Dr. Johnathan Woodson the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Director of the TRICARE Management Activity administers the $50 billion Military Health System (MHS) budget and serves as Principal Advisor to the Secretary of Defense for health issues.
The MHS has over 133,000 military and civilian doctors, nurses, medical educators, researchers, healthcare providers, allied health professions, and health administration personnel working worldwide.
Speaking at the recent Reserve Officers Association’s National Security Symposium, he said, “As the second of two wars winds down in Afghanistan, today’s military healthcare has become a joint force with both active duty and reserve units. They are in place and prepared to work with NATO and other countries to respond to natural disasters and acts of terrorism. After every major war, there needs to be a resetting and retooling on organizational strategy.”
“In the last 12 years, DOD has begun to think differently especially in medicine as it became a joint and international force producing medical standards,” Woodson added. “Now, as we complete operations in Afghanistan, we have to figure out what to do in the future. We are working with the services to define and develop what the future of military medicine will look like to make it better and stronger.”
“As U.S. Military troop strength downsizes from the war in Afghanistan, DOD is considering the proper balance between active-duty service members and reservists, how to optimize medical force readiness, and at the same time, deal with realities,” he added.
“It is important that military medicine programs be responsible and use systems that are effective and efficient by having the services collaborate in terms of medical methods and approaches” he said.
He explained that military medicine is looking at how to better standardize and integrate healthcare delivery at the local level. To achieve that goal, a change at headquarters is taking place to establish the Defense Health Agency (DHA).
On October 1, the DHA will be operational representing DOD’s inter-services joint administrative structure”, he said. “The new agency will operate and oversee shared services which will affect nearly all aspects of military medicine in terms of policy, research and development, medical logistics, health IT, education and training, the management of TRICARE and its pharmacy programs, and the design and construction of medical facilities.”