Thursday, January 25, 2007

DoDEA to Discontinue Remote Home School Program

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 24, 2007 – The Department of Defense Education Activity will discontinue its Remote Home School Program beginning in school year 2007-2008, DoDEA officials announced today. "We understand this unique program is valued by our families," said Joseph D. Tafoya, DoDEA director. "Unfortunately, with the funding allocation and grants expiring for this program at the end of school year 2006-2007, we will have to discontinue the Remote Location Home Schooling Program."

DoDEA plans, directs, coordinates and manages the education programs for Defense Department family members who would otherwise not have access to a high-quality public education. Although operating a home-schooling program is outside of its directed mission, officials said, DoDEA has administered the Remote Home School Program since school year 2001-2002, when it received the first in a series of unsolicited allocations and grants to support the program.

DoDEA cannot continue administering the program with the funding authorizations and grants expiring, and by law, DoDEA is not permitted to lobby for funds to continue operating the program, officials explained.

"We truly regret the disruption this may cause students and families," Tafoya said. "We do not take this decision lightly; it is the result of careful analysis of the needs of our directed mission."

Officials said DoDEA will help students and families in any way possible in transitioning from the home-schooling program. Based on their home location, students and families may choose to enroll in a local DoDEA-administered school or public school. They may also choose to attend a private school or to participate in a home-schooling program of their choice at their own expense.

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Walter Reed Unveils Suites for Terminal Cancer Patients

By Bernard S. Little
Special to American Forces Press Service

Jan. 24, 2007 – A new area of Walter Reed
Army Medical Center here will provide state-of-the-art medical care for terminal cancer patients in a warm, homelike setting. After countless hours of fund raising, designing and remodeling by various individuals and organizations, the first palliative care suite and patient/family lounge opened Jan. 22.

Roderick Mitchell, president of the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, which spearheaded efforts to raise funds to design and furnish the suite and lounge, presented the rooms to Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, commander of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and North Atlantic Regional Medical Command.

In accepting the rooms, which are for patients diagnosed with terminal cancer and their families, Weightman said the medical center has been about warrior care for nearly 98 years. He added that the project is indicative of the commitment and partnership that exist among WRAMC, the civilian community, and the different organizations that help support the Army family.

The project, which cost about $400,000 and took about five months to complete, provides the comforts and amenities of home in two rooms, including modern kitchens and bathrooms, sofa beds for family members, flat-screen plasma televisions, DVD and CD players and computers with Internet access. Basil Walter Architects in New York and Seiko Obayashi designed the rooms at no cost.

Mitchell said the vision of providing cancer patients and their families with a private living space that would remind them of home was the brainchild of a former head nurse of hematology and oncology, Col. Princess Facen. It was Facen who showed Mitchell the areas where wounded soldiers from the
global war on terrorism were treated and where cancer patients received medical care at WRAMC.

"She told me the story of this young soldier who passed away from cancer," Mitchell recalled. "She showed me the room that he passed away in, and it was heart-wrenching. The only thing that made the story heartwarming was that clearly, the personnel who helped that young man and (his loved ones) get through that terrible time were very compassionate and loving people who work here. But the room itself just didn't measure up."

"This is a dream that's become a reality," said Col. LaDonna Howell, chief of WRAMC's medical psychiatric nursing section. She said that in the past, if a patient chose to spend his or her last days here, the patient would have been assigned a standard, private room. The patient's loved ones would have had to sleep on a small sofa at best.

The death of Staff Sgt. Michael Somers was a sobering reminder of the need for the palliative care suite at WRAMC. Ladonna Somers, his widow, and Barbara Tye, his sister, supported the project with open arms and helped in the fund-raising efforts.

The bulk of this money came from active-duty men and women who are deployed all over the world. Other significant contributors were the Association of the United States Army and Health Net Federal Services.

"How people exit this life is probably just as important as how people enter this life," Weightman said. "(The palliative care suite and lounge) send the absolute right message: that we care for our patients throughout this spectrum, whether they're 1 minute old or 99 years old."

(Bernard S. Little is a command information officer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.)

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DoD, VA Announce Plans for Joint Inpatient Record System

American Forces Press Service

Jan. 24, 2007 – The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have announced plans for a common inpatient electronic health-record system. The two departments now have separate systems that require upgrade, officials said.

"I am very excited by the prospect of adopting a common, mutually beneficial solution to our in-patient health documentation needs," Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said. "This collaboration is a further extension of the highly successful partnership we have established with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and is another example of the commitment our departments have made to work hand in hand to provide continuity of care for our beneficiaries."

Both VA and DoD have been independently working on the enhancement and improvement of their respective inpatient electronic health record tools, officials said. AHLTA, DoD's electronic health-record system, is implemented worldwide and supports the documentation and management of outpatient health care for nearly 9 million beneficiaries. Management of inpatient care is a future capability planned for AHLTA.

VA is planning to modernize VistA, its electronic health-record system, including its inpatient module. Common need and the potential benefits led the two departments to discuss the feasibility of jointly implementing a common inpatient electronic health record, officials explained.

Despite obvious differences in mission, such as DoD's requirements to support its combat theaters, pediatric and obstetrical patients and VA's requirements to support domiciliary care, officials said, both agencies believe the similarities in clinical and business processes may make the adoption of a common inpatient electronic health record a viable option.

VA Secretary R. James Nicholson, who announced plans for the joint venture at a meeting of the American Health Information Community, called the agreement "groundbreaking," and said "it has the potential to further transform the way we care for our nation's veterans and active duty servicemembers."

DoD and VA have made progress in their ability to share electronic health information as they move toward achieving interoperable electronic health records. Millions of records and data messages are regularly transferred electronically between the two organizations.

Adopting a joint electronic solution for the documentation of inpatient health information will facilitate the seamless transition of active duty servicemembers to veteran status, officials said. It also will make the inpatient health-care data on shared beneficiaries immediately accessible to both DoD and VA health-care providers.

An added benefit of adopting a common tool, officials noted, is the potential for both agencies to realize significant cost savings through a joint development or acquisition effort.

Both agencies have agreed to conduct a study to examine their respective clinical processes and requirements and assess the benefits and the effects on each department's timelines and costs before making a final decision on a joint acquisition strategy for an inpatient electronic health record.

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