A Medical Device Daily

The National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia (NATT; Tarrytown New York) reported yesterday the award of two major program grants totaling $1.35 million that will serve as building blocks for its efforts to curb the unchecked devastating effects caused each year to nearly one million Americans who develop a blood clot.

NATT will use its two Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta) grants to “launch a national wake-up call to promote public and healthcare professional awareness of this serious medical condition that each year kills nearly 300,000 Americans,” said NATT President Randy Fenninger.

“We have a national crisis because few people recognize or understand the symptoms and risk factors of this silent killer. And even equally startling, is that not enough of our nation’s healthcare professionals have a full understanding of the symptoms and the methods for treatment of this life- threatening condition,” he said.

Complications from clotting, occurring in more than half of those affected individuals, can often have serious consequences — as is evident from an annual mortality rate that is greater than the combined deaths from breast cancer, AIDS, and automobile accidents.

The CDC also awarded funding for a nurses and non-physician healthcare professionals’ education project that will specifically address the areas of blood clot prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management.

Patients will be reached throughout the U.S. network of the 140-federally funded Hemophilia Treatment Centers, the CDC Pilot Thrombophilia Centers and through participants of the Anticoagulation Forum.

In contract news:

• Science Applications International (San Diego) reported that ithas won a new $38 million task order from the U.S. military to support theTheater Medical Information Program — Joint (TMIP-J).

The single-award, cost-plus-fixed-fee task order has a one-year base period of performance and three one-year options. The task order was awarded under the Defense Medical Information Systems/Systems Integration, Design Development, Operations and Maintenance Services (D/SIDDOMS 3) contract.

As part of the Military Health System, TMIP-J provides medical information management technology to support the medical business practice in a deployed environment. TMIP-J supports complete clinical care documentation, patient movement visibility, health surveillance, and medical supply and equipment tracking in an austere communications environment. The SAIC-led team will manage, control and track all developer activities necessary for integration.

TMIP-J is currently being used by U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force personnel in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.

SAIC is a provider of scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to all branches of the U.S. military.

• Delta Dental of California (San Francisco) reported that the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA; Sacramento) of the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company a new five-year contract to continue to administer the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP).

The TRDP, authorized by Congress as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 1997, offers affordable dental benefits as a voluntary option to the nation’s five million-plus uniformed services retirees and their family members. The new contract becomes effective on Oct. 1, 2008.

The enhanced TRDP will feature some additional benefits once the new contract is effective, including certain implant services at 50% of allowable charges, an increase to the orthodontic lifetime maximum from $1,200 to $1,500 and 80% coverage for certain posterior composite restorations.

During the new contract period, the TMA also anticipates authorization to extend the TRDP to new overseas locations, matching as closely as possible the same benefits of the current “enhanced program.”

The TRDP will continue as a national, combined fee-for-service/preferred provider program that offers enrollees access to any licensed dentist in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Canada. While enrollees may seek care from any licensed dentist in the service area, optimal benefits will be available to those enrolled retirees and their family members who choose a participating network dentist.

The program still carries a $50-per-person-per-year deductible, with a family cap of $150, and an annual maximum of $1,200 per person, against which preventive and diagnostic services are not counted. Coverage for these services, as well as for basic restorative services, periodontic services, endodontic services, oral surgery and dental emergencies is available immediately on the effective date of coverage.

Crowns, bridges, full and partial dentures, certain implant services and orthodontics will be available after only 12 months continuous enrollment, payable at 50%.

All the companies affiliated with the holding company system are also members of the national Delta Dental Plans Association, which collectively covers about 50 million Americans.