How do various federal and private-sector medical organizations rely on one another?
More closely all the time; services work closely together in combat support operations; the Defense Health Agency (DHA) consolidates service members into the same hospitals; and the Veterans Health Administration and Military Health System have close working relationships, particularly with wounded warriors.
You worked tirelessly to help military families improve physical fitness levels and fight childhood obesity. What are the key factors in keeping a military family physically and mentally fit?
It turns out that obesity behaves like a contagious disease. If others around you are fat, you are much more likely to be fat. Decreasing obesity can only be approached by treating an entire community.
What can be done to assure our servicemen and women that they are being provided the most consistent and effective care possible, when the likelihood of them having a long-term primary-care manager is very low due to the transient nature of the military professional?
I would argue against the conventional wisdom that everyone needs an involved Primary Care Manager (PCM). Most young people see a doctor twice a year; for their scheduled annual exam and for a knee sprained in a basketball game. What people really need is simple and easy access to appropriate care for the condition. The best way to do that is to improve our Electronic Healthcare Records system and implement Personal Health Records so that care can be provided remotely and or asynchronously, for instance via email. Eighty percent of primary care visits do not require a face to face or a physical exam. As patients age and develop chronic conditions, then a PCM makes sense
Attendees arrive for the 2015 AMSUS Annual Continuing Education Meeting
How important a role do associations like AMSUS play in improving the care of active-duty personnel and veterans? What would things look like without these associations?
AMSUS provides platforms for sharing information. One such platform is AMSUS’ Annual Meeting for Continuing Education, which provides multiple opportunities for federal leaders to meet, network, and share their visions with the Federal medical community. Our journal Military Medicine is the primary repository for clinical research and reports on matters of unique importance to anyone involved with military medicine or service members. Federal agencies have to work together, trust one another, and understand one another, and our platforms are vehicles that provide opportunities for them to do so.