The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), a program sponsored by the
Office of the Surgeon General in cooperation with the White House's
USA Freedom Corps and the Department of Homeland Security's Citizen
Corps, was founded following President Bush's 2002 State of the
Union Address. The MRC is comprised of all levels of health
professionals and other community partners with the mission of
responding to public health emergencies and promoting healthy
living.
With five hundred units and growing, the MRC supplements local
public health and emergency resources and involves physicians,
pharmacists, dentists, epidemiologists, nurses, veterinarians,
interpreters, health educators, political and faith leaders, and
support staff. Each MRC unit is unique in addressing its
community's needs while advancing the Surgeon General's priorities
of promoting disease prevention, improving health literacy, eliminating
health disparities, and enhancing public health preparedness.
During periods of non-emergencies, MRC units can participate in
community-wide preparedness activities, train with local emergency
responders, and/or offer health fairs and and other forms of prevention
outreach to local citizens.
To learn more or join a MRC unit near you, visit www.medicalreservecorps.gov.
The National Business Group on Health (NBGH) has released The
Purchaser's Guide to Clinical Preventive Services: Moving Science
into Coverage, an information resource for employers on clinical
preventive service benefit design. The guide, a joint project
between the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ),
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and
the NBGH, translates clinical guidelines and medical evidence
into information that large employers can use to select, define,
and implement preventive medical benefits, such as colorectal
cancer screening and tobacco use treatment.
The guide contains preventive services recommended by the
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and the CDC. To be included
in the Purchaser's Guide, clinical preventive services recommendations
were required to be either evidence-based; address a serious health
threat in terms of illness, death, or quality of life, including
risk of disability; or address a condition that results in substantial
direct or indirect costs for payers.
Copies of a Purchaser's Guide are available to the public at no
charge by visiting: http://www.businessgrouphealth.org/prevention/purchasers/.
Submitted by:
Daniel K. Berry
Col, USAF, MC, CFS
Chief, Aeromedical & Medical Information Systems Division
311 HSW/YAM
7909 Lindbergh Dr.
Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5335
DSN 240-2829, Com 210 536-2829
FAX DSN 240-1647, Com 210 536-1647
daniel.berry@brooks.af.mil