RE: http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,148317,00.html While there are some definitve advantages to a one-command medical system for the entire military; there must be provisions for each separate service to meet their individual missions. This can be a do-able program by providing service specific "MOS's" for the appropriate personnel but maintaining general support for all the services from a central command.
Does this mean the new DHA will have all the services FINALLY using the identical med record forms and following the same processing guidelines and procedures for patient administration ? Are they finally going to start going full digital on med records with discs/ CDs for permanent health records so that no one ever "LOSES" an important document like a line of duty report ? Is there a flow chart for the actual inter & intra service medical treatment chain of command including disability ratings ? Once all this admin SOP has been worked out and the system's bugs have been ironed out, the taxpayers AND the troops will see a better TriCare health system in place.
In 1989 I was a USAF action officer at Headquarters, Air Training Command (ATC) in San Antonio, Texas. With ATC designated as the lead command, my shop in the Plans and Requirements Directorate (XP) was tasked with being the "fair broker" between the USAF (Wilford Hall Medical Center/WHMC) and the USA (Brooke Army Medical Center/BAMC) for the formation of the second Joint Military Medical Command (JMMC). My shop's primary task was to write the JMMC implementation plan and provide support for the general officer who presented the plan to the Pentagon, including the Army and Air Force staffs and finally to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
The consensus among both Air Force and Army action officers I worked with was that forcing the two medical communities together into a "purple suit" organization was about the looniest tune we had ever come across. As I learned more about each medical community, Army and Air Force, and their taskings and training philosophies, I agreed that combining the communities was dumber than dirt.
We dutifully mushed together as many training and care giving programs as we could. The standing joke among the action officers was, "Take good notes on how things were set up before this JMMC mess because it ain't gonna' work, and it won't be long before we go back to the way it was before."
Some of the "head hurter" programs were never implemented before JMMC's demise a few years later. One that comes to mind was the psychiatric programs of the two services. There were more services listed in the JMMC implementation plan to be incorporated at a later date; they too never were.
The docs were quite parochial and jealously guarded their training programs. Each service has unique requirements for providing medical care, especially during wartime. Letting each service train their docs as they see fit is one of the carrying costs associated with the military, not just military medicine.
So, when I see a proposal for a DHA or unified healthcare command, I cringe. If the medical community could not make a JMMC work at the WHMC and BAMC level, trying the same approach at a higher level is just plain idiocy. How did we end up in this situation? Did we learn nothing from the JMMC waste of time and lots of money? Who put these educated idiots in charge?
It breaks my heart to see crap like this come down the pike.
During my 28 years of retirement I have used the Navy,Army and Air Force medical facilities. I have found that each is set up differently but only minor adjustments needed. And if you remember it is military no prob. I have used civilian and VA services which are at the last of my preferences. Tricare works just fine. Ask your civilian counterpart about prescription service. We do not need more government intervention. We do need more gvernment support.
