News

Summaries of open source, health care, or health IT news and information from various sources on the web selected by Open Health News (OHNews) staff. Links are provided to the original news or information source, e.g. news article, web site, journal,blog, video, etc.

See the following -

Veterans Suicide Rate: The War at Home

J. Patrick Coolican | Las Vegas Sun | February 24, 2012

We know that suicide is a terrible problem in Nevada, with a rate 50 percent higher than the national average. Among military veterans and especially young veterans, however, it’s a crisis, according to new data from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Read More »

Veterans to Be Connected Electronically to Doctors They Choose for Medical Records

Deborah Hirsch | HealthTechZone.com | August 1, 2012

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a new partnership to use health information exchange technology to improve the quality of care and delivery of medical treatment to local veterans, especially those returning from recent conflicts. Read More »

Veterans Win Mixed Ruling On Exposure To Chemicals

Bob Egelko | SFGate | July 25, 2013

Thousands of military veterans who were exposed to chemicals during decades of secret weapons testing are entitled to up-to-date government information about possible health hazards but can't get government-funded health care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system, a federal judge in Oakland has ruled. Read More »

Veterans With PTSD Caught In The System

Reba Glidewell | Corrections.com | July 29, 2013

An unfortunate industry trend on the rise is the number of veterans involved in the criminal justice system – approximately 10 percent of people who are incarcerated at any one time are estimated to be veterans. [...] Read More »

Veterans Without VA Health Care Eligible For Medicaid Through Obamacare

Esther Bergdahl | Medill Reports: Chicago | June 5, 2013

When Daniel Cruz left the U.S. Marine Corps in August 2006, he became one of thousands of Illinois veterans without health insurance, despite being eligible for coverage through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Read More »

Veterans' Uphill Road Back, Struggle With Suicide

Steven R. Hurst | Tri-City Herald | June 24, 2013

Five years ago, Joe Miller, then an Army Ranger captain with three Iraq tours under his belt, sat inside his home near Fort Bragg holding a cocked Beretta 40mm, and prepared to kill himself. Read More »

VETERANS’ CORNER: VA Medical Centers Make 2013 ‘Most Wired’ List

Jim Vines | Weatherford Democrat | August 4, 2013

The 2013 “Most Wired” hospitals named the Department of Veterans Affairs, representing 152 VA medical centers, to its list. Read More »

Veterans’ Disability Compensation Claims Go Electronic

Kimberly Nelson | ABC 4 Utah | June 25, 2013

Rather than having to wait for years for disability compensation claims decisions, veterans now have access to an automated system that speeds up the process. Read More »

Veterans’ Health Care Has Evolved With The Times, Medical Director Says

C. Benjamin Ford | Gazette.net | November 9, 2012

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical system has had to evolve with the changing population of veterans, from aging World War II-era soldiers to a new influx of veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and to more female veterans than ever. Read More »

Vets Call for VA EHR Optimization, Interoperability Advances

Sara Heath | EHR Intelligence | September 15, 2016

The Department of Veterans Affairs needs an overhaul of its Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture (Vista) EHR — either in the form of EHR optimization or a commercial EHR replacement — to improve care quality for American veterans, several veterans groups have claimed. Purchasing a commercial EHR may alleviate some of the VA’s issues in developing a robust health IT system, Harvey suggested. Few hearing witnesses disagreed that VA’s health IT infrastructure and EHR system need a significant overhaul...

Read More »

Vets Hit VA, DoD For Ditching Records Project

Bryant Jordan | Military.com | February 28, 2013

Leaders of several of the country's veterans' service organizations told lawmakers on Thursday that they need to push the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to keep going with a plan to integrate the medical records of troops and veterans. Read More »

Vets Need Help Moving Into Tech Careers After Military Service

Brittany Ballenstedt | Nextgov | June 10, 2013

Helping military veterans return to civilian life has been the focus of several new programs [...]. But there is at least one area where veterans could use some help, particularly when it comes to transitioning to tech careers: learning how to translate their skills into civilian jobs, one expert said Friday. Read More »

Vets see promise in Hagel and his short VA tenure

Steve Vogel | Washington Post | February 7, 2013

Hagel’s biggest mark during his time at VA may have been in helping launch a well-regarded electronic health-records system now known as Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA. Read More »

Vets Views: VA Health Care Web Application Give Immediate Access To Medical Files

Greg Remus | Park Rapids Enterprise | November 10, 2012

The VA has developed an incredible personalized Health Care Web application. Recently the VA revamped the My HealtheVet site. This site is amazing! Now veterans have immediate access to their VA medical information and more. Read More »

VFW Disgusted With Elected Leadership

Staff Writer | Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) | October 9, 2013

The nation’s oldest and largest war veterans’ organization is disgusted with the partisan bickering and government paralysis caused by a White House and Congress who will not budge from their ideological extremes in order to properly take care of America’s true heroes. Read More »