ASTRONAUTS CHECK OUT ORION CREW MODULE

Stepping into the Orion Crew Module
NASA astronauts Cady Coleman and Ricky Arnold step into the Orion crew module hatch during a series of spacesuit check tests conducted on June 13, 2013 at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The Orion crew module will serve as both transport and a home to astronauts during future long-duration missions to an asteroid, Mars and other destinations throughout our solar system.  Image-Credit- NASA-Bill Stafford

HURRICANE SANDY FEDERAL ASSISTANCE AT $5.3 BILLION

FROM:  FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY
New Jersey Recovery From Superstorm Sandy: By The Numbers
Release date: 
July 9, 2013 
Release Number: 
4086-181 

TRENTON, N.J. -- Disaster assistance to New Jersey survivors of Superstorm Sandy by the numbers as of July 8:

Total Federal Assistance: $5.3 billion

$3.5 billion in total National Flood Insurance Program payments made on claims to date

$403.3 million in FEMA grants approved for individuals and households

$351 million for housing assistance

$56.6 million for other needs

$802 in SBA disaster loans approved for homeowners, renters and businesses

$650.5 million approved in FEMA Public Assistance grants to state agencies,
local communities and certain private nonprofit organizations that serve the public

261,817 people registered with FEMA for assistance

126,797 housing inspections completed

Press Briefing | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

Department of Defense News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

Department of Defense News Briefing with George Little from the Pentagon

FLOW CYTOMETRY AIDS BASIC CELL BIOLOGY RESEARCH AND DRUG DISCOVERY

Flow cytometry aids basic cell biology research and drug discovery

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

U.S. Department of Defense Armed with Science Update

Ariane-6

Ariane-6

Press Briefing | The White House

Press Briefing | The White House

Plasma technology for textile finishing applications gets a boost from LANL

Plasma technology for textile finishing applications gets a boost from LANL

TO REDEFINE MILITARY HEALTHCARE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Fort Belvoir Hospital Aims to Redefine Military Healthcare

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

FORT BELVOIR, Va., July 8, 2013 - When the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital opened its doors in August 2011, it represented a long list of "firsts." It was the nation's newest, most technologically advanced military treatment facility, the first one to receive gold-level LEED "green" construction certification, and one of just two joint hospitals in the Military Health System


Less than two years later, the staff at the Defense Department's newest treatment facility is implementing another first: an ambitious new strategy that its commander hopes will help redefine military healthcare.

One of the most striking things about the gleaming new hospital is that despite its 1.3-million-square foot footprint, it has only 120 inpatient beds. Most of the facility is built around 440 examination rooms and 55 clinics that concentrate on outpatient care and preventive medicine, Army Col. Chuck Callahan, the hospital commander, told American Forces Press Service.

"The outpatient arena is where healthcare takes place in 2013," he said. "Good healthcare is focused on prevention, which means you don't need to get hospitalized."

With that goal in mind, the hospital staff is working to keep patients healthy and, when they need medical care, to make it the most positive experience possible.

This is the foundation of the new strategy Callahan began rolling out last year. Tapping the hospital staff and patients directly, he incorporated almost 700 of their suggestions into a plan designed to improve the care provided.

"This strategy we have embraced really belongs to the staff and patients of the organization, and we are now in the process of beginning to implement them," Callahan said.

Early indications are positive, he said. Making appointments is easier than ever before. Parking is convenient. The facility itself is inviting. And most important of all, Callahan said, everything about the hospital operation is focused directly on patients and their families.

People who have tried to see a doctor when they are sick probably know the pitfalls of a reactionary healthcare system. Getting squeezed in for a same-day appointment can be difficult, at best. If a condition requires a visit with a specialist, that draws treatment out even longer and often requires multiple appointments.

"The notion of patient- and family-centered care means we look at the way care is delivered from the perspective of the patient, both individually and as a population," Callahan said. It's a proactive approach that boils down to "'What health care do you need and how do we provide it to you?' rather than the opposite, 'Here is what we have and sorry if it is not what you need,'" he said.

The centerpiece of this model is an ongoing relationship between patients and their providers.

Patients are assigned to a "medical home" -- a team of doctors, nurses and specialists who oversee their care. "This is a group that puts their arms around that group of patients and manages their health -- not just treats their disease," Callahan said.

As a result, patients know who to call when they have health issues or questions. When they need to make an appointment, they can feel confident that they'll get one, and be seen by providers who know their conditions and medical histories.

Patients with complex medical issues also have ready access to the "medical neighborhood" within the hospital, Callahan said. No longer do they need to schedule multiple visits with a series of specialists who may never communicate with each other. Instead, providers from across the "neighborhood" coordinate through medical home to provide interdisciplinary care.

"That's all the providers, plus the patient and family, in the same room, talking through the treatment and management plan," Callahan said. "It's the model we are evolving as a hospital."

The facility itself incorporates what Callahan called "evidence-based design" that supports healing. Design decisions were made to be therapeutic, incorporating natural light, outside views, healing gardens and pavilions inspired by nature: Eagle, River, Sunrise, Oak and Meadow.

Sections of the hospital are color-coded so visitors can quickly get their bearings. All in-patient rooms have just one bed, and a pull-out sofa that family members can sleep on. The design team tapped the Disney Corporation's concepts of "on-stage" versus "off-stage" operations, relegating non-medical services to back hallways or non-prime hours.

While improving access to care when patients are sick and making the hospital experience as positive as possible are major goals of the new strategy, a foundation of the medical home concept is taking care of patients when they are healthy, Callahan said.

Instead of waiting for patients to call, he said, providers reach out to initiate required tests and procedures. They also rely heavily on social media and a secure Internet-based messaging system to answer patients' health-related questions and provide healthcare information aimed at promoting health and well-being.

"The focus is on managing the patients so they get what they need and what they don't even know that they need," Callahan said. "It's not just a matter of 'What are you here for today?'

The goal is to keep you out of the hospital and keep you healthy. That's much better than waiting until you are sick."

Making these investments up front changes the paradigm in delivering healthcare, creating healthier beneficiaries and improving their quality of life, Callahan said.

As the Defense Department struggles with tough budget choices amidst skyrocketing medical costs, this proactive approach makes financial sense, he added.

"Treatment of disease is almost always more expensive than screening for and preventing disease. Almost always," Callahan said. "So we are making the investment up front. As we move toward health and well-being, we are not only providing better healthcare to our beneficiaries. We are also going a long way toward saving healthcare costs in the long run."

Callahan said he expects the new strategy to be fully in place within the next five years, but emphasized that he doesn't anticipate a point where the staff will ever fully declare "mission accomplished."

"Performance improvement is a journey. It is not a destination," he said "Getting better as an organization is a journey, so we are going to continue to evolve our strategy to adapt to healthcare changes and better ways to provide for our patients.

"So there is never going to be a point of 'arriving,'" he said. "In terms of healthcare, there will always be traveling."

U.S. MARINES-GEORGIAN SOLDIERS CONDUCT OPERATION NORTHERN LION II

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey taxis before transporting U.S. Marines and Georgian soldiers conducting operation Northern Lion II on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province, July 3, 2013. The aircraft crew is assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena

A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey crew chief provides security while transporting U.S. Marines and Georgian soldiers during operation Northern Lion II on Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province, July 3, 2013. The crew chief is assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 264. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Alejandro Pena.

A Closer Look at Flood Damage in India

A Closer Look at Flood Damage in India

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

European Space Agency United Kingdom (EN) Update

Remarks by the President Presenting New Management Agenda | The White House

Remarks by the President Presenting New Management Agenda | The White House

Daily HealthBeat Tip Update

Daily HealthBeat Tip Update

Immagine EO della settimana: Paesaggio Peruviano

Immagine EO della settimana: Paesaggio Peruviano

COMPANY TO PAY $14.5 MILLION TO SETTLE OVERBILLING ALLEGATIONS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Tacoma, Wash., Medical Firm to Pay $14.5 Million to Settle Overbilling Allegations

Bills Claimed Higher Level of Service Than Was Documented

Sound Inpatient Physicians Inc. will pay $14.5 million to settle allegations that it overbilled Medicare and other federal health care programs, the Justice Department announced today. Sound Physicians is a Tacoma, Wash.-based provider of hospitalists and other physicians to hospitals and other medical facilities. It employs more than 700 hospitalists and post-acute physicians, who provide services at 70 hospitals and a growing network of post-acute facilities in 22 states.


"Physicians who participate in Medicare and other federal health care programs must document and bill for their services accurately and honestly," said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. "The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that Medicare and other federal funds are expended appropriately."

Today’s settlement addresses allegations that, between 2004 and 2012, Sound Physicians knowingly submitted to federal health benefits programs inflated claims on behalf of its hospitalist employees for higher and more expensive levels of service than were documented by hospitalists in patient medical records. Hospitalists are physicians, typically trained in internal medicine, who provide care exclusively to hospital inpatients and have no office or outpatient practice.

"Fraudulently inflated billing of government health care programs puts those programs at risk, and impacts the system’s ability to care for the neediest in our communities," said Jenny A. Durkan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. "During this time of tight government budgets, we will do all we can to make sure everyone plays by the rules and does not run up the taxpayers’ tab."

Allegations that Sound Physicians had improperly billed a variety of federal health care programs were brought to the government’s attention through a lawsuit filed by a former Sound Physicians employee, Craig Thomas, under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the False Claims Act. The act allows private citizens to bring civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. Thomas will receive $2.7 million of the $14.5 million settlement for exposing Sound Physicians’ inflated claims.

This civil settlement illustrates the government’s emphasis on combating health care fraud and marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which was announced in May 2009 by Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The partnership between the two departments has focused efforts to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid financial fraud through enhanced cooperation. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Since January 2009, the Justice Department has recovered a total of more than $14.7 billion through False Claims Act cases, with more than $10.7 billion of that amount recovered in cases involving fraud against federal health care programs.

The Sound Physicians settlement was the result of a coordinated effort by the Department of Justice, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington; the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General; the Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the Office of Personnel Management Office of Inspector General; the Department of Veterans’ Affairs Office of Inspector General; and the TRICARE Management Activity Office of General Counsel.

CHAIRMAN JOINT CHIEFS GIVES INTERVIEW TO CNN

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Dempsey Discusses Middle East, U.S. Troop Issues
By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2013 - Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed events in the Middle East and U.S. troop issues during an interview broadcast today but recorded July 3 with Candy Crowley for CNN's State of the Union news program.

Dempsey answered questions about recent events in Egypt, the ongoing civil war in Syria and the situation in Afghanistan.

Dempsey, who has served at length in the Middle East during his military career, called Egypt a great country and a cornerstone of the region.

"It's got an incredible history and culture and the world needs Egypt to be stable," the chairman said, adding that what the Egyptians want to do with their government "is for them to decide, and I mean that sincerely."

He added, "As a student of that part of the world and someone who lived in the region for most of the last 10 years -- what we're seeing is that democracy takes a while to stick."

Turning to Syria, where civil war has raged since March 2011, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions, Dempsey said the United States is contributing hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance and working closely with partners in the region.

Dempsey said he tries to see the broader picture with regard to the situation in Syria.

"This is an issue that extends from Beirut to Damascus to Baghdad, and in fact over the last six months the levels of violence in both Lebanon and Baghdad have been alarmingly high," he explained.

Events in Syria reflect a regional issue, Dempsey added, that's related "to a competition at best and a conflict at worst between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam, and it's been hijacked at some level on both sides by extremists -- al-Qaida on one side and Lebanese Hezbollah and others on the other side."

It's not a simple matter of stopping the fighting in Syria by introducing any particular U.S. capability, the chairman said, pointing out that "this is about a 10-year issue and if we fail to think about it as a 10-year regional issue we could make some mistakes."

Dempsey said he's not making predictions about how long President Bashar al-Assad will stay or not stay in Syria.

"I'm suggesting that the underlying causes of the conflict as I have just described them will persist for 10 years," he said.

Turning to Afghanistan, Dempsey said the International Security Assistance Force has another 18 months to get Afghanistan's security forces where they need to be to maintain a stable security platform.

The ISAF is slated to disband at the end of 2014 when its combat mission in Afghanistan ends. NATO will then train, advise and assist Afghanistan's security forces.

"I think that we will get the Afghan security forces to a point where they will be able to provide security generally across the country. But there will be pockets of resistance," Dempsey said.

"The problem," he added, "is that I can't speak with much optimism at this point about the other factors of governance, be they economic or political. They have to keep pace. And we will know because ... there are elections scheduled for early '14."

Asked about whether it will be difficult to bring adversaries like the Taliban into the Afghanistan peace process, Dempsey answered with an example from another war.

"It is always difficult to think about the losses that we've suffered and the idea that at some point we would find reconciliation with [the Taliban], but I'm mindful of the fact that all wars end with some level of political reconciliation," he said.
Dempsey recalled that his Vietnamese counterpart joined him for dinner in his quarters last week.

"Outside we flew their flag next to our flag. I was almost unnerved by it because I went into West Point during the Vietnam War preparing to go fight in Vietnam. And here we are now, some years later, and they are seeking to become much closer partners with us," the chairman said.

"I think there are several flavors of Taliban," he continued. "I think there are some who are reconcilable and undoubtedly some who are not. So long as we can have enough precision in the way we reach out to them, then I won't have ... concerns about whether our sacrifices would somehow be undermined."

Turning to issues facing U.S. troops, Dempsey said the American people have been extraordinary in their appreciation of the military's contribution to the nation over the past decade.

"After every conflict there's a period of time when the nation decides what it will think of the veterans of that conflict," the chairman said, adding that now is the time to start thinking about the image this generation's men and women warriors deserve.

"If I do have a worry," Dempsey said, "it's that this generation of veterans may be seen as somehow victims because a great many things have manifested themselves -- post-traumatic stress syndrome, rising rates of suicide, rising divorce rates, sexual assault.

"So I don't want to have this generation's young men and women, the warriors, seen as victims somehow," he continued. "This conflict has been a source of strength as well for many veterans."

Dempsey also said he'd "like the American people to give veterans opportunities -- not as a handout but rather to recognize what they might bring to the workplace, what they might bring to their communities."

RECENT FEMA PHOTOS OF THE FLOODING IN GELENA, ALASKA

 

FROM: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ADMINISTRATION

Gelena, Alaska, July 1, 2013 -- Houses were moved off their foundations by ice and water in the flooding, leaving piles of debris to be removed. FEMA can assist with debris removal and structural advice. Photo by Ed Edahl/FEMA

Galena, Alaska, June 29, 2013 -- A lake of stranded water still covers the baseball fields hatching a bumper crop of mosquitoes which further stresses the disaster survivors and emergency managers. The major federal disaster, signed by President Obama on June 25, authorizes assistance to individuals and households in Alaska Gateway Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA), Lower Yukon REAA, Yukon Flats REAA, and the Yukon-Koyukuk REAA. Adam DuBrowa/ FEMA

OVER $126 MILLION IN FEDERAL DISASTER AID GOES TO ILLINOIS RESIDENTS

FROM: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Federal Disaster Aid to Illinois Residents Tops $126.4 Million

Release date:

July 5, 2013

Release Number:

4116-IL NR-073

AURORA, Ill. – Federal assistance in Illinois has reached more than $126.4 million, distributed among more than 51,100 individuals and households, since a major disaster was declared for storms and flooding that occurred April 16 through May 5.


Storm damage after May 5 is not included in the presidential disaster declaration for Illinois.

The latest summary of federal assistance includes:
More than $126.4 million in FEMA grants approved for individuals and households;
Of that amount, more than $109 million has been approved for housing assistance, including temporary rental assistance and home repair costs;
More than $17 million has been approved to cover other essential disaster-related needs, such as medical and dental expenses and damaged personal possessions;
More than 74,600 home inspections have been completed to confirm disaster damage; and
More than $27.4 million in loans to homeowners, renters or business owners has been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration;.
The registration deadline has been extended to July 24. The 15-day extension was requested by the State of Illinois.

Two additional counties have been added to the major disaster declaration for individual assistance. Putnam and Warren county survivors also have until July 24 to register for federal disaster assistance. The two counties were previously approved for public assistance, which provides local governments and certain eligible nonprofits with funding for debris removal, emergency protective measures and infrastructure repairs such as building roads and bridges.