Base, VA efforts attract attention of DOD official Published June 5, 2007 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Sharing services was the magnet that drew Defense Department and Veterans Affairs officials to Keesler Medical Center and the Biloxi VA Medical Center last week. The two medical facilities hosted a visit by Dr. Stephen Jones, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, and other DOD and VA officials May 31 and Friday. "I was very pleased with the commitment" displayed by the DOD and VA facilities, said Dr. Jones. The goal of the visit was to see current sharing initiatives, talk with those involved in the day-to-day activities and discuss future opportunities. The visitors spent May 31 at Keesler Medical Center where they were briefed on sharing opportunities. They also made an extensive tour of the facility. Later, they met with Sen. Trent Lott's staff in Gulfport. Friday, the group spent the morning at the VA facility in Biloxi where they received additional briefings on DOD and VA sharing ventures, followed by a tour of the facilities. Lt. Col. Richard Rowe, deputy director and chief of federal integration for the Tricare Gulf Coast Multi Service Market Office at Keesler, noted Keesler Medical Center and the VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System have a history of various levels of sharing. "At the time of Hurricane Katrina, sharing between KMC and the VAGCVHCS was limited. However, Hurricane Katrina, combined with new leadership at KMC just prior to the storm and just after the storm at VAGCVHCS, allow-ed the sharing concept to start fresh. "Both VAGCVHCS and KMC had large dollar amounts tied to either storm-related repairs or expansion projects," he noted. Colonel Rowe said immediately after Katrina, Keesler Medical Center began to shift some services to VAGCVHCS. "KMC established a refill pharmacy in a VA building which was used until June 30, 2006," he said. "Keesler pharmacy staff dispensed 114,000 refills from this facility." Keesler also reassigned up to 72 staff members to the VA medial center where 70 surgeries were performed on Air Force beneficiaries. Doing so enabled the Air Force staff members to maintain their clinical skills and currency. "In December 2005, the (White House) Office of Man-agement and Budget directed the DOD's Tricare Management Activity and VA to explore possible opportunities for increased sharing and joint services between VAGCVHCS and KMC," Colonel Rowe continued. A decision was made to create a single "center of excellence" for both facilities. "This model retains both facilities, but eliminates du-plication of services by capitalizing on the respective distinctive competencies of each facility," the colonel said. In January, the two medical centers developed and ap-proved a resource-sharing agreement which essentially opens the facilities as the primary network provider for each other's eligible beneficiaries. "To date, KMC and the VA medical center have expanded their sharing efforts to include mammographies, women's health, neurology, dental, audiology, food service, sleep studies and quality management," Colonel Rowe said. "We continue to explore every opportunity to optimize and share services to provide our beneficiaries quality federal health care services." Other visitors last week included Ken Cox, director of the DOD/VA Program Coordination Office; Lt. Col. Michael Bouchard, senior policy advisor to Dr. Jones; Crystal Coleman, DoD/VA Pro-gram Coordination Office communications; Debra Irwin, chief of DOD/VA Resource Sharing in the office of the Air Force surgeon general; Dr. Ed Huycke, chief of the Office of DOD Coordination, Veterans Health Administration; Elizabeth Ruschmeier, director of the Office of DOD/VA Liaison and Sharing, VHA; and Robert Smith, DOD/VA Liaison and Sharing, VHA.