Federal Recovery Coordination Program: Enrollment, Staffing, and Care Coordination Pose Significant Challenges

摘要

I am pleased to be here today as you discuss the challenges facing the Federal Recovery Coordination Program (FRCP)--a program that was jointly developed by the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) following critical media reports of deficiencies in the provision of outpatient services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. This program was established to assist 'severely wounded, ill, and injured' Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) servicemembers, veterans, and their families with access to care, services, and benefits. Specifically, the program's population was to include individuals who had suffered traumatic brain injuries, amputations, burns, spinal cord injuries, visual impairment, and post-traumatic stress disorder. From January 2008--when FRCP enrollment began--to May 2011, the FRCP has provided services to a total of 1,665 servicemembers and veterans; of these, 734 are currently active enrollees. As the first care coordination program developed collaboratively by DOD and VA, the FRCP is more comprehensive in scope than clinical or nonclinical case management programs. It uses Federal Recovery Coordinators (FRC) who are either senior-level registered nurses or licensed social workers to monitor and coordinate both the clinical and nonclinical services needed by program enrollees by serving as a link between case managers of multiple programs. Unlike case managers, FRCs have planning, coordination, monitoring, and problem-resolution responsibilities that encompass both health services and benefits provided through DOD, VA, other federal agencies, states, and the private sector.