Darnall's Integrated Disability Evaluation System reviewed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 6, 2012
Army deputy surgeon general reviews Darnall's Integrated Disability Evaluation System process
By Patricia Deal
CRDAMC Public Affairs

FORT HOOD, Texas--While the war and continuous deployments have started to dwindle down, the Army Medical Command is ramping up its efforts to take care of the thousands of wounded, ill or injured Warriors and their families.

“It’s been a long 10 ½ years, and a decade of combat has certainly taken its toll on our Soldiers,” said Maj. Gen. Richard Stone, deputy surgeon general, U.S. Army Medical Command, during his recent visit to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood. “A vast majority of Soldiers come back healthy, but a small percentage doesn’t. We are committed to doing absolutely everything we can to help wounded, ill or injured Soldiers recover. If not, we are going to do everything we can to ensure their transition to civilian life goes smoothly and they are properly compensated for any disabilities.”

Stone and his team are visiting major medical treatment facilities (MTF) throughout the Army to review their Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) processes, the current processing system for determining disability services and benefits for injured or ill Soldiers.

Introduced in 2007, IDES is a joint initiative between the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, partnering the disability rating systems of both departments to produce a single system resulting in benefits that begin after Soldiers separate from military service. Under the previous legacy system, Soldiers first went through the Army’s medical evaluation process and then would go to the VA to enter its disability evaluation system, sometimes waiting more than a year before receiving VA benefits.

On average, Soldiers evaluated through IDES receive their VA disability benefits more than 50 percent faster than those evaluated through the legacy system. In its early stages, the average wait time for benefits was 297 days, close to the IDES goal. Now with the increased surge of Soldiers needing medical evaluations, the wait time has increased to an average of 394 days, according to the Government Accountability Office.
read more here