After transferring all health care decisions from Indian Health Services to tribal control over a ten-year period, the Band significantly improved its health care delivery system. Its state-of-the-art Health Center provides health and dental care, behavioral health care and community health promotion, education and prevention programs, and the first-ever on-reservation disability clinic. In addition, the Tribe has implemented an efficient billing and records system that has reduced the "red-tape" typically associated with third party billing. By taking a more active role in its reservation health care, the tribally controlled Choctaw Health Center is improving community health and meeting the specific health care needs of its citizens. In 1997, the Choctaw Band's Disability Clinic received the Vice President's prestigious Hammer Award for the Clinic's effective disability determination process.