Objective
The objective of this site is to support busy clinicians who are
charged with following the post-deployment evaluation and management
CPG with a Web-based information repository. This repository will
aim to continuously keep clinicians representing a wide range of
specialties practicing in a broad array of highly unique military
and civilian practice settings abreast of new health knowledge pertaining
to any and all United States Armed Forces deployments.
Background
The Institute of Medicine (IoM) defined clinical practice guidelines
(CPGs) as "systematically developed statements to assist practitioner
and patient decisions about appropriate health care services for
specific clinical circumstances."
In 1998, IoM reviewed the health care-based registries that the
Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) were performing for concerned Gulf War veterans. The IoM recommended
making CPGs part of an ongoing quality improvement program targeting
the care of Gulf War veterans.
In May 1996, VA Secretary Brown and Defense Secretary Perry sent
a joint report to the Vice President entitled, "Strategies
for Jointly Improving Veterans Administration (VA) and Department
of Defense (DoD) Health Systems." One of the recommendations
of the report was the development of CPGs as a means of enhancing
quality of care and optimizing clinical performance.
DoD has long recognized the development and use of CPGs as a method
to enhance quality of care. Currently, policy guidelines for DoD
Managed Care, DoD Direct Care, and TRICARE contain language encouraging
or mandating their use.
The Army Surgeon General has been designated as the Executive Agent
for CPGs by the DoD Health Affairs. He has been tasked to examine
and standardize business practices concerning CPGs among the three
Services.
Recognizing that the VA has in place a robust methodology for planning,
development, and implementation of CPGs, DoD has partnered with
the VA and formed a CPG working group. The purpose of this group
is to advise the DoD/VA Executive Council on the use of CPGs to
improve the quality and to support population health management
across the Military Health System (MHS) and VA health system.