fromtheeditor
To Your Health
Leaders of the TRICARE health care system are devoting their time and energy to figuring out how to improve your access to care while keeping health care costs down.
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very June, we present health- and-wellness-themed content. For many, health care is syn- onymous with TRICARE. For that reason, our lead story is
an inside look at what’s happening with- in the TRICARE system. Navy Rear Adm. Christine Hunter, dep-
uty director, TRICARE Management Activ- ity, coordinates health care for 9.6 million military beneficiaries. She is the day-to-day manager of TRICARE and its policies and resources. In “Care Challenge,” page 48, Hunter discusses two big challenges: im- proving care access and controlling costs. “We have invested a lot of effort in
home-style practices to improve access in the direct-care system,” says Hunter. She explains that home-style practice is team- based primary care that improves health outcomes by strengthening the patient- provider relationship. It is formed of teams, each anchored with at least one civilian, so if people deploy or transfer, there’s still continuity. Hunter says all the services are adopting versions of team-based care. Military health care professionals are
a group we can trust to deliver expert ad- vice about health issues. But some other sources can be suspect. Would you believe 6 million people surf the Internet for med- ical advice every day? And only 25 percent of them bother to evaluate the quality of their sources. Would you trust health in- formation you found online? “At Your Fingertips,” page 54, helps you find reliable medical information online.
1 0 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R J U N E 2 0 1 0
Yes, there are trustworthy sources of such information on the Internet. “It is imperative that con- sumers seek medical and health advice from reputable websites,” says Samanthi Hewakapuge, consumer health coordinator for the National Network of Librar- ies of Medicine. “Anyone can post information on the Internet, and one needs to be selective when searching for medical information.” Hewakapuge suggests
starting with websites from well-known organizations and the government. For example, the Consumer and Patient Health Information Section (CAPHIS) of the Medical Library Association compiles “The Top 100 List: Health Websites You Can Trust.” See our story for the CAPHIS website and steps you should take to vet online medical sites. The final — and most important — step
is to discuss information you find with your physician. The AMA suggests consumers use Internet searches as a springboard for collaborating with their physicians in plan- ning health care and treatment. Here’s to your health!
— Col. Warren S. Lacy, USA-Ret.
PHOTO: STEVE BARRETT
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