Col. Chris Harrington, deputy program manager of the Medical Logistics Directorate of the Defense Health Services Systems program office, and the Defense Medical Logistics Standard Support (DMLSS) project team, were the recipients of the 2009 Health Information Systems Using Government Open Source Technology Award for their role in effectively integrating Open Source Software (OSS) into the DMLSS application.

• Process more than 59,000 materiel requisitions daily
• Receive $19 million dollars in medical materiel daily
• Manage $20 billion dollars in real property
• Track 976,000 biomedical equipment items worth $3.3 billion dollars
• Stock 1,126 point-of-use supply cabinets
• Provide enterprise-wide joint asset visibility of medical logistics and blood data 

The Department of Defense spends an estimated $1.2 billion annually on tobacco-related health care. When I mentioned that statistic in a recent interview, the response was “that’s a lot of money.” Yes it is.
 
And when it comes to smoking, it is not just money at stake, but also time, health and years of life forfeited. The longer a person smokes the greater the health risks, and smoking affects both the personal health and readiness of military personnel—jeopardizing our mission. We also know that those around the smoker, if exposed to tobacco smoke, are at greater risk of adverse health consequences as well. 

Today I encourage service members, their families and retired beneficiaries who are smokers and tobacco users to commit to a lifestyle change during the Great American Smokeout.

Every year, the third Thursday in November is a day when millions of Americans make a commitment to smoke less or quit using tobacco products altogether for at least one day. The Great American Smokeout challenges people to stop using tobacco and raises awareness of the many effective ways to quit for good.

The benefits of not smoking are immediate. Twenty minutes after quitting heart rate and blood pressure drop, and 12 hours after quitting the carbon monoxide level in the blood returns to normal.

A study in the British Medical Journal reports every cigarette a man smokes reduces his life by 11 minutes and every year he smokes a pack a day, his life is shortened by almost two months. The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports women who smoke generally experience menopause earlier, and women who use birth control pills have a much higher risk of heart disease if they smoke.

According to ACS former smokers live longer than people who keep smoking. For example, people who quit smoking before age 50 have half the risk of dying in the next 15 years compared with people who keep smoking. On average, adults who smoke die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 400,000 premature deaths in the United States each year -- about one in every five U.S. deaths, are related to cigarette smoking.

If you’re a smoker or tobacco user, now is the time to consider making November 19 your quit day. Take advantage of the smoking cessation services available to TRICARE beneficiaries. Most military treatment facilities offer tobacco cessation programs, with services such as counseling and pharmaceutical support, varying by location. Check with your doctor for additional help.

Cessation advice and support are also available online. www.Ucanquit2.org is the official Web site of the “Quit Tobacco. Make Everyone Proud” educational campaign sponsored by the Defense Department. There are also a number of non-DoD telephone quit-line services available across the United States.  

Visit these additional resources:

• The CDC Web site www.cdc.gov/tobacco has information on tobacco use, how to quit, secondhand smoke and more. 
• The American Cancer Society’s Web site on the Great American Smokeout, www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/ped_10_4.asp.
• The toll-free number for the American Cancer Society is 1-800-ACS-2345

Episode 86 of the MHS podcast Dot Mil Docs is available now.

In this episode, Dr. Bradley Karlin, associate chief consultant for psychotherapy and psycogeriatrics at the office of Mental Health Services, VA Central Office, discusses evidence-based psychotherapy and how this form of “talk-based therapy” can be applied specifically to mental health conditions.

As the chair of the Human Capital Steering Committee, one of my favorite times is when we go around the room and the representatives share the many best practices their services are undertaking.

My congratulations go out to each of them. The Navy has made great strides in planning for their future workforce and in caring for our patients!

TRICARE updated the T-3 managed care support services contracts page at tricare.mil/t3contracts today with the following information regarding the contracts for TRICARE's North and South regions:

The Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued decisions that sustained protests to the award of the T-3 contracts in the North region (from Health Net Federal Services) and in the South region (Humana Military Healthcare Services). Among the reasons cited by the GAO were issues related to evaluation of past performance and price/cost assessments.

TMA's obligation is to respond to the GAO within 60 days from the date of issuance. TMA senior leadership is presently evaluating the GAO decision and recommendations and considering potential options. More information will be posted on this Web site as it becomes available.

Be assured that current TRICARE managed care contracts will remain in place and continue to provide health care to beneficiaries through the decision period and a minimum nine month transition period.

More information on the TRICARE T-3 contracts is available at tricare.mil/t3contracts