DoD panel: Get rid of disability eval system

[nitpicker]

http://www.navytimes.com/article/20140903/NEWS/309030053/DoD-panel-Get-rid-disability-eval-system

DoD panel: Get rid of disability eval system
Sep. 3, 2014 - 04:07PM
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer

A Pentagon advisory panel on wounded service members is recommending that the Defense Department scrap the disability evaluation system it rolled out across the military just three years ago.

The Integrated Disability Evaluation System, or IDES, merged separate Defense and Veterans Affairs department medical evaluation programs into a single process with a goal of streamlining the system and shortening wait times for decisions.

But under IDES, the medical discharge process has become more complicated, leading to delays in transition from the service, confusion among those in the system, and in some cases, problems receiving medical care, according to a Recovering Warrior Task Force report released Friday.

“The current IDES is fundamentally flawed and DoD should replace it,” task force members wrote.

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Other recommendations advise DoD to improve the Office of Warrior Care Policy, establish policies that integrate DoD and VA transition programs and take steps to ensure that the Pentagon and military services have programs that meet transitioning members’ expectations of post-service employment.

Among the group’s primary concerns is the law concerning patient privacy, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which the task force said can hinder family involvement in a service member’s recovery.

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The full report can be found online at http://rwtf.defense.gov/Reports/FY2014ANNUALREPORT.aspx.