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Welcome
 Greetings MHS Colleagues,
For the past two years, the Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical has been overseeing the construction of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the community hospital at Fort Belvoir.
At these two new facilities, warriors and their families will be healed, medical knowledge and innovation will be advanced and lives will be rebuilt. Together with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, we will help to shape the next generation of academic health sciences in America.
I have had the opportunity to witness firsthand how our clinicians are revolutionizing how we approach treatment of traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, amputee care and rehabilitation. We are at the leading edge of evidence-based design and the creation of hospitals as healing environments, and we will become national leaders in mental health, comprehensive cancer care, clinical research and health professional education.
Providing the most advanced medical care in the world to our wounded, ill and injured and their families requires joint collaboration, robust medical education and research, and application of advanced medical technologies. Our Military Health System is on the cutting edge of advances in medical practice and use of medical technologies from the battlefield to the bedside.
As we celebrate Military Medical Technologies Month, I want to thank each of you for your service and commitment in all that you do for our nation’s heroes every day.
Vice Adm. John Mateczun, MC, USN
Commander, Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical
November Is Military Medical Technologies Month
In November the MHS is observing Military Medical Technologies Month. The focus of the month is to educate service members and their families on the current and future technological breakthroughs in medicine that keep the MHS at the forefront of health care delivery.
The military is consistently adapting technologies to better serve wounded warriors. The MHS also has extensive rehabilitation and prosthesis technologies and capabilities available to service members and their families. To find out more, visit www.health.mil/medtech.
Warrior Care Spotlight
Technology at Walter Reed Helps Patients "Walk the Walk"
Cutting-edge technology that analyzes the intricacies of how a wounded warrior walks is helping some of our nation’s heroes gain better insight into their injuries and how they can optimize their recovery.
The technology, installed in the biomechanics laboratory at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington in 2007, takes the guess work out of analyzing human gait and allows physicians, physical therapists and prosthetists to work together in creating and adjusting specific prosthetic limbs tailored for each patient.
"It gives [patients] a sense of the flow of their motion without being distracted by any body image issues they may have,” said therapist Barri Schnall, the lab’s program manager. “They’ll say to me, ‘Barri, my therapist, has been telling me that I’ve been leaning to one side but now I can really see it.'" Read more.
DoD Patient Safety Program Establishes Online Learning Center
The DoD Patient Safety Program launched the Patient Safety Learning Center (PSLC) this month, making it easier than ever for patient safety professionals to connect in a secure, online knowledge collaboration space.
Whether users are in a large teaching hospital in the U.S. or deployed to a small clinic abroad, the PSLC facilitates dissemination, collaboration and active exchange of knowledge and resources between you and your colleagues across the globe. The user-friendly platform supports conversations about lessons learned, best practices, discussion topics, polls and more.
"It's a place where our medical and dental teams can come together and virtually partner for a new level of care," said Army Lt. Col. Donald Robinson, director of the DoD Patient Safety Program. "The PSLC provides users with a way to communicate, connect and contribute their ideas and thoughts to issues shaping the way we operate as a team."
For more information, visit the DoD Patient Safety Program Web site.
Upcoming Conference Examines Impact of Trauma Spectrum Disorders
Trauma Spectrum Disorders (TSD) such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury touch many military and veteran families and caregivers. To address this issue, the National Institutes of Health will host the Second Annual Trauma Spectrum Disorders Conference Dec. 10-11. The conference will focus on how TSD impact this population across deployment, homecoming and reintegration.
The conference, which will examine recent research on TSD and how it can be translated into practice, is sponsored jointly by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other collaborative federal partners.
Click here for more information or to register for the Trauma Spectrum Disorders Conference.
Armed Services Blood Program Thanks Donors
The Armed Services Blood Program sends a heartfelt thank you to every donor at Fort Hood's Robertson Blood Donor Center whose donations helped to ensure blood was available for those wounded in the tragedy on Nov. 5. Blood products were also sent from Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston and Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base, in support of the injured.
Throughout this extraordinarily tragic time, the staff and personnel at Robertson Blood Donor Center and the transfusion services staff at Darnall Army Medical Center Transfusion Services Center have worked tirelessly to ensure that blood products are available to help treat the wounded at Darnall Army Medical Center. More than 139 units of blood products were transfused during treatment of the injured and we thank the dedicated blood bank personnel who made this possible. Learn more.
Brain Injury Research Warrants Urgency
In a speech given at the National Press Club in early November, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed the importance of focusing on traumatic brain injury and other issues affecting troops and their families.
Mullen said he supports efforts by all parties inside and outside the Department of Defense to better understand traumatic brain injury.
"It is very clear the sooner you treat them, the better the outcome is going to be,” he said. “So there needs to be a real sense of urgency here, and there are an awful lot of people involved in that. And I try to support what they're doing as much as I possibly can." Read more.
Research Roundup
Research, medical publications and articles from peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals are a vital part of the Military Health System. Each month, MHS Vital Signs highlights notable research being conducted by the MHS and its counterparts.
Research Team Sets Out to Identify Health Trends in Service Members
The Department of Defense’s ongoing Millennium Cohort Study of 150,000 members of the military and veterans has helped researchers learn important new information about many deployment health-related concerns, according to the leader of the study.
To date, results from the study have consistently shown that individuals who deploy in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and report combat exposures are at elevated risk for health problems – including PTSD, depression and hypertension – when compared with those who do not deploy or deploy are not exposed to combat.
The Millennium Cohort Study is a 21-year research project that began in 1999. It evaluates the long-term health effects of military service on soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines, including those who leave the service during the duration of the study. Read more.
Study Examines Infections at Combat Support Hospitals
A new study conducted at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, found that the number of service members getting multidrug-resistant bacterial infections in theater could be reduced if stricter precautions were taken in military combat hospitals.
Seventy-four troops who were screened for the presence of bacterial infections over the course of 30 days as they traveled from Iraq, through Germany, to the United States. Fifty-four of the service members had sustained combat-related injuries and 20 had sustained non-combat related injuries.
The findings of the study revealed that bacterial infections are often the result of nosocomial, or hospital-acquired, transmission. Field hospitals can spread infections because of rapid patient turnover and inadequate preparation of beds and equipment between patients. Read more.
Military Health System Hosts H1N1 Web Hall
On Nov. 10, the Military Health System hosted an H1N1 Web hall to answer questions about H1N1, commonly known as "swine flu." A panel of experts from the Military Health System, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and medical support agencies within the different services answered questions from service members and other DoD beneficiaries. Click here to view the questions and answers.
Did You Know?
Immunizations against the H1N1 virus will soon be available to TRICARE beneficiaries. TRICARE Prime, Standard and Extra beneficiaries can get their shots from network and non-network providers without paying a deductible or making a copayment. A temporary waiver allows TRICARE Prime enrollees to get the H1N1 immunization from non-network providers without a referral or authorization, eliminating point-of-service charges. Prime enrollees will also not be charged a copayment or cost share.
Active duty service members should follow the guidance of their respective services.
For more information on H1N1 and other seasonal flu conditions, contact your primary care manager or visit the TRICARE flu Web site at http://tricare.mil/flu and the pandemic flu Watchboard at http://fhp.osd.mil/aiWatchboard/.
IN and OUT: Comings and Goings in the MHS
IN:
Debra Filippi has joined the Military Health System as director of the DoD/VA Interagency Program. She previously served as director of Network Integration and Information (NII) in the NII/CIO, Office of the Secretary of Defense.
OUT:
 Rear Adm. Timberlake has left his position as director of the DoD/VA Interagency Program Office. He is now the assistant deputy surgeon general for Total Force Integration and associate deputy chief of staff for Human Resources at the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery.
The Military Health System (MHS) is a unique partnership of medical educators, medical researchers, and health care providers and their support personnel worldwide. The MHS is prepared to respond anytime, anywhere with comprehensive medical capability to military operations, natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the globe, and to ensure delivery of world-class health care to all DoD service members, retirees, and their families.
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