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Blackanthem Military News
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Last Updated:
May 15, 2008 - 12:14:09 PM |
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Blackanthem Military News
 FALLS CHURCH, VA.- A long-standing agreement helps injured Active Duty Service Members receive the specialty care they need.
The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) means eligible Active Duty Service Members who sustain spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, or blindness can be referred to VA medical facilities for healthcare and rehabilitative services.
Service members assisted through the MOA in 2006 averaged 316 per month, 438 per month in 2007, and 504 for the first three months of 2008. Those figures include inpatient and outpatient care.
"The agreement is just one of the many ways we have been working with the VA," said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, Deputy Director, TRICARE Management Activity (TMA). "It allows us to leverage the expertise and facilities of our partners, providing a wider range of specialty care for our nation's heroes."
Many VA medical centers are Centers of Excellence specifically in the treatment of traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, and blind rehabilitation.
The MOA was updated and refined effective January 2007, said Granger, "but as the need for specialty care increases, we are proactively seeking more treatment options and improvements in the process of moving patients from DoD facilities to VA facilities and then, if appropriate, to the TRICARE network."
DoD military treatment facilities (MTF), VA medical centers (VAMC), VAMC staff, and the TMA Military Medical Support Office (MMSO) all work closely to determine when a Service member should be referred to a VA facility for care. MMSO works with MTF and VAMC staff to facilitate the healthcare authorizations needed to ensure timely admission of eligible Service members to VA facilities.
Ideally, the injured Service member will be treated at the VA facility that is as close as possible to family and home.
Service members may be eligible for care under the MOA regardless of whether they have been seriously injured on the battlefield or in an accident while they are off-duty, such as a car accident or a serious fall.
"We are proud to be able to provide Active Duty Service Members with the innovative and integrated approach to caring for patients with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries as well as blindness," said Ken Cox, director of the DoD/VA Program Coordination Office. "Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to visit all four of the VA's polytrauma centers and the care provided is great, with the best specialists and state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities."
The MOA, and ongoing efforts to improve it to meet the demands of trauma care, also illustrate how the VA/DoD Joint Executive Council and the VA/DoD Senior Oversight Committee are working to refine existing programs and improve care for veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and their families.
For more information about MMSO go to www.tricare.mil/mmso . For more information on VA healthcare benefits go to www.va.gov/health.
About TRICARE Management Activity and the Military Health System
TRICARE Management Activity, the Defense Department activity that administers the health care plan for the uniformed services, retirees and their families, serves more than 9.1 million eligible beneficiaries worldwide in the Military Health System (MHS). The mission of the MHS is to enhance Department of Defense and national security by providing health support for the full range of military operations. The MHS provides quality medical care through a network of providers, military treatment facilities, medical clinics and dental clinics worldwide. For more about the MHS go to www.health.mil.
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