Initiatives and Areas of Impact

Defense Secretary James Mattis has outlined three lines of effort for DoD: 

1. Improving the lethality of the force

2. Improving business operations

3. Strengthening partnerships and alliances

The MHS supports these lines of effort through improving efficiency so the Department can dedicate resources to increasing lethality; through reforming operations and organization to operate the enterprise more effectively; by continuing to engage with global health partners to strengthen alliances around the world.

The MHS is modernizing to better serve beneficiaries and respond to changes in law and policy. Historic reforms to the TRICARE health plan took effect January 1, 2018, and will continue to roll out through the benefit’s first open enrollment season in fall 2018. DHA and Health Affairs will continue to oversee these reforms with the goal of providing even more integrated, higher-quality care to TRICARE beneficiaries. We are encouraging our beneficiaries to Take Command of their benefit to enhance their TRICARE experience. 

Read more about these historic changes to TRICARE.

MHS GENESIS is the new MHS electronic health record, designed to replace a host of legacy systems with a single, integrated record that will improve standardization and providing patients with new opportunities to control their own care. 

The MHS successfully deployed MHS GENESIS at four initial operating capability sites in the Pacific Northwest in 2017; 2018 will be focused on implementing lessons from those initial sites to prepare for deployment at the next round of sites in late 2018, and on working with the Department of Veterans Affairs in its own planning for deployment of the same commercial health record system.

Read more about MHS GENESIS.

Congress directed the Defense Health Agency to assume responsibility for the administration and management of health care at all military medical treatment facilities on October 1, 2018. This transfer maximizes efficiencies by eliminating redundancies while maintaining a ready and lethal U.S. military. The clear objective is providing continuity of care during a seamless transition.

Read more about the MHS Transition

The MHS Joint Trauma System is a world-leading repository of knowledge about combat casualty care, providing life-saving lessons for the military and for civilian trauma care. 

Military surgeons serve in civilian facilities around the country, gaining skills for use in wartime and providing invaluable care for local communities, and they are regularly on the front lines of care in domestic mass-casualty incidents.

Read more about the Joint Trauma System

Military medical research is focused on the needs of military commanders, from novel ways to prevent blood loss in combat to wearable health monitoring devices to new safeguards against infectious disease. Many military R&D efforts translate into better civilian health care as well, from trauma care to combatting malaria.

Read more about the ongoing research and development in the MHS

MHS success depends on building strong partnerships with the civilian health care sector.

DoD's Global Health Engagement activities advance operational readiness and protect our troops, build interoperability so we can work more effectively with the armed forces of our partner nations, and enhance security cooperation so DoD can establish and maintain strong relationships around the world.  A key enabler to regional stability and security for DoD's combatant commands, global health engagement reduces risks to U.S. armed forces while fostering mission capability of partner nations' forces so that together, we can continue working effectively to defend global interests.  

Read more about DoD's commitment to global health engagement