From: Wayne Gatewood, Jr
Subject: Veterans News for July 24 & 25, 2012
10. Federal Health Care Agencies Must Simplify Pay System.
11. VA Praised For Reviewing Existing Job Classifications.
12. VA Gives Authentidate Approval For Electronic House Call System.
13. "Blue Button" Medical Record Program Expands To Private Sector.
14. Federal Health Care Agencies Must Simplify Pay System.
15. VA Gives Authentidate Approval For Electronic House Call System.
16. "Blue Button" Medical Record Program Expands To Private Sector.
17. Veterans Get License Recognition Option.
18. As Veterans Population Changes, Service And Health Care Systems Must Adapt.
19. College Students Research Return Of Veterans.
20. For Wounded Warriors, Chance At A Home Run On Staten Island.
21. Homeless Veterans Often Hard To Reach.
22. Mandatory Reverse Boot Camp Will Prepare Troops To Leave Military.
23. VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 24, 2012:
24. Today in History:
1. Mandatory reverse boot camp will prepare troops to leave military. Troops leaving the military will go through a five- to seven-day reverse boot camp covering job skills, personal finances and veterans benefits under a new initiative to be announced by President Barack Obama on Monday.
2. Budget savings unclear, but 'jointness' good at Lewis-McChord. The 2010 merger of Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base is not at the point where officials can quantify budget savings, but it is encouraging the two service branches train together and operate more efficiently, the outgoing colonel who managed the consolidation said last week.
3. US military participates for first time in Japan quake exercise in Tokyo. U.S. military personnel have participated for the first time in an annual Japanese exercise designed to prepare for a major earthquake in Tokyo.
4. Simpson's study on veteran affairs slated for August. Daily Ardmoreite Members of the Senate Committee on Veterans and Military affairs will meet Aug. 21 and will focus on administrative issues including the structure and the responsibilities of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs and War Veterans Commission.
5. The Rural Connection - VHA Office of Rural Health. Illinois, the VA is partnering with state entities, County. Veterans Offices, and localproviders for the “Lost Veterans. Project”. Their goal is to reach .... of Veterans Affairs announced plans to open 13 new community- based outpatient clinics in ...
6. Employers Say Vets Have The Skills, Attitude They Seek. Crain's Detroit Business "Companies ranging from huge multinationals to little mom-and-pops are paying more than lip service when it comes to hiring vets, according to numbers released by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and what these companies are telling Crain's Detroit Business. According to the VA, at the three-day National Veteran Small Business Conference, Open House and Hiring Fair in June at Detroit's Cobo Center, employers conducted more than 5,000 interviews with veterans seeking employment and offered jobs to more than 1,300 at companies across the country." Vets in "general 'have a high degree of technical capability, and that adapts to AT&T's needs across the spectrum,' said Greg Clark, an AT&T Inc. regional vice president in Detroit, noting that his company posts openings on 30 websites that target vets and has attended more than 50 veterans jobs fairs across the country."
7. Ohio Counties Get $1.81M To Help Homeless Veterans. AP "Grants totaling $1.81 million have been awarded to six Ohio counties to help prevent and end homelessness among veterans and their families." That is according to a recent announcement by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who "says the grants will serve about 635 homeless and at-risk veteran families. Veterans Affairs is awarding the grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives providing services to very low-income veteran families who are living in, or transitioning to, permanent housing."
8. Veterans Affairs Medical Center Expanding In RI. AP A Veterans Affairs hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, has "opened a new addition offering expanded mental health care to veterans." The AP said US Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, who are both Rhode Island Democrats, "attended the ribbon cutting for the new 20,000-square-foot facility Friday afternoon. The expansion includes new clinic space for mental health services for veterans, as well as offices for a new Specialties Clinics."
9. Recent Cuts At Hospital Infuriate VA Council. San Antonio Express-News "Opponents of service reductions at the Department of Veterans Affairs' facility" in Kerrville, Texas, "say it's a hospital in name only following the most recent cuts dictated by agency officials in San Antonio." The Express News adds, "Besides closing the 20-bed acute care unit at the Kerrville VA Medical Center this month, the urgent care clinic's hours went from around-the-clock to weekdays only and after-hours lab and X-ray services were eliminated...said" Walter Schellhase, "president of the Hill Country Veterans Council, which was formed two decades ago to safeguard services at the facility." Schellhase "appealed directly to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki in a July 4 letter, saying, 'We can't believe that you're aware that one of your finest facilities is being systematically downsized.'"
10.Federal Health Care Agencies Must Simplify Pay System. Federal Times "The Affordable Care Act will soon be an important concern" for Veterans Affairs and other agencies that provide medical care services. Risher says, "Projections show the country will need thousands of additional physicians, nurses and other certified specialists," which "will force all medical care providers to increase pay levels to avoid losing staff." Risher notes that VA has been criticized by the American Federation of Government Employees for downgrading low-level support jobs. Risher then criticizes VA for using an "overly complex" pay system.
11.VA Praised For Reviewing Existing Job Classifications. Federal Times Praised VA for "reviewing thousands of positions across the department - jobs ranging from medical support assistants to housekeepers, building maintenance workers and more - to standardize descriptions and grades throughout the agency." The Times concluded, "All agency leaders should follow the lead of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and apply a fresh set of eyes and metrics to existing job classifications."
12.VA Gives Authentidate Approval For Electronic House Call System. HomeCare Magazine "Authentidate Holding Corp., a provider of secure web-based software applications and telehealth products and services, announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has completed the test-in phase for Authentidate's Electronic House Call vital signs monitoring device and web service, and has given its approval for VA facilities throughout the country to order and use the system." This approval "will allow VA facilities to remotely monitor patients and enhance care."
13."Blue Button" Medical Record Program Expands To Private Sector. American Medical News "UnitedHealthcare, which adopted the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Dept. of Health and Human Services 'blue button' program in March, announced plans to expand the program to nearly all 26 million of its members by mid-2013." American Medical News notes that since 2010, "more than half a million veterans and Medicare members have downloaded their records using the program. Several private-sector organizations and health plans, including Walgreens and Aetna, have adopted the program or announced plans to launch one.
14.Federal Health Care Agencies Must Simplify Pay System. Federal Times "The Affordable Care Act will soon be an important concern" for Veterans Affairs and other agencies that provide medical care services. Risher says, "Projections show the country will need thousands of additional physicians, nurses and other certified specialists," which "will force all medical care providers to increase pay levels to avoid losing staff." Risher notes that VA has been criticized by the American Federation of Government Employees for downgrading low-level support jobs. Risher then criticizes VA for using an "overly complex" pay system.
15.VA Gives Authentidate Approval For Electronic House Call System. HomeCare Magazine "Authentidate Holding Corp., a provider of secure web-based software applications and telehealth products and services, announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has completed the test-in phase for Authentidate's Electronic House Call vital signs monitoring device and web service, and has given its approval for VA facilities throughout the country to order and use the system." This approval "will allow VA facilities to remotely monitor patients and enhance care."
16."Blue Button" Medical Record Program Expands To Private Sector. American Medical News "UnitedHealthcare, which adopted the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Dept. of Health and Human Services 'blue button' program in March, announced plans to expand the program to nearly all 26 million of its members by mid-2013." American Medical News notes that since 2010, "more than half a million veterans and Medicare members have downloaded their records using the program. Several private-sector organizations and health plans, including Walgreens and Aetna, have adopted the program or announced plans to launch one."
17.Veterans Get License Recognition Option. Aberdeen (SD) American News "A South Dakota state law that went into effect July 1 allows veterans to add the word 'veteran' to their driver's license." The American News added, "The designation provides veterans a useful tool to prove their status and will not require them to carry their paperwork, said Audry Ricketts, public relations officer with the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs."
18.As Veterans Population Changes, Service And Health Care Systems Must Adapt. Boston Globe
19.College Students Research Return Of Veterans. AP
21.Homeless Veterans Often Hard To Reach. Olympian The number of homeless veterans is "under-counted, according to Anna Schlecht, housing manager for the City of Olympia who coordinates the Thurston County Homeless Census." The Olympian added, "Nationally, 67,495 homeless veterans were identified during a point-in-time count in January 2011, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, 144,842 veterans spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing in the country during a one-year period, according" to VA.
22.Mandatory Reverse Boot Camp Will Prepare Troops To Leave Military. Stars And Stripes
23.VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 24, 2012:
July 25, 2012. The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a joint hearing titled “Back from the Battlefield: DOD and VA Collaboration to Assist Service Members Returning to Civilian Life. 10:00 AM; 2118 Rayburn HOB
July 31, 2012. The House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing on VA’s prosthetics procurement reforms. 10:00AM; 334 Cannon HOB
August 2, 2012. HVAC, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a joint hearing entitled “Odyssey of the CVE (Center for Veterans Enterprise).” 10:00 A.M.; 334 Cannon
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