Skip to main content

Military Health System

Test of Sitewide Banner

This is a test of the sitewide banner capability. In the case of an emergency, site visitors would be able to visit the news page for addition information.

DHA preparing to complete treatment facility transition by Fall 2021

Image of Military medical personnel giving a vaccine shot to a soldier. Ellis Fox receives a COVID-19 vaccination from a hospital corpsman assigned to Naval Hospital Jacksonville, one of the first four group markets where the Military Health System integration was launched last year. (Photo by Deidre Smith, Naval Hospital Jacksonville.)

The Defense Health Agency is planning and preparing to complete the Military Medical Treatment Facility transition by the mandated time at the close of this fiscal year, explained Dr. Brian Lein, DHA’s assistant director, Health Care Administration. Lein made these remarks to members of AMSUS, The Society of Federal Health Professionals,at a virtual talk on March 18.

“We are in the deep throes” of the integration and optimization of the MHS, said Lein.

Lein described the transition as “really a transfer of authority,” where the “rheostat shifts to the Defense Health Agency” and away from the Services controlling medical treatment facilities, dental treatment facilities, and all smaller hospitals and clinics.

In November 2020, the MHS transformation was restarted after the plans were put on hold in April 2020 because of the impact of COVID-19, Lein noted, updating remarks made by then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Tom McCaffery at AMSUS’ December annual conference.

Official photo of Dr. Brian Lein
Dr. Brian Lein, the Defense Health Agency’s assistant director, Health Care Administration: “We are in the deep throes” of the transition of the Military Medical Treatment Facilities. (Courtesy Photo.)

The reforms are intended to develop a long-term strategic framework to help all MHS components to better coordinate and integrate their efforts and their shared mission of ensuring a ready medical force. They include both private sector and military medical treatment facilities (MTFs) of all sizes and types.

The first four “markets” in this optimization plan were successfully launched in the National Capital region, the central North Carolina region, Jacksonville Naval Hospital and surrounding health care facilities, and in the coastal Mississippi region.

In November, DHA restarted planning for the next five markets. Lein described the markets as “intermediate management organizations that group together synergies.” The next five are in the Tidewater region of Virginia; San Antonio, Texas; Puget Sound region of Washington state; Hawaii; and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

“These are very mature markets that have had multi-service cooperation since 2003 and 2004,” he noted. DOD plans to certify and stand up these markets by April.

The next 11 markets are smaller hospitals and clinics, which will be certified and stand up later this year.  The last three “will be the most challenging,” as they are made up of 90 small or stand-alone medical facilities across the United States, such as in Minot, North Dakota, Lein said.

There also will be a market for Europe and one for the IndoPacific. “The expectation is that these markets overseas are also available for combatant commands in case of conflict or major disasters,” Lein said.

The DHA is moving forward with the review and analysis of the MTFs, which is being done as part of the Section 703 mandate, a Congressional directive in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017. Lein said this means “we have to ensure that the managed care support contractor has got the capability for caring for our beneficiaries to the same quality, and to the same standard, and to the same access that was provided on base.”

As for medical manpower reductions, which have been discussed in the past, Lein said, “there has been no agreement or commitment at any level between the secretaries or the secretary of defense on ways ahead for reduced military billets.”

What keeps Lein up at night? “The pent-up demand,” he said, for “new prescriptions for high blood pressure medications, cholesterol-reducing medications, diabetes, and cancer medications”. The prescription numbers “bottomed out in April” and “haven’t gotten back to baseline,” Lein noted.

The National Cancer Institute noted that cancer diagnoses were down 50% across the U.S. last year. “My concern…is we are going to have a lot of pent-up demand” for diseases that have not been diagnosed, such as breast cancer cases, “that will be worse than if diagnosed a year ago.” The same goes for lung and colorectal cancers, for diabetes, and high blood pressure, he added.

Lein said he fears “we’re going to get a bow wave of people coming in for care” and that the “huge and pent-up demand is going to come crashing down on our nation in terms of requiring care.”

“For appropriate reasons, people were scared to come in to medical treatment facilities or were told not to come in,” he said. Now, “we have put out the message to come in, at a minimum virtually, or in person.”

You also may be interested in...

Crosland Discusses Dawn of Digital Health at HIMSS 2023

Article
4/28/2023
Crosland Discusses Dawn of Digital Health at HIMSS 2023

“My priorities as a combat support agency are about health of the force, and the redesign of our health care system is about health of our patient,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Crosland. “And as an agency, it's about health of our people.”

Tidewater Market Saves by Integrating and Optimizing Pathology Services

Article
3/10/2023
Laboratory Technician Andrienne Collier works with wound cultures to isolate microorganisms while working at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth laboratory. As part of the Defense Health Agency’s Tidewater Market, the NMCP laboratory provides a comprehensive range of anatomic pathology, blood bank, and clinical pathology services to eligible beneficiaries in the Tidewater region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dylan M. Kinee/Released)

Efficiency, optimization, and standardizing processes and services is paramount for the success of setting up DHA market structures. That's why Tidewater Market Laboratory/Pathology Integration Working Group was created. Find out how they're collaborating to meet new goals.

DHA Turns 9: 'Now Fully Responsible for Health Care Delivery' in DOD

Article
10/6/2022
Four DHA personnel, including DHA Director Place, center, cut a birthday cake with a sword to celebrate DHA's ninth birthday. Oct. 1, 2022.

Defense Health Agency celebrates its 9th year; continues to grow military medical mission.

DHA Region Indo-Pacific Standardizes Medical Readiness and Health Care

Article
9/30/2022
A man speaks into a microphone on a podium

DHA establishes DHA Region Indo-Pacific on Sept. 27.

Technology and Medicine: The Digital Age of Health Care

Article
8/26/2022
Photo of an afternoon panel of four people

Technology is transforming health care and incorporating new elements for providers in their practices.

C-Suite's Culture of Care

Article
4/27/2022
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Clinton Murray (right), Brooke Army Medical Center commanding general and an infectious disease physician, and Dr. Evan Renz, deputy to the commander for quality and safety and a general surgeon, stop to compare notes during Saturday morning rounds at BAMC on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Dec. 18, 2021. (Courtesy Photo)

It can be a balancing act, but senior leaders at Brooke Army Medical Center make it a priority to carve out time for clinical care.

MHS GENESIS: Commanders Say Electronic Health Records Foster Improved Care

Article
4/20/2022
An Army soldier and patient actor sports a mock impalement while providing simulated medical information to test out a new electronic medical record system designed to virtually document medical encounters in the field. The mock scenario was part of the U.S. Navy’s Rim of the Pacific exercise in 2018. (Photo: Ana Allen, U.S. Army)

MHS GENESIS improves health care for military beneficiaries across the enterprise.

MHS GENESIS Now Deployed at 66 of 138 Military Hospital and Clinic Commands

Article
4/8/2022
Air Force Col. Dolphis Hall, 4th Medical Group commander, left, and Chief Master Sgt. Kaleah Belin, 4th MDG senior enlisted leader, pose for a photo at the Thomas Koritz Medical Clinic at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, March 19, 2022. (Photo: Air Force Senior Airman Kimberly Barrera)

MHS GENESIS is now live at Waves Bragg and Wave Hood.

The New Public Health Director Talks about His Goals for Force Readiness

Article
4/5/2022
Rear Admiral Brandon Taylor of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps in dress whites at the 2019 National Independence Day Parade where he represented the U.S. Surgeon General as a presiding official with the other services. Taylor was named in February as the new director of the Defense Health Agency’s Public Health directorate. (Photo: Tanisha Blaise, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division senior public relations and media specialist)

Rear Adm. Brandon Taylor was recently appointed to be the new director for the Defense Health Agency’s Public Health directorate. In an interview, he discussed how he is approaching his new role, his goals for Public Health within DHA, and the importance of Public Health to a medically ready force and a ready medical force.

How Standing Up Regional Markets is Improving Access to Health Care

Article
1/11/2022
Air Force Maj. Megan George, a registered nurse assigned to the 633d Medical Group based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, retrieves medical supplies from a storeroom at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, Minnesota during COVID-19 response operations, Dec. 7. The DHA has seen early success in replacing deployed personnel in their assigned markets (Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman).

Modernizations set in motion in 2021 will optimize care and sharing of medical resources across services and the entire MHS, says U.S. Public Health Service Capt. Tracy Farrill.

New Small Market and Stand Alone MTF Organization Marks Big Milestone

Article
12/20/2021
The Defense Health Agency officially established the Small Market and Stand Alone Military Treatment Facility Organization, or SSO, during a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field in Texas on Dec. 14.

The Defense Health Agency officially established the Small Market and Stand Alone Military Treatment Facility Organization, or SSO, during a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field in Texas on Dec. 14.

Meet the Navy Lieutenant Who’s a ‘Rising Star’ in Health Care IT

Article
11/17/2021
Studio photograph of Navy Lt. Travis Kelley

Navy Lt. Travis Kelley was recognized as one of 10 innovators in the federal information technology field in October.

Hawaii Market Strengthens DoD’s Medical Readiness & Patient Experience

Article
10/26/2021
DHA Assistant Director Dr. Brian Lein (left), and Hawaii Market Director Col. Martin Doperak (right) prepare to unfurl the flags during the formal Hawai'i Market Establishment Ceremony.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA), and the new Hawaii market director, Army Col. Martin Doperak, hosted a ceremony at Tripler Army Medical Center on October 20, 2021, ushering in the new Military Health System market.

DHA establishes Central Texas Market to improve health care delivery

Article
10/4/2021
Unfurling of the flags during the ceremony of the Central Texas Market

The Central Texas Market will enable greater collaboration across military hospitals and clinics in the Central Texas region to strengthen the medical readiness of service members and enable these facilities to deliver better care and a better patient experience.

Happy Birthday, DHA! Director Reflects on Eight Years of Progress

Article
10/1/2021
Military personnel posing for a picture

Oct. 1 marked the 8th anniversary of the founding of the Defense Health Agency, the U.S. military’s only medical combat support agency. Director Army Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Ronald Place said the evolution, growth and success the agency has experienced since also comes with greater expectations, greater demand and ever-increasing responsibility going forward.

Page 1 of 3 , showing items 1 - 15
First < 1 2 3 > Last 
Refine your search
Last Updated: December 28, 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