PAGE 8C, AUGUST 23-24, 2006 NORTH FLORIDA FOCUS VA receives 2006 Innovations in Government Award The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) model system of electronic health records, de- veloped with extensive in- volvement of front-line health-care providers, has won the prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award." The annual award, sponsored by Harvard Univer- sity's Ash Institute for Demo- cratic Governance and Inno- vation at the Kennedy School of Government and adminis- tered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government, honors excel- lence and creativity in the public sector. "This great honor is testi- mony to the vision of health care professionals throughout VA," said the Honorable R. James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. "Our elec- tronic health records are with- out peer and ensure that our nation's veterans receive the. best care this country can pro- vide." While health-care costs in the United States continue to soar, VA is reducing costs and errors while increasing safety and efficiency. Outside of VA, because pa- tient records are not readily available, -one out of seven Americans ends up hospital- ized when outpatient care is all that's needed. For the same reason,, one out of five lab tests is needlessly repeated outside the VA system. And while the costs of health care continue to soar for most Americans, the VA is reducing costs, reducing errors, and be- coming the model for what modem health care manage- ment and delivery should look like. "The involvement of front- line providers, use of perfor- mance measures and universal use of electronic health records have enabled VA to set the national benchmark in quality of care" said Dr. Jonathan Perlin, VA Under Secretary for Health. "The electronic records system is called VistA, and it is an es- sential part of VA's commit- ment to giving every patient safe, effective, efficient, com- Forest Land Enhancement Program sign-up underway The Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services recently announced a program that will assist forest landowners in the management of their property. The department's Division of Forestry will hold a sign-up for enrollment in the Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) through Sept. 15. The program, authorized under the 2002 Farm Bill, is available to non-industrial private forest landowners on a 75-25 cost share basis for most practices. Eligible prac- tices include, but are not lim- ited to: site preparation, tree planting, and prescribed burn- ing activities. Landowners who own at least 10 acres but no more that 10,000 acres of land who have a multiple-re- source practice plan will be eligible to receive funding as- sistance under FLEP. A maxi- mum of $10,000 will be avail- able for each qualifying landowner over the life of the' program as reimbursement for incurred expenses for ap- proved practices. Almost half of the state's 14 million acres of forestland is owned by private non-iin- dustrial forest landowners. According to national, re- gional and statewide landowner, surveys, most for- est landowners don't have a management plan for their property. The state's alloca- tion under the program will be used for implementation of forest practices prescribed in existing or newly developed management plans. "It benefits everyone when an approach stressing best management practices is in place for forested property," Florida Agriculture and Con- sumer Services Commission- er Charles H. Bronson said. "The forests are a criti- cal natural resource in Flori- da, and it is important to pre- serve them as well as mitigate any 'potential wildfire dan- ger." Landowners can obtain ap- plication forms from their lo- cal Division of Forestry office and from other cooperating agencies. The Division of Forestry's foresters will pro- vide technical assistance to landowners and will be the lo- cal contact person for partici- pating landowners. For more information, contact David Smith, Program Manager 850-414-9907 or Bonnie- Stine, CFA Supervisor,s 850- 414-9912 both in Tallahassee, or your local County Forester, who can be located at www.fl-dof.com. In Suwannee County, call Brian Cobble, 386-364-5314'. * BEFORE YOU VOTE* passionate health care." VA's complete adoption of electronic health records and performance measures have resulted in high-quality, low- cost health care with high pa- tient satisfaction. A recent RAND study found that VA outperforms all other sectors of American health care across a spectrum of 294 measures of quality in disease prevention and treatment. For six straight years, VA has led private-sec- tor health care in the indepen-, dent American Customer Sat- isfaction Index. Electronic health records also provide numerous other benefits in cost, quality and access to care. The cost of maintaining the system is $80 per patient per year, less than the cost of one unnecessarily repeated lab test. In the last 10 years, VistA's efficiencies have offset cost increases as- sociated with a 100 percent in- crease in the number of veter- ans receiving VA care. For example, VistA has helped VA save 6,000 lives by improving rates of pneumonia vaccination among veterans with emphysema, cutting pneumonia hospitalizations in half and reducing costs by $40 million per year. Patient wait- ing times have declined while customer service improved, and access to care has in- creased because of on-line availability of health informa- tion. In addition to saving money, VistA saves lives and ensures continuity of care even under the most extreme circum- stances. Many of the thou- sands of residents who fled the Gulf Coast because of Hurri- cane Katrina left behind vital health records. Records for the 40,000 veterans in the area were almost immediately available to clinicians across the country, even though the VA Medical Center in Gulf- port, Miss. was destroyed and the New Orleans VA Medical Center was closed and evacu- ated. Veterans were able to re- sume their treatments, refill their prescriptions and get the care they needed because their medical records were immedi- ately accessible to providers at other VA facilities. VistA is one of seven gov- ernment initiatives chosen from 1,000 applications to re- ceive this year's Innovations awards. Because the programs are models for government's capacity to do good; and do it well, the $100,000 grant specifically supports sharing of program information with other organizations. VA plans to disseminate in- formation and provide demon- strations of VistA at its med- ical centers across the country, Additional information is available .by visiting the web- site www.innovations.va.gov, calling 202-208-2393, sending an e-mail message to innova- tions@va.gov or contacting a local VA medical center. CONSUMER ALERT! Warning issued on dietary supplements The Florida Department of Health (DOH), .along with .the Florida Board of. Pharmacy, have.joined with the Food and Drug Adminis- :tration (FDA) to warn con- sumers to discontinue the purchase and use of -Zi-, maxx, Libidus, Neophase. Nasutra, Vigor-25, Actra-Rx or 4EVERON. These drugs are ad\ ertised as "dietarN supplements" for treating erectile dysfunction and en- hancing sexual perfor- mance. However, these products are not approved. by the FDA, and they con- tain ingredients that are un-" declared and possibly harm- ful. ."The deceptive labeling of drugs.is a threat to public health, said DtM secretary NI. Ron) Franqois, M.D., M.S.P.H., Ph.D., "I encour- - age Florida's residents and visitors to be aware of these potentially dangerous prod-' ucts. There is no guarantee on the safety and effective- ness of these products: Con- sumers, therefore, should make informed decisions by seeking the guidance of a health care professional, in- stead of opting to self-diag- nose." : DOHi urges consumers who have used .these prod- ucts to consult their primary health care provider. DOH also advises consumers to verify the status of any drug with the FDA. "These products contain active ingredients found in prescription drugs and these ingredients can cause harm if not used under the super- vision of a doctor," said Florida Board of Pharmacy and Drugs, Devices, and Cosmetics Executive Direc- tor Rebecca Poston, R.Ph. According to the FDA,. "chemical analysis by FDA revealed that Zimaxx con- tains sildenafil, which is the active .pharmaceutical in- gredient in Viagra, a pre- scription drug approved in the United States to treat erectile! .dys-function.... The' other products. contains chemical ingredients that are analogues of either sildenafil or a pharmaceuti- cal ingredient called varde- nafil. 'Vardenafil is the ac- tive ingredient in Levitra, a prescription drug that, like Viagra. is approved in the United States to treat erec- tile dysfunction. There is no mention of any of these in- gredients on any of the ille-, gal products' labeling." 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There is no- assurance that the ingredients of these products are safe, effective of pure since the manufac- turing source of the active ingredients of these prod- ucts, is unknown, according to the FDA. * The Board of Pharmacy protects the health and safe- tyeof Florida's residents and visitors by establishing re- quirements for licensure and through diligent discipline of practitioners 'who violate practice acts defined by Chapters 120, 456, 465, 499 and 893, Florida Statutes and. Rule 64B-16, Florida Administrative Code. The legislative 'intent, of the practice act is to ensure that every licensee practicing in the state of Florida meets minimum requirements for safe practice. The Board's responsibility is to ensure that licensees who fall be- low minimum competency or who otherwise present a danger to the public are dis- ciplined or prohibited from practicing in the state. The Board also establishes and monitors continuing educa- tion of licensees to ensure their knowledge anid skills remain current. For more in- formation :. visit vI wwI.doh.state., fl.us/mqa.ph armacy/. . For additional 'informa- tion from FDA visit www.fda.gov. Consumers may contact the FDA toll- free at 888-INFO-FDA or 800-463-6332. nC1.1 I FLOP.IPATLAWUE OF CTJSINC-PP. FPWO E1D 1AIIII M FPB '- Florida Public Broadcasting Service, Inc. S NOSVA UNIVERSITY 289401-F IntrodP Mike Dame and Ed Musser to our America's Home Place Sales Staff can 229-245-8560 for your FREE Floor Plan Book & Consultation If you don't hdve land, let us help you get in contact with one of our Real Estate Agents to your find land! E.. www.AmerIcasl Ionblerlace.com -.Ri=.PnPF =.vni~ i-)