Skip to main content

Military Health System

MHS Transformation results continue during COVID-19

Image of Military personnel in a supply room, reaching for the top shelf. Military personnel in a supply room, reaching for the top shelf

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Military Health System Transformation

Focusing on that patient-centered approach to care and improving quality of life, is how Dr. Barclay Butler, the Defense Health Agency’s assistant director for management, describes the reason behind the Military Health System’s transformation.

Since October 2018, the Department of Defense began the congressionally directed multi-year transition of military medical treatment facilities from the Services to the DHA.  And at the beginning of 2020, the DHA established and successfully transitioned the first wave of hospitals and clinics under its authority, direction, and control (ADC).

Although MTF transition efforts were paused this past April so the Services and DHA could support the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition was formally restarted this past November. In coordination with the Services, the DHA will continue to transition ADC of all hospitals and clinics to the DHA through September 2021.

Military personnel, wearing a mask, is spreading a sheet on an operating room bed
Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Robert Newkirt, a radiologic technologist assigned to Naval Medical Center San Diego's (NMCSD) Radiology Department, prepares an operating room for an interventional radiology (IR) procedure. (Photo by Navy Seaman Luke Cunningham, Naval Medical Center San Diego.)

This transition has enabled the DHA to increase standardization, eliminate duplicative contracts, and realize cost efficiencies by beginning the management of an enterprise-wide program to fulfill health care requirements in all military medical treatment facilities (MTFs).

“It’s about putting the patient at the center of everything we do,” explained Butler. The DHA has recently taken efforts to quantify its achievements across approximately 30 different functions and documented hundreds of contributions to the MHS. 

Some DHA achievements include:

  • Yielded $15M of initial savings in the National Capital Region for contracted Medical Q-coded Services by demonstrating a Market-Based Buying Strategy (MBBS) to actively manage demand for products and services in a given market.
  • The MHS’s inTransition program, a program that assists service members and veterans who want to get connected to mental health care, conducted mandated outreach calls to approximately 8,500 Service members in October 2020, with 600 of these engaging with the program for formal transition coaching.

Military personnel in an operating room
Joint Force medical service members participated in a mass casualty exercise held by 378th Expeditionary Medical Squadron in Nov. at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The exercise gave soldiers, Marines and airmen the chance to hone their triage, treatment and medical transportation skills for a large number of simulated wounded in a stressful environment. Improvements to Medical Modeling and Simulation has saved nearly $5 billion since fiscal year 2014. (Photo by Air Force Tech Sgt. Wes Wright, 378th Air Expeditionary Wing.)
  • Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE) began a study of antidepressant use and risk for suicide-related outcomes among Active-Duty Service members. The study will provide valuable insight into the association between antidepressant use and suicide risk among Service members. Conclusions drawn from the study could be used to develop new clinical procedures for suicide risk care that may address a heretofore unidentified source of risk.
  • The new MTF Annual Regulatory Training saved the MHS 68,713 staff-hours in year one, and 451,491 staff-hours of training time over the next three years.  The new training program saves the average MTF trainee 50 minutes the first year and then 2 ½ hours in each of the following two years. This time savings year over year equates to approximately a 40% savings in training time for the regulatory training. For clinicians and specialists, these regulatory training requirements will decrease from 3 ½ hours a year to under 2 hours, increasing their availability to see patients. Similarly, this is a training time savings of45% for this regulatory training. This saving equates to an estimated staff-hour savings of 7,328 staff-hours in year one and 48,907 staff-hours in years two and three.
  • The Defense Medical Modeling & Simulation Office (DMMSO) has improved communication and collaboration (breaking down silos) between the Service-specific Medical Modeling and Simulation (MM&S) programs, leading to a total cost savings/avoidance of $4.81 million since its inception in fiscal year 2014.
  • Through a new Life Support training conversion, DHA’s new training methodology reduces time away from patient care for both students and instructors by cutting training time for Life Support training by up to 50%, with an estimated time savings of 242,000 staff-hours for students and an additional 12,000 staff-hours for instructors.
  • Launched nine enterprise-wide initiatives stemming from the Quadruple Aim Performance Process (QPP) and has documented the demand, supply, and gaps for 123 MTFs and 7 markets. These achievements are part of the DHA’s long-term effort to synchronize the Services and the DHA onto a single, cyclical strategy planning and execution cycle. MTFs from all the Services are now aligning their Strategic Performance Plans to a single (DHA) Director’s Guidance as opposed to three separate sets of guidance from each of the Services.446 Strategic Initiatives were submitted in alignment with DHA Guidance during FY20.
  • A recent Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (now Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence) study may aid in returning the warfighter to duty status quicker, as well as create a pathway to new treatment interventions for service members.

MHS transformation efforts were driven by Section 702 of the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and subsequent guidance provided by Congress in 2018, 2019, and 2020 that directed the MHS reorganization, redefining the roles of the military medical departments and the DHA in the administration and management of hospitals and clinics. 

As the single agency in charge of all MTFs, the DHA will create a more integrated, efficient, and effective system of medical readiness and health care delivery.  “Throughout our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the MTF transition efforts, the DHA continues to focus on ensuring the continuation of the Department of Defense’s top three priorities— protect the DOD’s people, maintain military readiness, and support the whole-of-government interagency response,” concluded Butler.

For more information on the Military Health System Transformation, visit the MHS Transformation.

You also may be interested in...

Protect Yourself With Respiratory Illnesses on the Rise

Article Around MHS
12/19/2022
Military medical personnel administering vaccine

"Tis the season, and respiratory illnesses are on the rise. Learn critical health guidance about the viral triple threat of COVID-19, influenza, and the common cold, and the commonsense steps you can take to protect yourself and your family.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Children's Health | Medical and Dental Preventive Care Fitness | Immunization Tool Kit | Influenza, Northern Hemisphere | Immunization Healthcare Division

Naval Medical Research Center Joint Study with Mount Sinai Uncovers Differences in COVID-19 Immune Response between the Sexes

Article Around MHS
12/5/2022
Amanda Cherry, research assistant, performing diagnostic testing at NMRC

A collaborative study between researchers at Naval Medical Research Center and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Princeton University has highlighted immune response differences in the coronavirus infection responses between male and female patients.

Recommended Content:

Medical Research and Development | Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Coronavirus

Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center Holds Town Hall in Advance of DHA Transition

Article Around MHS
10/24/2022
Military personnel speaks at NMCPHS town hall event

The Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center held a town hall meeting on Oct. 12 at their Portsmouth, Virginia, headquarters, in advance of their transition to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Public Health directorate.

Recommended Content:

Public Health | Military Health System Transformation

Collaborating In the ER: Reservists Assist, Learn in Community Hospitals

Article Around MHS
10/20/2022
Military medical personnel in medical training session

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic–when there were no vaccines, a shortage of health care workers, and hospitals were beyond capacity– the U.S. health care system needed help. Here's one of many ways the Department of Defense answered the call.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

San Antonio Market Celebrates First Anniversary as a Unified Health Care System

Article Around MHS
7/20/2022
Two airmen talking.

The San Antonio Market will celebrate its one-year anniversary as a unified military health care system this week.

Recommended Content:

Direct Reporting Markets | Military Health System Transformation

Latasha Smith: Warrior against COVID-19

Article Around MHS
2/18/2022
Military personnel looking at a patient's cardiac rhythm

Air Force Tech. Sgt. Latasha Smith, an Airman assigned to the 86th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, was celebrated as Airlifter of the Week, Jan. 27, 2022, after leading the assault against COVID-19 for over a year.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

COVID-19 therapeutics support DOD pandemic response

Article Around MHS
2/11/2022
Military personnel getting COVID-29 doses ready

The U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency is helping to protect the operational force by distributing several new therapeutic options that help to lessen the symptoms of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 and keep Soldiers, their families and beneficiaries out of the hospital.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

COVID-19 Health Action Response for Marines continues to study long-term effects of COVID-19 on Marines

Article Around MHS
2/10/2022
Medical military personnel talking to a patient

A team composed of U.S. Navy medical personnel and civilian technicians based out of the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, assembled during the initial outbreak of COVID-19 to study the short and long-term effects that the virus has on Marines. 

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Getting up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccine

Article Around MHS
2/8/2022
Military personnel giving the COVID-19 vaccine

The U.S. Guard Coast is that we have vaccines to help prevent serious illness if you contract COVID-19.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Oregon National Guard surging to support hospitals again

Article Around MHS
1/27/2022
Oregon Army National Guard touring a hospital

Hundreds of Oregon National Guard members are increasing support of hospitals throughout the state in their second hospital relief mission during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response | Readiness Capabilities

Public Health nurses offer insights on living with COVID-19 now, looking into future

Article Around MHS
1/25/2022
The Challenges of Living with COVID

One of the more challenging jobs for any public health professional is dealing with unpredictability inherent in outbreaks like the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Navy Hospital Corpsman steps into the breach in the war on COVID-19

Article Around MHS
1/18/2022
Hospitalman Hector Conde standing in front of a immunization office's refrigeration

First responders and those fighting on the medical battleground have earned well-deserved recognition for their efforts.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

This is my Why

Article Around MHS
12/30/2021
Air Force Senior Airman Marcus Bullock poses for a photo after receiving his COVID-19 vaccination

Air Force Senior Airman Marcus Bullock stated his reason for getting the vaccine was to help his mother and son be able to have a play date again.

Recommended Content:

COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts | Coronavirus & the MHS Response

So others may breathe - Navy Medicine Respiratory Therapist cares for COVID casualties

Article Around MHS
12/13/2021
Military Health personnel posing for a picture

Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Tessa Hazard, a respiratory therapist, recently deployed to Alabama as a member of a COVID-19 response team.

Recommended Content:

Coronavirus & the MHS Response

Puget Sound Market stands up with integration in mind

Article Around MHS
12/7/2021
Military personal posing

Defense Health Agency leaders ushered in the new Puget Sound Market within the nationwide Military Health System.

Recommended Content:

DHA Health Care Market Structure | Military Health System Transformation | Direct Reporting Markets
<< < 1 2 > >> 
Showing results 1 - 15 Page 1 of 2
Refine your search
Last Updated: December 27, 2022
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery