and control programs across all states, and U.S.-Affiliated territories and island jurisdictions and 11 tribes and tribal organizations. The kindergarten through fourth grade lessons in the DETS curriculum incorporate the four-book Eagle Books series for children. The original art for the Eagle Books is featured in an exhibition, "Through the Eyes of the Eagle-Illustrating Healthy Living for Children," at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian until Jan. 4, 2009. The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP), co-sponsored by NIH and CDC, provides diabetes education to improve the treatment and outcomes for people with diabetes, promote early diagnosis, and prevent or delay the onset of diabetes. In its "Small Steps. Big Rewards. Prevent Type 2 Diabetes" campaign, the NDEP is reaching out to people at risk for type 2 diabetes with the message that they have the power to turn the tide against this disease. http://www.nih.gov/news/health/nov2008/niddk-12.htm
The commission also named the late Shukri Khuri as an individual award winner. Khuri, a physician, oversaw the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program in the Veterans Affairs Department and was instrumental in implementing that outcomes-based measurement program in the private sector, the commission said. Khuri died Sept. 26. The awards are named for Boston surgeon Ernest Amory Codman, (1869–1940), a pioneer in the field of outcomes research, and will be presented Nov. 19 during the commission’s National Conference on Quality and Patient Safety in Chicago.
The HHS measure inventory, which is available on the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse, a Web site of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is designed to advance collaboration within the quality measurement community and to synchronize measurement. The inventory is available on the clearinghouse Web site at http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt called on national, regional, state, and local policymakers, health care executives and clinicians to take advantage of tools the inventory provides; work toward a uniform set of measurements for assessment; and provide clear reports about the quality and value of health care to stakeholders. Measures for this inventory were contributed by: Administration on Aging, AHRQ, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Service, Office of Public Health and Science, National Institutes of Health, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The measures currently can be sorted by agency or operating division and can be downloaded in their entirety. In the next several months, the inventory will be enhanced so the measure can be sorted by condition, setting, or measure domain. Inquiries regarding measure specifications, updates or others issues should be directed to info@qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov.
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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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