UNCLASSIFIED// ROUTINE R 192157Z AUG 14 PSN 490095K27 FM CNO WASHINGTON DC TO NAVADMIN BT UNCLAS NAVADMIN 187/14 SUBJ/CORRECTED PROPER TRANSFER OF HEALTH SERVICE TREATMENT RECORDS (STRS) OF TRANSITIONING SERVICE MEMBERS TO THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION// MSGID/GENADMIN/CNO WASHINGTON DC//DNS/AUG// TRANSITIONING SERVICE MEMBERS TO THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION// REF/A/DOC/DOD/28OCT2010// REF/B/DOC/BUMED/7APR2014// REF/C/DOC/DOD/10JUN2004// REF/D/DOC/SECVA/8JUL2014// NARR/REF A IS DODI 6040.45, SERVICE TREATMENT RECORD AND NON-SERVICE TREATMENT RECORD LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT. REF B IS MANUAL OF THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT, CHAPTER 16. REF C IS DODI 6040.43, CUSTODY AND CONTROL OF OUTPATIENT MEDICAL RECORDS. REF D IS SECRETARY OF VETERAN AFFAIRS LTR OF 8 JULY 2014.// RMKS/1. The purpose of this NAVADMIN is to outline proper transfer of health service treatment records (STR?s) of transitioning members to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). 2. Background. STRs are an integral part of a member's transition from service following completion of duty or retirement. DoD standards require STRs be transferred to the VA within 45 days of separation to ensure VA benefits may be administered in a timely manner. 3. STR Submission. It is of utmost importance that the Department of the Navy significantly reduce processing time in making separating active/reserve Service members' STRs available to the VA. A complete STR includes: Service provided medical and dental documentation, civilian provided medical and dental documentation, Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) Web Print (AWP), and Service Treatment Record Certification (DD2963). 4. This NAVADMIN applies equally to all active and reserve Navy commands and establishes requirements for disposition and transfer of STRs to the VA. All Commanders, Commanding Officers, and Officers-In-Charge shall ensure compliance with the requirements contained in this NAVADMIN. All commands shall comply with STR processing timelines in order to enable transfer of STRs to the VA no later than 45 business days from either the date a Service member is separated from the Navy or from the Navy or from the date a Reserve Component member who is not separating files a claim with the VA. 5. STR Handling. Per references (a) through (c), medical and dental records are the property of Department of Defense (DoD). Their availability to cognizant medical and dental departments is critical to provision of appropriate medical care and administrative processing, including successful VA claims processing. Service members shall not hand carry original copies of their medical and dental records unless authorized by their unit Commander. When authorized to hand carry their original medical/dental records, Service members shall protect the integrity of these records and promptly provide them to the appropriate DoD authority as directed. 6. Responsibilities. All unit Commanders shall immediately notify their personnel that, unless otherwise authorized, medical and dental records shall be returned to the appropriate medical/dental departments. 7. 100 Percent STR Review. All medical and dental departments shall complete a 100 percent record review within the next 90 days to inventory medical and dental records currently in their possession. The departments shall take the following actions: a. Retain the records if Service members remain assigned onboard. b. Transfer the records of Service members no longer assigned onboard to the supporting medical/dental department of the Service member?s current duty station. Units shall work with Navy Personnel Command (NPC) Customer Service Center (1-866-827-5672/DSN: 882-5672, email: UASKNPC (at)navy.mil), for validation of location. c. Forward the record to the Navy Medicine Records Activity (NMRA) STR central cell if Service members have separated. All Commanders, Commanding Officers and Officers-In-Charge, shall report completion of this review to their echelon II level command within 14 business days. Echelon II commands shall submit a consolidated report to Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) within 14 business days. BUMED shall consolidate and report this information to ASN M&RA. 8. Separation Processing. Prior to release from the Navy, individual Service members, and their Commanding Officers, and Officers-In -Charge are responsible for ensuring that the Service member's STR submission process is complete. Medical and dental record personnel must work together to assemble a complete STR. Definition of Completion includes: transfer of a Service member's STR to the central cell; or medical/dental indicating they have located the STR and will forward it to the central cell; or (as required) creation of replacement medical or dental record and forwarding the recreated STR to the central cell. a. Command Check-Out Sheets. Command separation check-out sheets shall be modified to reflect that Service members shall return any medical and dental records in their possession to the appropriate medical and dental departments. The check-out sheet will also identify the Service members? duty stations for the past 5 years. The medical and dental department will annotate the Command check-out sheet to indicate the STR submission process is complete by checking a preprinted box indicating that either: 1) the medical record is in the possession of the appropriate medical or dental department or 2) the medical record is not in the possession of the appropriate medical or dental department, but information has been obtained to initiate the search of the past 5 years? duty stations and the Service member has signed an SF600 indicating that their STR is not in their possession, 3) an additional block indicating the Service member?s actual separation date will be completed by the Service member's command. A copy of the Command Check-out sheet with this information will be provided to the separating personnel office. Commanding Officers and Officers-In-Charge must ensure this process is initiated in sufficient time to ensure its completion prior to the Service member's release from active duty. Unit commanders may hold temporary duty and terminal leave in abeyance as deemed necessary to facilitate completion of the STR submission process prior to separation of a Service member. Service members may not be retained on active duty beyond the expiration of their active duty service obligation unless specifically provided for by applicable law and policy. 9. STR Disposition Process. BUMED has established the NMRA STR central cell to perform all DON scanning into Health Artifact and Imaging Management Solution (HAIMS) and quality assurance review of STRs. Effective immediately, all medical and dental departments are required to send the STR as soon as possible (and NLT two weeks after a Service member's release date for separating active/reserve Service members) to the NMRA STR central cell at the following address: Navy Medicine Records Activity (NMRA) BUMED Detachment St. Louis 4300 Goodfellow Blvd, Bldg. 103 St. Louis, MO 63120 Commanders of remote units are responsible for mailing STRs to the BUMED STR central cell when the Active Duty Service member is enrolled with a civilian Primary Care Manager and must maintain the STR themselves or at their unit. Commanding Officers of medical and dental departments will utilize the BUMED STR automated tracking system where the command has IT capability. 10. Reserve Personnel. Reserve component personnel leaving active duty and returning to drill status are not considered separating for purposes of the STR disposition process. If a reserve member is not separating, but is filing a claim with the VA, the Reserve component will send a clear and accurate copy of the STR to the NMRA address. Navy 311 will supply COMNAVRESFOR with a weekly list of all VA requests. STRs shall not be mailed to the VA. The medical and dental paper records should be mailed together as a bundle to the NMRA STR central cell whenever possible. STR bundles of more than one Service member?s records may be combined into a single shipment. STR?s shall be forwarded within one week. 11. Reporting Requirements. a. Commanders, Commanding Officers and Officers-In-Charge. On a quarterly basis, Commanders, Commanding Officers and Officer-In-Charge shall report to their echelon II command, the number of personnel who have separated or retired the previous quarter and the number of records for which the STR submission process has been completed. This report will include a detailed explanation for complete STRs not provided to the appropriate medical/dental department or other appropriate authority by the Service member's separation/retirement date. Echelon II Commanders. Echelon II commands shall submit a consolidated report of this information to BUMED. BUMED. BUMED will provide the consolidated information to ASN M&RA. The initial report to ASN(M&RA) will begin in October 2014. BUMED will report HAIMS upload data to ASN (M&RA) on a weekly basis to include STR timeline compliance. 12. Missing/Lost STRs. If a medical or dental record cannot be located, a replacement record shall be created per the guidance of the Manual of the Medical Department (MANMED) Chapter 16 and documentation of the attempt to retrieve the medical/dental record from the member?s previous duty stations (last five years) shall be submitted with the replacement record. Medical and dental departments shall annotate validation of contact with previous duty stations in the comment section of the DD2963 and also retain a copy of the annotated check-out sheet. a. If a dental record cannot be located, a replacement dental record shall be created using the separating T2 Exam. Per reference (d), at this time the submission of the medical record to the NMRA STR central cell shall not be delayed due to the unavailability of the dental record. However, when the dental record becomes available, or a replacement dental record is created, it shall be forwarded to the NMRA STR central cell to ensure a complete STR is available to the VA. Medical departments are not required to print AHLTA notes. AHLTA has the HAIMS feature to electronically transmit the record. The responsible medical department will use the AWP feature to transfer AHLTA notes to HAIMS prior to mailing paper STRs. If a medical department does not have AHLTA, contact the closest medical facility with AHLTA access to perform the AWP. All AHLTA notes must be removed prior to sending to the NMRA STR central cell, such notes will be uploaded as part of the AWP push. For reserve components, contact the NMRA STR central cell to request AWP push into HAIMS. b. Projected Separations. On a monthly basis, Commanders, Commanding Officers or Senior Civilian Leaders, and Officers-In-Charge will provide a report of projected separations (projected loss list) for the next 45 days (e.g. information available in NSIPS, EDVR, ODCR, CIMS) to the appropriate medical and dental departments. Data to be included in the report should be encrypted to follow Personal Identifying Information (PII) guidelines: full name, SSN, command name, UIC, Service, component (with category, if Reserve), and separation/retirement date. Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) shall provide BUMED Medical Operations (M3) the loss list data set for the period 1 January 2014 to present. The loss list will be provided to BUMED weekly thereafter. c. Previous Separations. All medical and dental record departments must initiate the STR submission process for Service members who have previously separated from 01 January 2014 through 30 June 2014 and whose STR is not in HAIMS. This list will be provided by BUMED to echelon II Commands for appropriate distribution to all Commanding Officers and Officers-In -Charge. Additionally, the STR process must be initiated for any Service member, regardless of separation date, who is on the VA list as having filed a claim and whose STR is not in HAIMS. This list will be provided weekly by ASN (M&RA). A reasonable search to locate and retrieve the STR must be conducted. If prior duty stations are unknown, the responsible Navy medical and dental records department shall contact NPC Customer Service Center (1- 866-827-5672/DSN: 882-5672, email: UASKNPC(at)navy.mil). If the record cannot be located, see previous guidance for creating a replacement record. 13. Unit Commanders and Officers-In-Charge are directed to take all appropriate actions to identify records processing issues well in advance of the separation of Service members and coordinate as necessary with their respective chains of command, NPC, and BUMED to ensure the requirements of this NAVADMIN are met. 14. Ensuring that Service members experience an orderly transition to civilian life is of paramount importance to the Department of the Navy. An important enabler of this transition is the timely transfer of the separating or retiring Service member?s STR to the VA. 15. Released by Vice Admiral S. H. Swift, Director, Navy Staff.// BT #2832 NNNN UNCLASSIFIED//