Briefing note
Jan. 28: National Policy Institute’s Panel on the Presidential Task Force for Improving
the Quality of Veterans Health Care at the Renaissance Washington Hotel.
Overview: The moderator and task force member, C. Ross Anthony from the RAND
Center for Military Healthy Policy Research, will give a 10-15-minute introduction of the
panel members, an overview of the task force, the Defense Department and VA medical
system missions and perceptions, challenges for 2004 and task force
recommendations. There will be approximately 250 health care providers such as
doctors and nurses, scientists, health care policy experts, medical researchers and
health care administrators. About half of the audience is familiar with the Task Force.
Speaking requirements: There will be two 20-25-minute presentations to the group –
one by the Defense Department’s Dr. Winkenwerder and one by Dr. Roswell after the
overview by Mr. Anthony. Dr. Winkenwerder will present first.
Dr. Winkenwerder will focus on the following topics during his presentation:
• DoD's commitment to collaborate with VA
• Bringing reality to the seamless care system and how in two years they have
made real and practical products and advancements
• Status report on the joint organizational structure and plan along with long-range
information management and information technology plans
Dr. Roswell will concentrate on:
• An overview of the developing relationship between VA and DoD and how critical
it is for VA to address the needs of the Nation's newest veterans
• What the seamless transition initiative means to VA as far as returning veterans,
social workers, benefits counselors and reaching out to National Guard and
Reservists
• While much progress has been made, there are still many challenges that lie
ahead for VA such as transferring medical records between DoD and VA and
better communication between the two departments.
National Policy Institute
Renaissance Washington Hotel
2:30 p.m. –4 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2004
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Talking Points for Dr. Roswell
Panel on the Presidential Task Force
for Improving the Quality of Veterans Health Care
National Policy Institute
Renaissance Washington Hotel
Jan. 28, 2004
2:30 p.m. –4 p.m. (20-25 minute presentation and 30-minute Q &A)
(Introduction)
Thank you Ross for your kind introduction.
Dr. Winkenwerder, without your support and willingness to pursue an improved
relationship, a great deal of what we are going to discuss today would not be possible.
Thank you on behalf of VA and the veterans we serve.
(Overview)
We have made progress on addressing many of the task force’s recommendations, but
we face more challenges ahead.
It will not be easy feat to overcome, but we are determined and committed.
Of the 26 million veterans currently alive, nearly three-quarters served during a war or
an official period of conflict. About a quarter of the Nation's population, approximately
70 million people, are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are
veterans, family members or survivors of veterans.
VA operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance and burial
benefits through three administrations.
The Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care system in the
country with more than 190,000 employees working at 1,300 facilities. Our facilities
include hospitals, nursing homes and outpatient clinics, spread across 21 regional
networks.
Recently VA Secretary Principi talked about the importance of our mission, and it really
touched me. He said that if a veteran is poorly served we would fail to meet the very
reason to exist as a Department.
He captured the essence of our mission.
We must do what is right for veteran now – not in three, six or nine months – Today!
National Policy Institute
Renaissance Washington Hotel
2:30 p.m. –4 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2004
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(Talking points)
We used the task force recommendations and our experiences dealing with returning
veterans to map out a new course for VA. Our roadmap led us to improve health care
coordination, tap into resources within VA, build a better relationship with DoD and
reach out to veterans with information about benefits and services.
One of the first steps we took toward improving the treatment of returning veterans was
to improve our health care coordination. Some of those improvements included:
• We developed evidenced-based clinical approaches for treating veterans
following deployments.
• We implemented a new program, the Veterans Health Initiative, to recognize the
connection between military service and certain health effects. The program will
allow us to improve patient care and to build a database for future study.
• We flagged the medical records of service members returning from combat to
alert VA staff.
• We coordinated with discharge specialists at military medical transition stations
to streamline health care.
Recently, we received a roster of service members who served in Afghanistan and Iraq
and left the service afterwards. Of the 17,000 veterans listed, about 2,000 or 12 percent
sought health care from VA – mostly as outpatients.
As we reached out to the influx of the newest generation of veterans, we looked to
resources within the VA family to help us better serve our new heroes.
We teamed with our counterparts in the Veterans Benefits Administration to coordinate
the effort to provide benefits and services to returning veterans. In the past, we often
acted independently and did not routinely share information with each other.
The collaborative relationship with our VA counterparts and DoD pushed us closer to
our goals and as a result:
• VHA’s social workers and VBA’s benefits counselors are routinely sharing
information and guiding veterans and their families through the VA system.
• We established a list of 250 VHA points of contact at VA facilities to assist
returning veterans
• We assigned social workers to four of the military’s major treatment facilities in
Georgia, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia.
• We made our services available to military treatment facilities in need of VA
resources, such as our facility near Fort Stewart, Georgia.
• We enrolled service members at the time of their discharge into VA’s health care
system, so they are easier to identify and reach by our staff after they leave the
service.
National Policy Institute
Renaissance Washington Hotel
2:30 p.m. –4 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2004
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Besides being focused on improving our partnerships, we have reached out to veterans
of all ages to show them how we can help.
• We expanded our outreach efforts by launching Websites for our internal use and
one for public use to provide additional information to veterans, including
National Guard members and Reservists.
• We developed brochures and informational materials specifically targeted to
National Guard members and Reservists called to active duty.
• We focused on letting veterans know we want to treat all wounds of combat –
both physical and mental.
We must continue to move ahead. We face profound challenges in the months and
years ahead – challenges that will not disappear when the war ends.
Some of our continuing efforts include:
• Developing a joint agreement between the Army and VA to share information
about service members entering the disability process while on active duty.
Once approved, similar agreements will be made with the other military services.
• Working with DoD to develop greater and more reliable access to military
medical records, and we plan to have a comprehensive medical record sharing
system operational by 2005.
So far, we have been able to share medical information and receive historical data on
separated and retired service members provided by the Defense Department through
the Federal Health Information Exchange. This information includes laboratory results,
radiology reports, outpatient pharmacy information and patient demographics.
While there are trouble spots and many challenges facing both departments, our shared
vision is clear.
The seamless handoff between the Defense Department and VA exemplifies the topnotch critical medical care the men and women we are privileged to serve deserve.
Thank you, and I’ll be happy to address your questions.
--endremarks--
National Policy Institute
Renaissance Washington Hotel
2:30 p.m. –4 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2004
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