FORSAN, TX — By rolling out the Whole Health System, the VA expects to transform care for veterans and could establish the agency as the national leader in a fundamentally different, truly integrated approach to healthcare. The Whole Health program asks alternative...
SNAP Nutrition Program Changes Affect Hungry Veterans, Military Families
A Quarter of Recent Veterans Have Faced Food Insecurity WASHINGTON — Tim, a Navy veteran living in Maine, was injured on the job and found himself unable to return to work. With no income, he applied for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program....
Star Ratings System Out at VA; More Localized Healthcare Comparisons Offered
WASHINGTON—The VA will no longer use a star ratings system to compare its 146 VA medical centers. Instead, the VA will make public measures such as wait times, quality of medical care and patient experience ratings available for each facility. According to VA...
VA OIG: Wait Times Likely to Go Up With MISSION Act Authorization Process
WASHINGTON — Veterans seeking care from community providers could face even longer wait times under the MISSION Act than they did before the legislation went into effect, a VA Office of Inspector General report has concluded. In the report released last month,...
New Program Helps Transitioning Servicemembers with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Delays in VA Appointments Pose Challenges SAN ANTONIO, TX — A new program at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston aims to give transitioning servicemembers with inflammatory bowel disease the information they need to manage their disease when they leave...
Palliative Care Extends Survival in Veterans with Lung Cancer
PORTLAND, OR — While the term “palliative care” is usually associated with ameliorating pain and discomfort at the end of life, it appeared to have other benefits for veterans, according to a new study. In this cohort study of 23 ,154 patients with advanced lung...
TRICARE Covers 3D Mammograms Under Provisional Program
WASHINGTON — As of the beginning of the year, TRICARE is offering 3D mammograms to screen for breast cancer for eligible patients. Previously, Tricare only covered digital breast tomosynthesis in special case (i.e., after a physician order for at-risk patients or...
Agent Orange Linked to Overall Head/Neck Cancers
PORTLAND, OR — Agent Orange exposure might have had more effect than previously assumed on development of head and neck cancers, according to a recent study. A report in the Oral Oncology journal described how self-reported Agent Orange exposure was linked with...
VA Survey: Health Issues Are Greatest Concerns for New Veterans
Most Report Satisfaction with Work Life, Social Well-Being BOSTON — Health issues plague veterans, even when they first leave military service and are viewed as a bigger problem than finding work or establishing civilian social relationships. That’s according to a new...
What Is the Relationship Between Parkinson’s Psychosis, Treatment?
LONDON, UK – For years, common treatments -- levodopa and dopamine agonists (dopamine replacement therapy [DRT]) – have been implicated in Parkinson's disease psychosis. A report published in Movement Disorder Clinical Practice pointed out that the relationship...
Two Subtypes of Gulf War Illness Identified
WASHINGTON — Gulf War illness appears to be more complex than previously thought, according to a study using brain imaging of veterans with the condition. The report in Brain Communications discussed how varying abnormalities were detected after moderate exercise that...
Many Veterans on Biologics Can Skip Repeat Tuberculosis Testing
MEMPHIS, TN—Because biologic therapies prescribed for inflammatory diseases increase the risk of activation of latent tuberculosis infections, some VAMCs recommend baseline testing of veterans starting these agents and annual testing thereafter. Several recent studies...
Aggressive Chemo-Immunotherapy Found Safe for Older Patients With CLL Treatments
MINNEAPOLIS — Even though chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a disease of older adults, with median age of 68 years at diagnosis, clinical trials on chemo-immunotherapy agents rarely included patients of advanced age, according to a new study. Noting the strong...
VA Opts Against Charges in Alleged DC VAMC Assault of Congressional Staffer
Wilkie’s Characterization of ‘Unsubstantiated’ Challenged by VA IG WASHINGTON — Following an investigation by the VA Office of the Inspector General, federal authorities have decided not to file any charges based on a reported assault at the DC VAMC this past fall. A...
New Antibiotics Are an Increasingly Important Front in Fight Against Anthrax
WASHINGTON — When Project BioShield was first signed into law 15 years ago, the nation had few medical countermeasures to respond to bioterrorism. Since then, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency has supported 27 projects using Project BioShield...
Balance Disorder Expert Works to Fill Growing Medical Need for Veterans
CLEVELAND — Aasef Shaikh, MD, PhD, grew up in India as the son of two ENT surgeons, which he credits for his early interest in understanding the system that helps humans keep their balance.
Grant Program to Prevent Veteran Suicide Leads to Fractious Debate
WASHINGTON—The fight to push forward legislation that would create a three-year pilot programming allowing VA to provide grants to community groups targeting veteran suicide has caused rare, public friction among the usually bipartisan House VA Committee and between...
Latest Attempt to Uptake VA’s Financial Management System Raising Concerns
WASHINGTON—Though it might be lost among VA’s larger, higher-profile IT projects, the department is moving forward with its latest attempt to replace its financial management system—something it has tried and failed to do twice in the past. The Financial Management...
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