VA News

VA and DOD Senior Leaders Commit to Aligned Electronic Health Records System Rollout

Monday, October 22, 2018 / VA News

The U.S. Secretaries of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Defense (DOD) signed a joint statement Sept. 26 pledging that their two departments will align their plans, strategies and structures as they roll out a new electronic health records (EHR) system that will allow VA and DOD to share patient data seamlessly. 

Signed by Defense Secretary James N. Mattis and VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, the joint statement reinforces both departments’ commitment to ensuring the successful transition from a legacy patient-data system to a modernized one that will continue to support active-duty service members, Veterans and their families.

“The joint statement between DOD and VA represents tangible evidence of our commitment to change how we deliver Veteran-focused, provider-friendly care,” Wilkie said. “The new EHR system will be interoperable with DOD, while also improving VA’s ability to collaborate and share information with community care providers. This will ease the burden on Service members as they transition from military careers and will be supported by multiple medical providers throughout their lives.”


Retiring from active duty? Take action, make an enrollment choice

Monday, September 3, 2018 / VA News

When you retire from active duty, your TRICARE plan options will change. Retiring from active duty is a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). A QLE allows you to enroll in a new TRICARE plan or change your coverage options within 90 days of the life event. As a retiree, you’ll need to take action to enroll in a TRICARE plan if you want to continue to receive coverage for civilian care.


Walgreens Partner To Coordinate Veterans' Prescriptions

Sunday, August 26, 2018 / VA News

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is expanding its partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance to better coordinate medication and immunization histories of the nation’s veterans. The new "VA-Walgreens exchange” enables VA doctors to “easily view medications directly that are prescribed to VA-enrolled patients by community providers and filled at Walgreens pharmacies.”


Military OneSource is now available to Veterans and their families for a full year after separating from the military

Saturday, August 25, 2018 / VA News

The Department of Defense announced on 13 Aug, it will extend eligibility for Military OneSource benefits from the current 180 days to 365 days after separation or retirement from military service to ensure all service members and families have access to comprehensive support as they transition to civilian life.  This change goes into effect today in accordance with the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2019.

Military OneSource provides information, resources and support for active-duty, National Guard and reserve service members, their families and survivors. Provided at no cost, Military OneSource gives exclusive access to programs, tools, and benefits designed to help ensure service members and their families are mission-ready and able to thrive in both their military and post-military lives.


VA Mission Act of 2018

Saturday, August 25, 2018 / VA News

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The VA Mission Act of 2018, recently signed into law by President Trump, tackles in-network and non-VA healthcare issues, veterans’ homes, access to walk-in VA care, prescription drug procedures, and much more. That being said


U.S. agrees to pay affected by toxic water at Camp Lejeune

Tuesday, February 28, 2017 / VA News

The federal bureaucracy moved at an agonizing crawl for the Marine Corps veterans sickened by the contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Some died waiting for government benefits. But the Department of Veterans Affairs Thursday, after more than a year of work, finalized rules that will allow potentially thousands of veterans stationed at the base — or surviving spouses — to receive automatic benefits if they have been diagnosed with one of eight diseases.

This marks the end of a long wait for many veterans who have been denied benefits by the VA and may be in desperate need for disability pensions and medical care. The estimated cost to taxpayers over the next five years is $2.2 billion. FULL STORY CLICK HERE


An Army Buddy's Call For Help Sends A Scientist On A Brain Injury Quest

Tuesday, August 9, 2016 / VA News

The first time Kit Parker's phone rang, everything seemed fine. It was January 2006, and Parker's old Army buddy Chris Moroski was calling to say hi.

Parker and Moroski had jumped out of airplanes together in the 1990s when they were paratroopers in the National Guard. But after the attacks on Sept. 11, Parker had been deployed to Afghanistan, his friend to Iraq. They'd lost touch.

"Somehow I realized he's asking for help," Parker says. "It's not being verbalized, but that's why he's calling." Click here to find out how this scientist discovered how a blast effects the brain...click


'Shell Shock'—The 100-Year Mystery May Now Be Solved

Tuesday, August 9, 2016 / VA News

A landmark study sheds new light on the damage caused by “blast shock”—the signature injury of wars for more than a century.

A research team in the United States may have solved a mystery that has haunted soldiers and veterans for more than a century: how blast force from battlefield explosions injures the human brain.

The findings, published Thursday in the medical journal the Lancet Neurology, reveal a unique and consistent pattern of damage in the autopsied brains of eight military service members who had served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the Middle East.  Full story,click here


Latest VA reform pitch would put medical facilities under a nonprofit

Latest VA reform pitch would put medical facilities under a nonprofit
Monday, July 4, 2016 / VA News

A Washington state lawmaker has proposed placing all Veterans Affairs Department medical facilities under a nonprofit entity and giving all new veterans access to private health care.


Marine Veteran helping other Veterans cope with PTSD through deep sea fishing

Saturday, April 9, 2016 / VA News

Marine Corps Veteran Brian Barber Sr. knows firsthand how difficult life can be once you take off the uniform and leave the battlefield behind you – he’s been living it for more than 10 years.

“Seeing Veterans like myself, wounded and broken from battle affects your day-to-day living in ways that you can’t imagine,” said Barber, who served from 1995 to 2005 as a radio operator and did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to the National Center for PTSD, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are the longest combat operations since Vietnam. Many stressors face these Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) troops.


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