Traumatic Brain Injury: responses by DOD

GAO has a point of information. Pre-screening is essential for any medical diagnosis of “subtle” damage. Imaging pictures would make for a real comparison…external costs will be high. The late start up dates are a cause for sadness(inertia from various quarters), but the newness of this field of medicine is one mitigating factor.

In response to the 2007 NDAA, DOD added TBI screening questions to the PDHA in January 2008 and plans in July 2008 to begin screening all service members prior to deployment. Prior to these TBI screening efforts required by DOD, several installations had already implemented efforts to screen servicemembers before or after their deployments. To help health care providers screen servicemembers for mild TBI and issue referrals, DOD has issued guidance and provided various forms of training.

In response to the 2007 NDAA requirement for pre-and post-deployment screening for TBI, DOD has added TBI screening questions to the PDHA, and plans to require screening of all servicemembers beginning in July 2008 for mild TBI prior to deployment. These screening questions are similar to the screening questions on the PDHA. The questions are included in a cognitive assessment tool that will provide a baseline of cognitive function in areas such as memory and reaction time. In January 2008, DOD released a new version of the post-deployment health…