Research and Sharing Advances
Dr. Woodson. We have outlined 6 strategic lines of effort to help modernize the military health system, and they include modernizing our management with an enterprise focus, defining our 21st century capabilities that are necessary to make us better, stronger, and more relevant for the future. [We are also] looking at the medical force structure, particularly since today we have to ensure that we understand and employ subspecialists in the right way.
In addition, we are looking at defining and investing in strategic partners. Our strategic partners are like the American College of Surgeons but represent a wide range of potential academic and research institutions that can collaborate with us to ensure that we achieve results in our research portfolio, particularly against the priorities that are very important to military medicine.
The other areas that we need to concentrate on is reforming TRICARE and defining our requirements and competencies in global health engagement. The issue is investing in and defining our strategic partners, which is what I think is going to make us extraordinarily strong, because realistically we need to approach this as the whole-of-society investment in our national defense. Our strategic partners, of course, include our other federal partners, such as the Veterans Administration.
Continuity of Care
Dr. Woodson. We are committed to serving the needs of servicemen and women who might be injured or become ill as a result of their service for decades to come. That is, we understand that they may, in fact, require care for decades. And as a result, we, of course, have several ways of ensuring that they do receive that care. We have a defined sort of insurance benefit called TRICARE; a vehicle that allows separating servicemen and women who qualify to receive care in the civilian sector.
But beyond that, we have strengthened our partnership and our collaboration with the Veterans Administration to break down barriers so that we can transition servicemen and women more effectively and easily. [For] things like transferring critical medical information, we’ve developed an integrative mental health strategy so that we have common evidence-based strategies for mental health care.
We’ve recently concluded an agreement to reform the way the 2 departments reimburse each other so that the whole issue of billing doesn’t become an encumbrance to delivery of care. We’ve agreed to a common credentialing system so that our providers can more easily serve in either system, which leads to more effective, efficient care and use of our human resources.
Across many lines—the ones I’ve mentioned, and many others—we are ensuring that we can care for the servicemen and women who might become ill or injured and require care going on into the decades to ensure that they have high-quality lives and they’re kept healthy.
The Global Response to Ebola
Dr. Woodson. We have subject matter experts that have worked in infectious diseases for some time. You know, the United States Army Institute of Infectious Diseases is a well-recognized, longstanding organization that has helped produce vaccines and strategies to care for infectious diseases and has contributed very substantially to the biosecurity not only of this nation, but of the world.
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We’ve got really the indomitable spirit of the average serviceman and woman who, when given a complex job, know how to meet the mission. And so we have superb leaders, and we have become a key enabler.
When the U.S. shows up, then other countries rally. It provides a platform in which other countries can now commit to the effort. And that’s probably as important as anything else, because this needs to be a worldwide effort to stem this epidemic that is occurring in West Africa.
The Defense Health Agency
Dr. Woodson. The establishment of the Defense Health Agency on 1 October 2013 actually represents one of our signature transformational, organizational changes. As I mentioned before, we’ve outlined 6 strategic lines of effort. The first is modernizing our management with an enterprise focus. And the Defense Health Agency is that signature improvement. It is about understanding that we need to do business differently in the 21st century to produce efficiencies, be effective, reduce cost, and be good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars.
The Defense Health Agency has as its mission to put in effect common clinical and business processes to achieve those economies of scale and allow us to use our dollars and other resources more wisely. The Defense Health Agency was charged with initially standing up 10 shared services to include facilities planning, medical logistics, health information technology, managing the TRICARE health plan, pharmacy programs, the Public Health System, acquisitions, budget and resources, management systems, medical education and training, and medical research and development.
