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Commander's introduction.
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| Subject: | Medicine, Military (Health aspects) |
| Author: | Rubenstein, David A. |
| Pub Date: | 01/01/2012 |
| Publication: | Name: U.S. Army Medical Department Journal Publisher: U.S. Army Medical Department Center & School Audience: Professional Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Health Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 U.S. Army Medical Department Center & School ISSN: 1524-0436 |
| Issue: | Date: Jan-March, 2012 |
| Topic: | Event Code: 200 Management dynamics Computer Subject: Company business management |
| Product: | Product Code: 9105215 Military Health Services NAICS Code: 92312 Administration of Public Health Programs |
| Geographic: | Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States |
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| Accession Number: | 284015857 |
| Full Text: |
Two years ago, the January-March 2010 issue of the AMEDD Journal
highlighted important legal considerations across a number of areas of
military medicine. The articles in that issue were provided by the legal
professionals of the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps who
specialize in supporting the Army Medical Department. Those articles
undoubtedly reacquainted many Army medical professionals with the
enormous legal complexities that surround the practice of medicine,
whether military or civilian, and reminded us of the valuable support
provided by the Army JAG Corps. These legal specialists, including
attorneys, paralegals, and administrators, provide the counsel,
assistance, guidance, and yes, sometimes intervention, that make it
possible for those of us in the practice of military medicine to do what
we should do best, care for the health and well-being of our Soldiers,
their Families, and military retirees. The articles in that issue focused primarily on legal considerations directly related to the practice of medicine, such as consent to treatment, risk management, human subject research, and off-duty employment. It was so well received that the Army Medical Command Staff Judge Advocate was asked for more published discussions of the legal aspects of military medicine. In response, MAJ Joseph Topinka, the Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, has assembled another excellent collection of articles addressing additional vitally important areas of military healthcare delivery, including ethics, contracting, fiscal law, and agreements with civilian agencies and institutions. While, on the surface, some of those topics may appear to clinical practitioners to be someone else's problems, the articles in this AMEDD Journal illustrate the absolute folly of that idea. Every single day Army medical professionals have interactions involving contractors, funding, and procurement, just to name a few of the areas that may not seem to be of great concern in their daily activities. Unfortunately, an uninformed decision, a misguided involvement, or an incorrectly framed agreement can have serious ramifications, not only to an individual, but sometimes to an organization or to the mission of healthcare delivery itself. Clearly, the practice of medicine is an intense, extremely complex responsibility, requiring years of education, training, and experience to achieve the necessary levels of competence and skills. Sadly, medical professionals must also cope with an extraordinarily complicated, exhaustively regulated, and highly litigious societal environment which affects virtually every aspect of their vocation. Fortunately for those of us in Army medicine, our partners in the MEDCOM Staff Judge Advocate are there to specifically help navigate that byzantine world of laws, regulations, rules, protocols, and restrictions as advisers, advocates, and sometimes defenders. Those legal professionals have also committed themselves to years of education, training, and experience to achieve their positions in the practice of law. They represent an invaluable resource that is absolutely necessary for AMEDD's primary mission to maintain a healthy, sustainable, combat-ready fighting force. Simply stated, we could not do it without them. MG David A. Rubenstein |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2012 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |
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