Our new Army Surgeon General, LTG Patricia D. Horoho, spoke during an opening session about the “white space” in our patients’ lives. This “white space” is that time in between appointments when health really happens. We perhaps see our patients for 20 minutes, 3 times per year (maybe a little more or less). That makes 364 days and 23 hours of “white space.” Do our patients smoke, eat quadruple cheeseburgers on a regular basis, or even contemplate suicide, in the times between those appointments they have with us? It’s of the utmost importance for us to help make sure that white space is filled with health – healthy habits, and healthy lifestyles.

I came away from the conference feeling stronger about the future of Army Medicine. The Patient Centered Medical Home concept is growing each day as it expands across the spectrum of the forces. We are working diligently to continue putting our patients first and foremost in everything we do.

PCMH was a large focus of the conference – and I’m proud to say at Fort Knox we are continuing to lead the way. With a recent NCQA Level 3 recognition in our Military Readiness Clinic we are pushing forward with the PCMH model.

In managed care, America’s and our previous way of delivering care, we “managed” healthcare. In PCMH (or Army Medical Home), we partner with our patients and encourage and support healthy behavior in the white space.

The lessons we take away from conferences such as this are intended to help bring Military Medicine together more than ever. We learned of advances in battlefield medicine as well as improving communication and workflow. I look forward to continuing to implement the great things military medicine is doing.