Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – August 16, 2011

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Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

 

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

 

1.    Vacaville POW/MIA ceremony planned.  TheReporter.com  … former prisoners of war and their families; the families of those listed as missing in action; Gold Star Mothers, area elected officials, veterans’ organizations; representatives from Travis Air Force Base and the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
2.    VA clinic at Fort Detrick growing.  Frederick News Post   The new US Department of Veterans Affairs health clinic at Fort Detrick has already seen nearly 800 patients but hopes to reach out to even more veterans as it grows closer to being fully operational. The community-based outpatient …
3.    Use of electronic personal health record systems to encourage HIV screening. 7thSpace Interactive   In the US Department of Veterans Affairs medical care system, 900000 veterans have indicated an interest in receiving electronic health-related communications through the PHR. Therefore we sought to evaluate the optimal circumstances and conditions for …
4.    Family caregive program launches for veterans in Montana.  KXLH Helena News  The US Department of Veterans Affairs has sent the first stipend payments to the family caregivers of Montana veterans. Twelve Montana caregivers have applied for the program to date; two have been approved so far. Family caregivers will receive an …
5.    TNF Inhibitors May Increase Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Risk.  Medscape  The researchers examined skin cancer risk in a cohort of 20648 patients with RA using data from US Department of Veterans Affairs databases. They defined skin cancer as first occurrence of International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, …
6.    Surveillance for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.  Annals of Internal Medicine  These practice guidelines are endorsed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and are offered to physicians within the Veterans Affairs health care system as a guide for managing patients with cirrhosis (3). Liver ultrasonography is the primary …
7.    Physicians “Missing Opportunity” with Mesothelioma Patients.  Surviving Mesothelioma
A study conducted by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and researchers at Stanford University found that only a tiny percentage of mesothelioma patients received counseling from their doctor’s office on the cause of their mesothelioma and the …
8.    New veterans’ housing opens in Nassau County.  EmpireStateNews.net  It is my hope that our program will serve as a national model that recognizes veterans for their selfless service and dedication to our nation.” Nassau County is working closely with the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the Community Development …

9.    Plan To Help Vets Use Benefits Builds. Vancouver (WA) Columbian  “A Vancouver man’s idea to save Washington millions of dollars in health-care costs continues to attract the attention of other states. State official Bill Allman uses a national database to find Washington residents who are eligible for federal veterans’ benefits.” Oregon has now “decided to follow Washington’s lead, while California and Texas are taking steps to implement the program.”

10. VA, Defense Developing Patient Data-Sharing System. Washington Post  “Electronic health record vendors Epic Systems and Cerner may face competition from a joint patient information-sharing network being developed by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, analysts said. Prompted by President Obama’s push for medical facilities to adopt electronic records, hospitals may pay companies to modify the open-source code likely to power the government-developed system, rather than buying commercial systems, said Ed Meagher, former Veterans Affairs deputy chief information officer.” According to the Post, both VA and the DOD “have been criticized for running separate electronic health records networks to serve an overlapping population of US military personnel and veterans,” but in March, the secretaries of both agencies “agreed…to use a common platform” for such records.

 

Have You Heard?

VA’s National Vet Small Business Conference: Building Partnerships

Today, the National Veterans Small Business Conference kicked off in New Orleans. The conference helps Veterans build their businesses, expand contracting opportunities and more. Read more at VAntage Point

More Veteran News

 

  • 300 Veterans Wait As VA Tries To Recruit Orthopedic Surgeon.  Helena (MT) Independent Record  “At least 300 Montana veterans who need orthopedic surgery are on a waiting list while the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System works to recruit a full-time surgeon to help ease the growing backlog of disabled – and often disgruntled – veterans.” In a “tersely worded letter” to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) “said, ‘This situation is completely unacceptable and it’s getting worse.'” Shinseki “has received the letter and in July promised veterans that getting them access to quality health care is a priority.”
  •  Army Suicides Set Record In July. Washington Post  “The US Army suffered a record 32 suicides in July, the most since it began releasing monthly figures in 2009.” The Post added, “The number includes 22 active-duty soldiers and 10 reservists. The previous record was 31, from June 2010.”
  •  Military Steps Up Effort To Detect Brain Injuries. AP  A “battery of tests and interviews to identify soldiers who suffered even mild brain injuries” is “part of a broader military campaign to treat tens of thousands of war veterans with traumatic brain injuries, often caused by roadside bombs, a favorite weapon of insurgents.” Measuring the “effort’s overall success is difficult,” due to the lack of immediate follow-up statistics on the number of troops able to return to partial or even full duty following such injuries. The AP adds, “Also, the effort has suffered from a lack of clear budget information and difficulty recruiting staff, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in June.”
  •  Alexandria VA Medical Center Adding Services, Looking For Volunteers.  Alexandria (LA) Town Talk  “Gracie Specks is hoping to increase the number of volunteers at the Alexandria Veterans Affairs Medical Center,” which she directs. During an interview with the Town Talk, Specks says her facility has set up a “Patient Aligned Care Team Concept” to improve the care it provides to veterans. Specks adds, “Our current secretary (Eric K. Shinseki), being a military person, is very, very focused on the veterans. He gives us the opportunity in the field to have first-line employees come up with innovative ideas as to how we can treat veterans better. The other thing that the secretary is working on is in five years he feels we should have no veterans who are homeless.” Specks says that in the Alexandria-Pineville area, VA is working on that goal by “reaching out to the communities.”
  • Help For Vets Improving In Minnesota, Elsewhere. Duluth News Tribune
  • Working In The Trenches For Homeless Veterans. Whittier (CA) Daily News Freelance photographer Nicole Godinez notes that she volunteered “her time and efforts to chronicle the journey of the Vet Hunters, a group of veterans that bicycled from El Monte to St. Louis to bring awareness to the plight of homeless veterans in America.” Godinez added, “Visit Vet Hunters.org to donate your time, talents or more to help this amazing group of veterans and cyclists. Also, look forward to seeing the documentary” about the ride called “And the Home of the Brave.”
  • The Story Of A POW Survives. Eugene (OR) Register-Guard
  •  Dogs Help Veterans With PTSD Cope, Improve. York (PA) Daily Record
  • Bugles Across America Provide Taps For Grieving Families. Youngstown (OH) Vindicator
  • Delta Teaches For High-Tech Facility.  Stockton (CA) Record  “San Joaquin Delta College’s Alicia Stewart, who teaches in the Department of Business and Business Information Management, just completed a six-month sabbatical with the VA Stockton Clinic researching its use of office technology, especially in the area of telehealth. The French Camp-based Veterans Affairs clinic that provides primary and mental-health care to military veterans residing in San Joaquin County and the surrounding foothills is the first completely wireless facility in the VA’s Northern California region, according to staff physician Dr. Steven Li, the VA’s Central Valley medical informatics officer.” The Record noted that Stewart “hopes to introduce new curriculum at Delta that will train medical assistants to work with the new technologies to meet the needs of the Veterans Affairs facility – which will be significantly expanding in the county over the next several years – and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which will be opening the largest health care facility in the county by the end of 2013.”
  • Program That Helps Dogs Get Adopted Also Benefits Veterans. Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune
  • Columbia Program Pairs Shelter Dogs With Veterans Returning From Service.  Kansas City Star
  • Vintage Car Show Raises Money For Veterans. Peekskill-Cortlandt (NY) Patch
  • HHS Cutting Red Tape To Speed Clinical Trials. American Medical News  “Wide-reaching changes announced by the Dept. of Health and Human Services would speed up the process of approving and monitoring federally funded clinical trials.” The “HHS proposal, announced in July, would mandate that all domestic sites in a multisite trial name a single review board as the IRB of record, legally responsible for complying with federal regulations and ensuring that trial participants are properly informed of the risks and protected from dangerous protocols.” The “idea, known as a ‘central IRB,’ already is practiced widely in privately funded clinical trials and recently was implemented by the Veterans Health Administration and the National Cancer Institute.”

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