A final report submitted August 2014 to the Secretary of Defense reviewed the Military Health System www.defense.gov/pubs/140930_MHS_Review_Final_Report_Main_Body.pdf in several areas including how patient and safety in the Military Health Service (MHS) is progressing.
The report indicates that MHS demonstrates wide performance variability in terms of patient safety with some areas operating better than civilian counterparts, however, some areas are below national benchmarks. However, the report did not provide any evidence of specific substantive deficiencies in safety and quality.
Six measures were listed in the report that the MHS should do to improve patient safety and quality in DOD:
- Develop a corrective action plan to improve Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) in terms of patient safety and quality
- MHS should develop a performance management system adopting a core set of metrics regarding access, quality, and patient safety
- MHS should develop an enterprise-wide quality and patient safety data analytics infrastructure to include health IT systems
- MHS should emphasize transparency of information including both the direct and purchased care components
- With MHS governance, develop policy guidance to provide the services with common executable goals
- MHS should continue to develop common standards and processes to improve outcomes across the enterprise
On October 1, 2014, the Secretary of Defense sent a memorandum to military departments to take action on upgrading the quality and safety of care in the MHS. The memorandum requests that within 45 days any MTF identified in the review in terms of deficiencies in patient safety will need to submit an action plan within 45 days to show how their performance will be improved.
The Defense Health Agency (DHA) www.health.mil with oversight for MHS system improvement, will be required to provide a plan within 90 days for a more comprehensive assessment to include current compliance with contract specifications for quality and safety.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs will then take the lead in developing a specific plan to implement the necessary changes as recommended in the MHS Review. This report will include any necessary organizational or infrastructure changes, education and training requirements, changes to existing policy or any required new policies, and a plan to engage accrediting bodies and academic and professional organizations to enable knowledge sharing across the enterprise.