Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 7-21-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Progress Temporarily Halted On 45 IT Projects At VA.
2. "Skeptical" Audience Questions Shinseki, Other Cabinet Members On Healthcare.  
3. Montana Schools Teaming Up With VA On Education Benefits.  
4. Caregivers Hope For Training, Compensation From VA.  
5. Machine Allows Blind Iraq Vet To Identify Shapes.  
6. VHA Evaluating Potential Of Natural Language Processing.  
7. Telemedicine, Preventative Measures Seen As Potentially Key To Reform.  
8. Motorcycle Enthusiasts Bring Gifts, Donations To VA Hospital.  
9. Iowa City VAMC Improves Comfort Level For Cancer Patients.  
10. VA Hospital Unveils Mobile Vet Center.

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The 29th National Veterans Wheelchair Games
The 29th National Veterans Wheelchair Games were held in Spokane, Washington, July 13-18. The competition offered 17 different sporting events for Veterans who use wheelchairs because of spinal cord injuries, amputations, and neurological diseases. The games promoted rehabilitation through rigorous competition in events such as basketball, rugby, softball, and hand cycling. A special "Kids Day" program allowed children with disabilities to meet the athletes and be introduced to wheelchair sports.   Check out the photo gallery from this great event at http://www.va.gov/

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1.      Progress Temporarily Halted On 45 IT Projects At VA.   In continuing coverage, Government Health IT (7/20) said the "Veterans Affairs Department is temporarily halting further progress on 45 information technology projects that are behind schedule or over budget, including several major health IT programs." Roger Baker, the VA’s "chief information officer, will review the patient appointment scheduling replacement, next generation health data repository and other IT projects to determine whether these can be saved and, if so, to fix the management gaps that should put them back on track." Government Health IT also noted that VA Secretary Gen. Eric Shinseki has "ordered a review of the department’s 300 IT projects and the establishment" of a Program Management Accountability System (PMAS) "designed to improve the department’s oversight of its IT projects."
      ChannelWeb (7/20, Berndtson) reported, "The VA issued a statement late last week saying it will audit 45 current projects to see whether they’re worth keeping — a move that follows the recent release of the Office of Management and Budget’s IT dashboard, which allows government agencies and the public to track the flow" of Federal IT spending. Shinseki "ordered a review of the VA’s 300 or so current IT projects, and has thus far red-flagged 45 that warrant closer examination and will be ‘temporarily halted.’ Each of the projects will have to pass muster under the VA’s new" PMAS, "which requires the project manager to create a plan for implementation and for the VA’s assistant secretary of Information and Technology to approve that plan before the project is resumed."
      Bob Brewin, meanwhile, noted in his "What’s Brewin’" blog for NextGov (7/18) that Shinseki "said he put the brakes" on the 45 IT "projects because ‘VA has a responsibility to the American people…to deliver quality results that adhere to a budget and are delivered on time.’" Brewin added, "The Housed and Senate Appropriations Committees approved a record $3.3 billion IT budget for the VA for fiscal 2010, but the Senate fenced off expenditure of roughly $1.1 billion of IT development funds until…Baker completes a review of some 300 troubled IT systems."
      Health Data Management (7/20, Anderson) and the second item in the "Monday Morning Federal Newsstand" column on the Federal News Radio (7/20, Vogel) website also covered this story, as did Modern Healthcare (7/20, Conn), which said the VA announcement about IT projects "came a little over a month after the inspector general’s office at the VA released a blistering report on the chronic failure of an IT centralization effort at the VA."
      In a similar story, InformationWeek (7/20, Hoover) said the "VA has been on the receiving end of critical Government Accountability Reports and has suffered a number of widely publicized lapses in security and healthcare IT over the last few years." But now, "with a new CIO in place, an influx of capital for healthcare IT, and impetus from a new administration" and Federal "CIO, the agency is looking to turn some things around."

2.      "Skeptical" Audience Questions Shinseki, Other Cabinet Members On Healthcare.   In continuing coverage, the AP (7/21) reports, "Four members of President Barack Obama’s cabinet," including Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, "visited Louisiana to tout plans to improve" healthcare "in rural areas. But skeptical audience members at Monday’s forum in Reserve peppered the cabinet members with questions and critical remarks about the administration’s broader" healthcare "proposals working their way through Congress."
      A longer version of this AP (7/21, Kunzelman) story said the "trip to Reserve was one of at least 10 stops planned for a ‘Rural Tour’ that administration officials are taking while the House and Senate work" on healthcare legislation. The AP added that during Monday’s forum in Reserve, Shinseki touted Obama’s plan for rural healthcare, saying the President "has introduced a bold" healthcare "vision for our rural communities. Achieving that vision is incredibly important."
      Veteran Complains About Progress On New VA Hospital.   In a story primarily focused on forum attendees criticizing the government’s healthcare reform plans, the New Orleans Times-Picayune (7/21, Barbier, 178K) notes that Robert Lance, a veteran who attended the forum, "said veterans are tired of waiting for a hospital" in New Orleans after the old one closed after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. Lance said not "one shovelful of dirt has been turned for a new hospital and we desperately need it." Shinseki, "however, said that the hospital is on its way."
      The Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate (7/21, A1, Chacko) publishes a similar, front-page story, noting that during the forum, people "in the crowd started yelling ‘Reopen’" the VA hospital. The Advocate adds that Shinseki "said his department is dedicating $250 million in competitive grant funds to improve services for veterans in rural areas."
      The WWL-TV New Orleans, LA (7/20, Farris) website, meanwhile, noted that before the forum in Reserve, Shinseki "spoke to Eyewitness News exclusively about the future of the massive downtown" hospital project, saying, "We anticipate finishing final design and beginning to break ground next spring." WWL added that Shinseki "toured the veterans clinic in Reserve, along with the mobile health care unit and veterans transportation bus. He said two more clinics will open in southeast Louisiana, bringing the total to eight." According to WWL, this is "all in an effort to bring doctors to the veterans to help them heal physically and mentally."
      KLFY-TV Lafayette, LA (7/20, 10:21 p.m. CT) and WGNO-TV New Orleans, LA (7/20, 10:08 p.m. CT) also aired reports on this story, although both stations merely noted Shinseki’s appearance at Monday’s forum. Earlier in the day, WVUE-TV New Orleans, LA (7/20, 7:04 a.m. CT) also broadcast a report noting that Shinseki would attend the forum.

3.      Montana Schools Teaming Up With VA On Education Benefits.   In continuing coverage, the Great Falls (MT) Tribune (7/20) reported, "Eight universities and colleges across Montana have entered into Yellow Ribbon Program agreements with the Department of Veterans Affairs to allow veterans participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program to attend college for free." The Yellow Ribbon Program, a "provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, allows institutions of higher learning to voluntarily enter into an agreement with VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition rate. The institution can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses, and VA will match that amount." The Tribune added, "More than 3,400 agreements were received from the 1,100 schools participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program. ‘This is a strong

response to a new benefit,’ said Keith Wilson, director of VA’s Education Service." Meanwhile, according to the Tribune, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said his agency is "grateful so many schools are joining us as partners in this unprecedented effort."

4.      Caregivers Hope For Training, Compensation From VA.   The AP (7/21, Hefling) reports, "With tissue in hand, Michelle Briggs," whose 40-year-old husband "was severely injured" in Iraq while serving with the Iowa National Guard, "huddled Monday in a hotel conference room with 15 other caregivers who shared hugs and exchanged stories. They will go to Capitol Hill this week with a message to Congress: We need help." The "caregivers seek passage of legislation that would require the Veterans Affairs Department to offer more training to primary caregivers of severely injured veterans from the recent wars. Those certified would be eligible for benefits such as health care and a stipend of a few hundred dollars a week." The VA, however, "has expressed concerns about the cost of the legislation. It has also said it would divert from the agency’s mission of providing care to veterans and training clinicians, and said some of the same services are provided in other programs." The AP notes that "Phil Budahn, a VA spokesman, said in a statement the agency would continue to look for ways to ‘appropriately support these compassionate providers."

5.      Machine Allows Blind Iraq Vet To Identify Shapes.   The Washington Post (7/21, Caputo, 652K) reports, "After Marine Cpl. Mike Jernigan was blinded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, he said, not much was done for him. ‘I returned back from Iraq and [Veterans Affairs] gave me a stick." But now, five "years later and thanks to the ambitions of a handful of people, Jernigan has more than a walking cane. He has been given a special ‘lollipop,’ a device that uses his tongue to stimulate his visual cortex and send sensory information to his brain. Also called the intra-oral device, or IOD, the lollipop" is "connected by a wire to a small camera mounted on a pair of sunglasses and to a hand-held controller about the size of a BlackBerry. The camera sends an image to the lollipop, which transmits a low-voltage pulse to Jernigan’s tongue." And with "training, Jernigan has learned to translate that pulse into pictures. He can now identify the shapes of what is in front of him, even though both of his eyes have been removed." According to the Post, the machine Jernigan is using "is called the BrainPort vision device and is manufactured by Wicab, a biomedical engineering company based in Middleton, Wis." Bob Beckman, the "president and chief executive of Wicab, said the BrainPort might be on the market by the end of the year, priced at about $10,000."

6.      VHA Evaluating Potential Of Natural Language Processing.   The July-August issue of Government Health IT (7/21, Robinson) says in its "Tech Briefing" section that the "Obama administration’s ambitions to reform" the US "healthcare system depends in part on the widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) to drive cost efficiencies and higher quality care. That in turn requires physicians to both buy" and use EHR systems, and "Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a technology that could help ensure that happens." According to Government Health IT, NLP "takes the free-form text that physicians typically use to write their clinical and patient notes, and automatically converts it to the standard medical terms that are used to diagnose illnesses and track health trends. In that way, EHRs could become intelligent systems, instead of the expensive record-keeping applications some potential users fear they might end up being." Government Health IT notes that the Veterans Health Administration "has a number of different projects running to evaluate NLP and

see in what situations it can provide value, according to Steven Brown, director of the VHA’s Health and Medical Informatics Office," who said, "I am cautiously optimistic that we will find useful applications of NLP, and that some could be in place in the medium term."

7.      Telemedicine, Preventative Measures Seen As Potentially Key To Reform.   Reuters (7/21, Fox) says that according to a new report by the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute team, telemedicine, clinics at the workplace, and determining ways to help people maintain their health may be more important to US healthcare reform than providing insurance to everyone. Reuters notes that the Veterans Health Administration has said that during six years of using telemedicine, it has reduced use of its system by 30 percent.

8.      Motorcycle Enthusiasts Bring Gifts, Donations To VA Hospital.   The Hanford (CA) Sentinel (7/19, Johnson) reported, "Motorcycle enthusiasts from across the Valley rode from Kings County to come together on Saturday to bring Christmas in July to the veterans staying" at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Fresno. In "searing 106-degree heat," more "than 150 people rode in a pack from Lemoore to Fresno" to bring "gifts and donations" to the veterans. The Sentinel noted that "Dave Phillips, a spokesman for the hospital," commented on the riders’ efforts, saying, "It’s a socializing event, set up by veterans for veterans. These people are willing to endure the heat to come out here and bring financial donations and bags of gifts to the veterans being treated." The Sentinel also quoted "Jerry White, a 23-year Army veteran-turned-supervisor" at the VA hospital, who said, "There is a camaraderie between veterans that you don’t find with other people."

9.      Iowa City VAMC Improves Comfort Level For Cancer Patients.   The Iowa City Press-Citizen (7/21, Hermiston) reports, "Improvements at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Hospital will make receiving a generally unpleasant treatment a little more comfortable for patients. Hospital staff said the facility’s new Chemotherapy and Infusion wing offers improvements for both patients and staff working there. Ann Clark, a registered nurse and clinical manager at the VA, said there was a lot of room for improvement in the old wing," which she described as "cramped," while hospital spokesman Kirt Sickels "said the project is part of further renovations at the hospital. Sickels said patient rooms on two floors will eventually be converted to private rooms with private baths."
      The AP (7/21) reports, "Chemotherapy wing project engineer Michele Millers says the changes were born out of an increased demand for the treatments as well as a requirement to upgrade the pharmacy." KCRG-TV Cedar Rapids, IA (7/21, 10:02 p.m. CT) also aired a report on this story, noting that the new wing "features five bays with recliners and flat-screen TVs for patients receiving treatments."

10.    VA Hospital Unveils Mobile Vet Center.   WJHL-TV Tri-Cities, TN-VA (7/20, 11:23 p.m. ET) broadcast, "The James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Hospital unveiled" a mobile vet center Monday. The vehicle, which "will be used to provide outreach to underserved" areas, "comes equipped with the capability to be deployed in the event of a natural disaster or any other emergency situation."