Army sets up central medical care site for wounded warriors

In response to requests from wounded, ill and injured soldiers, the U.S. Army has launched a new comprehensive medical care website.

The new website, www.wtc.army.mil, is geared toward helping the more than 16,000 soldiers and veterans who require at least six months of complex medical care to navigate benefits and access available resources. Previously soldiers needed to obtain necessary medical information from a variety of sources.

“The site was designed to clearly outline each step of the way for wounded warriors and their families, covering administrative processes, benefits and resources,” said Col. Darryl Williams, commander of The Army Warrior Transition Command (WTC), which developed of the website.

The website was developed by WTC after feedback from 1,650 severely wounded soldiers and veterans in the Warrior Care and Transition Program. The soldiers and veterans were located in 29 Warrior Transition Units across the United States and Europe. The site contains approximately 30 pages of content and images on pressing issues identified by the respondents, including:

• Information on the Army’s disability evaluation system, with an overview of the Medical Evaluation Board and Physical Evaluation Board process;
• The Army Wounded Warrior Program, which provides personalized support for more than 7,500 severely wounded, ill and injured soldiers, veterans and their families;
• The Army’s transition plan, a six-part process that includes a transition plan personally developed by the soldier;
• Career and education information, including training options available during recovery; and
• Resources for families and caregivers, with contact information for community organizations and administrative resources.

The new website follows other steps the military has taken to improve the quality of its medical care and access to information for wounded soldiers and veterans.

Last October GCN reported on the Army’s development of its battlefield electronic medical record system, MC4, or Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care. MC4 improved the care for wounded warriors by mitigating the delay and confusion that can result from using paper records. Currently the Defense Department is moving ahead with a study looking at how to move to the next generation of its electronic healthcare record, reported Defense Systems Oct. 12.

WTC is part of the Army’s Medical Command group. It provides additional information on warrior care on the WTC blog.