Mil med budget cuts get Capitol Hill attention

[BOHICA-FIGMO]

Here the link to an interesting article regarding budget cuts, Tricare, and the general withering on the vine of military medicine. Enjoy

http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,130518,00.html?ESRC=navynews.RSS

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[Dr. Dukes]

I think this article shows the real reason military medicine is screwed up. At civilian hospitals all decisions are ultimately made my people who practice (or recently practiced) patient care, and understand the effect of the decisions they are making. Because docs/nurses/whatevers at civilian hospitals can quit if the place goes down the tubes, the effects of bad decisions are seen much faster in the civilian world than they are seen in the military.
Relying on politicians and political appointees (DoD) to make the right long term decisions when they are worries about the short term consequences (elections and approval ratings) of these decisions is essentially asinine.

 

[USAFdoc]

I think this article shows the real reason military medicine is screwed up. .

well, there are certainly more than one or two reasons that milmed is as "broken" as it is. The above article spotlights one of the biggest.

look, medicine is very tough nowadays with the economics of the situation out of control. Milmed, with its centralized control, complete lack of continuity, inexperience on very level etc make what would be a tough fix no matter what, an IMPOSSIBLE fix, unless MAJOR changes for the better occur.

Anybody thinking of being a milmed doc should walk in with both eyes open, and they best have low standards, high tolerance, and lots of lube.

 

[Bubblehead-to-MD]

Hmmmhhh....this part of the article is encouraging:

"The Navy, Arthur said, has been able to fill only 83 percent of health care billets converted to civilian positions. If that pattern holds, the 2008 conversions will leave the Navy short 136 more medical staff, he said. “I was at Bethesda [Naval Medical Center] this week and was told of a problem with overtime pay to the civilians we had [converted], because it’s already an issue. They [work] no nights, no weekends, 40-hour-weeks, no deployments. And they sit right beside a lesser-paid active duty member who is doing the same job,” Arthur said."

Strong work!

 

[IgD]

“There is no more flesh to be gained without drawing the blood of [medical] services from our family members and our active duty,” Arthur said.