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WASHINGTON -- Navy surgeon general and chief, U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Vice Adm. Forrest Faison, testified before congress April 26.
Faison appeared before the Subcommittee on Defense of the Senate Committee on Appropriations to discuss the current state of Navy Medicine and the budget justification for the Defense Health Program.
Faison provided an opening statement before answering questions from the subcommittee members.
“America’s Navy and Marine Corps are busy, deployed and operating forward around the world,” said Faison. “I want you to know that the men and women of Navy Medicine are serving with them and providing world-class care.”
Faison continued by emphasizing that our greatest responsibility is the readiness of our service members and how Navy Medicine is using virtual health concepts to benefit our Sailors and Marines throughout the fleet.
“We use telemedicine to keep the force healthy and on the job. Ships at sea have this capability and we have a network that provides access to any ship around the world and we also use this for our shore stations.”
Faison also addressed the issue of opioid usage and alternative forms of pain management within the Navy.
“Our approach has always been to avoid putting our members on these medications and explore alternatives,” said Faison. “We have adopted clinical practice guidelines, provide initial and ongoing patient education, medical centers now have pain management consultant groups and we have invested heavily in alternative therapy. By doing this, we have seen a 38% reduction in opioid therapy.”
In addition to readiness, Sen. Richard Shelby asked how the transition of each service was progressing under the new National Defense Authorization Act.
“We all are engaged on a daily basis to work this out,” said Faison. “This is a transformational change in a time when the operational tempo remains high. Our focus is to reap the benefits without the risk to readiness so we are proceeding very deliberately and carefully to ensure we are supporting operational tempo and continue to do what is necessary for a brighter future.”
Navy Medicine is a global health care network of 63,000 personnel that provides health care support to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps and their families and veterans, in high operational tempo environments, at expeditionary medical facilities, medical treatment facilities, hospitals, clinics, hospital ships and research units around the world.
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2018 15:27 |
| Story ID: | 274680 |
| Location: | WASHINGTON D.C., VA, US |
| Web Views: | 52 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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