Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

Retinopathy of Prematurity, Important Focus for Military Eye Doctors

Image of Health personnel conducting a morning assessment on an infant. Robyn Berryman, a neonatal nurse practitioner assigned to Naval Medical Center San Diego's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), conducts a morning assessment on an infant in the hospital's NICU in September 2020. NMCSD's NICU specializes in the care of ill or premature newborn infants (Photo by: Navy Seaman Luke Cunningham, Naval Medical Center San Diego).

Military medical professionals are often tasked with helping people who are in the physical prime of their lives: Otherwise fit young women and men who become injured or ill. But a small group of doctors and nurses tend to the most physically vulnerable of military family members - premature babies.

Among that group of infants, those born weighing under three pounds are at a significant risk of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a potentially blinding disease. Those at risk for ROP must be evaluated from a certain point in their development until the determined danger period passes.

ROP is an eye disorder caused by abnormal blood vessel growth in the light-sensitive part of the eyes (retina) of premature infants born before the 31st week of pregnancy (seven to 10 weeks early). In most cases, ROP resolves itself without treatment. But advanced ROP can cause permanent vision problems such as detached retinas, leading to blindness.

"We would call retinopathy of prematurity a high-risk, low-volume ophthalmology disease," said Navy Capt. (Dr.) Lisa Peterson, a pediatrician at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) in California and neonatology specialty advisor for the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. "Generally, we're looking at babies born before 30 or 31 weeks of gestation. That population nationwide is about 1.4 or 1.5 percent of all births. ROP is definitely low-volume, but because of the severity, without adequate tracking and detection and treatment, it could lead to blindness."

Military Health System pediatric ophthalmologists and vision care service coordinators are increasingly paying attention to the risk of ROP because of a marked decrease in troops with eye injuries compared to the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But perhaps there's an even more practical reason to stay on top of diseases affecting premature babies, or preemies.

"Soldiers are having babies left and right," said Army Col. (Dr.) Frank Valentin, pediatric ophthalmology chief at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Numbers have gone down since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but in 2018, there were 36,000 births across the Department of Defense (DOD), he said. In 2017, there were 39,000; 43,000 in 2016; and 45,000 in 2015.

"If we take care of our military families with the highest quality of care, with excellence, our warriors can focus on the mission and worry less for their loved ones back home," he said.

Peterson agrees.

"For families, it's not simple," she said. "They not only have the stress of a new baby at home, but also a new baby who has multiple chronic conditions from being in the NICU and being extremely premature, and sometimes navigating a health system. And all of that can be difficult on its own."

But within MHS treatment facilities, the process works well, she added.

Parents holding their newborn child
Parents embrace their child at Naval Medical Center San Diego's (NMCSD) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in December 2020 (Navy Seaman Luke Cunningham, Naval Medical Center San Diego).

"As a multi-disciplinary process, it's really due to the dedicated professionals going above and beyond, tracking these patients, and ensuring that they meet their follow-up (appointment) every time," said Peterson. "Military hospitals are really in close proximity. Most of the time, the inpatient and outpatient locations are on the same base.

That, she added, leads to a continuity of care that makes it more seamless to determine if there is any cause to follow up. "In addition, we have social workers and discharge planners who stay on top of the appointments, and our follow-up clinics are in close contact with the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)."

When a patient sees a civilian doctor for outpatient treatment, or when a family moves across the country after just one follow-up visit, for example, continuity of care can be lost. Missing even one appointment for a baby at risk of ROP can lead to a heartbreaking outcome.

About 14,000 of the approximately 3.9 million babies born each year are affected by ROP, Valentin said, and 90 percent of those have a mild form of the condition and get better on their own. But about 1,000 to 1,500 develop severe ROP, and some 400 to 600 of those go legally blind.

The MHS is transitioning to MHS GENESIS, a new, modern electronic health record. As part of the consolidation process, a registry for ROP patients is in process.

"With the Defense Health Agency's Vision Center of Excellence and the vision care service coordinators, we're looking at coordinating care not just within the military system, but of all military beneficiaries and the medical care provided both by military hospitals as well as civilian hospitals," she said. "A registry that would include all of the beneficiaries (and) ID them based on risk. It's in the development stage, but we would use that data to ensure they are meeting the outpatient follow-up requirements."

She explained the registry would track ROP appointments and identify if an appointment is missed to ensure a follow-up appointment.

"Within (DHA), the clinical communities are already doing the programming for the registries," she said. "A couple have already kicked off."

It will be a matter of weeks before initial programming is done for all the registries, she said.

You also may be interested in...

Celebrating Military Children

Article Around MHS
4/19/2022
April is Month of the Military Child

April is Month of the Military Child

Kids' Teeth Grinding Usually Stops Around Age 9 or 10 - But Not Always

Article
4/15/2022
A child receives dental treatment during the “Give Kids a Smile” day event March 9, 2019, held by the 375th Dental Squadron clinic on Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Children registered for the event were given the chance to receive cleanings, fillings, and more at no cost to their parents. (Photo: Airman 1st Class Isaiah Gonzalez, 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs)

Do you ever see or hear your child grinding his or her teeth or clenching his or her jaws during the day or at night while sleeping? That’s a potentially serious health problem. Teeth grinding in kids may require a night guard.

8 Tips to Help Kids Adjust to Change during the New Pandemic Phase

Article
4/15/2022
A parent comforts his child while she receives a pediatric dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Kadena Air Base, Japan, Jan. 28, 2022. (Photo: Airman 1st Class Anna Nolte, 18th Wing Public Affairs)

Parents should prepare their kids for the new normal of the ongoing pandemic, recognizing that the status of the disease can change quickly as new variants of COVID-19 emerge.

Thank you for being a Military Kid

Video
4/12/2022
Thank you for being a Military Kid

Military parents read letters to their children, thanking them for all they do to support the mission. Thank you for being a military kid. Thank you for being resilient and supportive throughout our many years of service. Thank you for helping Mommy around the house and being so strong when I have to be gone for days, weeks or months at a time. Changing states, homes, schools and activities isn't easy. But you took it as a new adventure. The courage you have by going to three different schools in three years really makes me look up to you. I am blessed, thankful and grateful to have such beautiful and handsome, loving kids who not only support me but each other while I'm away. You are the reason why I work so hard. Thank you for always keeping your spirit. Most of all, thank you for being you. Your smiles, laughs and love are what I've gotten me through every day. I love you. And thank you for everything you do. This video was originally created for a 2019 Military Kids Connect campaign.

MHS GENESIS Now Deployed at 66 of 138 Military Hospital and Clinic Commands

Article
4/8/2022
Air Force Col. Dolphis Hall, 4th Medical Group commander, left, and Chief Master Sgt. Kaleah Belin, 4th MDG senior enlisted leader, pose for a photo at the Thomas Koritz Medical Clinic at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, March 19, 2022. (Photo: Air Force Senior Airman Kimberly Barrera)

MHS GENESIS is now live at Waves Bragg and Wave Hood.

MHS GENESIS live at BJACH, JRTC, Fort Polk

Article Around MHS
4/6/2022
Military personnel looking at a computer

At 7 a.m., on March 19, as the day shift assumed their duties MHS GENESIS became the new modernized electronic health record for beneficiaries of Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital.

How Health IT Upgrades are Transforming the Military Health System

Article
4/5/2022
Dr. Barclay Butler, the Defense Health Agency’s assistant director of management, spoke at the annual Health Information Management Systems Society conference in Orlando, Florida, in March. (Photo: Claire Reznicek, MHS Communications)

Implementing an Electronic Health Record system is key to modernizing the Military Health System’s patient care.

MHS Minute: March 2022

Video
3/31/2022
MHS Minute: March 2022

MHS Minute | March 2022

BJACH conducts MHS GENESIS exercise ahead of transition

Article Around MHS
3/23/2022
Military personnel during a MHS GENESIS exercise

The Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital conducted MHS GENESIS mock “go-live” exercises 9, 10 and 11 March at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk, Louisiana.

Data Registry Helps Improve Research and Treatment for Eye Injuries

Article
3/14/2022
Pvt. Second Class Jagger Dixon, treats an eye injury during Expert Infantryman Badge testing, June 15, 2021, at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Dixon is a soldier with B Company; 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Soldiers must successfully execute a variety of warrior tasks to earn their EIB. (Photo: Army Spc. Kay Edwards, 27th Public Affairs Detachment)

Eye injury registry (DVEIVR) transforms data into usable information to help improve initial warfighter care and rehabilitation.

It’s True – Carrots (and Other Vegetables) Can Help You See in the Dark

Article
3/4/2022
Each color in fruits and vegetables indicates an abundance of specific nutrients.

Have you ever heard that carrots are good for your eyes, or that they can help you see in the dark? It’s true – carrots are rich in the compound beta carotene, which your body uses to make a form of vitamin A that helps your eyes adjust in the dark. A shortage of vitamin A can cause a host of health problems, including blindness.

NHC Corpus Christi celebrates MHS GENESIS launch

Article Around MHS
2/15/2022
Navy Capt. Jessica Bain, NHC Corpus Christi commanding officer, is joined by Lt. Cmdr. Angelica Garcia, MHS GENESIS site lead, Amber Medina, site integration manager, and Colleen Rock, program integration analyst, to ceremoniously flip the switch, celebrating the full integration of MHS GENESIS, the next-generation electronic health record system , which was launched at the clinic on Jan. 22

Naval Health Clinic Corpus Christi celebrated the launch of the next-generation electronic health record system – MHS GENESIS, with ceremonious flipping of the switch on the clinic’s quarterdeck Feb. 4.

For Thousands of Troops, Eye Surgery is Key to Vision Readiness

Article
2/10/2022
A surgical team with the Warfighter Refractive Eye Surgery Program at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg monitors the progress of a patient's surgery inside the Ophthalmology Clinic's Refractive Surgery suite.

Helping service members – especially aviators – see clearly without glasses is key to military readiness.

San Antonio Market successfully launches MHS GENESIS

Article Around MHS
2/4/2022
Military personnel taking notes on MHS GENESIS

After months of training and preparation, the San Antonio Market, to include Brooke Army Medical Center and Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, went live with MHS GENESIS in late Jan.

Do You Have COVID-19? Influenza? Or is it RSV? Here’s What to Look For

Article
1/24/2022
Military personnel preparing a COVID-19 test sample for processing

Knowing the symptoms of COVID-19/RSV/Flu will help your medical treatment

Page 5 of 13 , showing items 61 - 75
First < 1 2 3 4 5  ... > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: January 24, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery