The Defense Health Agency celebrated its second anniversary and the achievement full operating capability as a combat support agency yesterday.
Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, spoke on behalf of Defense Secretary Ash Carter in regard to the importance of DHA achieving its full operating capability.
“The readiness of the force is of paramount responsibility,” he said. “Readiness is key, and that’s what this agency is about. The delivery of high-quality, accessible health care serves as a foundation of a ready force and a lifesaving combat ability in a deployed environment in countries and environments in which we may be asked to call, and a strong military health service is a force multiplier. Our senior leadership recognizes that.”
Woodson said the event represented a major milestone and a transformational change for the U.S. military medical system.
“Throughout the history of the United States military, the ability to provide medical care has been an essential enabler for us to conduct the defense of this nation,” he said. “As we go forward into the future though, with the increase in technology, the increase sophistication of trying to deliver medical care, we have to achieve greater jointness and efficiency for sustainability and that’s what this represents today. It represents the key foundational element to securing and ensuring the sustainability of the U.S. military medical system.”
DHA’s Mission
The mission of the DHA is to sustain a medically ready active duty and reserve component through high quality health care, maintain a trained and ready deployable medical force, provide high-quality, integrated medical care to non-active duty and Reserve beneficiaries, achieve cost savings through reduction in duplication and variation and enhance interoperability among armed service medical departments, said Air Force Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Douglas J. Robb, the director of DHS.
“We are the joint force solution that will enable our service surgeon generals to present medically ready forces and readily medical forces to the service chiefs and combatant commanders,” he added.
Woodson said a long-standing belief that the military health care system could be better integrated and more efficient led to a task force being developed in 2011, and that task force developed the Defense Health Agency.
“The Defense Health Agency is a critical enabler of this global mission in service to the Army, Navy and Air Force military medical element,” Woodson said. “We’ve accomplished significant transformation in our system with an enterprise focus, and we have pivoted to the future. The changes in governance and the establishment of the Defense Health Agency occurred because of the superb collaboration and shared vision of the secretary of defense, the service secretaries, the chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] and the service chiefs and our military health system team, to include the surgeons general and, of course, the deputies.”
DHA’s Future
Woodson and Robb said DHA has helped the respective service branches with their medical achievements and will continue to be of strategic importance to the national security strategy and to service members.
It’s about “the future of military medicine, the future of our capacity to care for those service men and women who go into harm’s way,” Woodson said. “What we do in the health arena or in health engagement, which the Defense Health Agency will support into the future with the services, is of strategic importance and cannot be overestimated in terms of the impact of outbreaks of disease and the consequences.
“The role the U.S. military health system plays in national security is more profound than ever,” he continued. “We offer a strategic capability that cannot be jeopardized and must be capitalized upon. The Defense Health Agency is an essential player that will help increase our interagency partnerships as well as partnerships with the private sector and non-governmental organizations.”
What DHA Means to Service Members
The Defense Health Agency combined various organizations into one, thus standardizing various processes, Woodson said. For example, DHA is creating common business and clinical processes so there is standardized care across all service hospitals. This standardization provides consistency in the quality of care, he added.
“A soldier, sailor, airman or Marine shouldn’t walk into an Air Force hospital and expect very different services or standard of care than if they walked into a Navy or Army hospital,” Woodson said. “Today represents that important transformational change that is going to secure the future of high quality care for men and women who are asked to go in harm’s way.”
Robb said DHA also is working to set up standardization with all of the service’s electronic medical records, with a roll-out to begin soon in the Pacific Northwest. Another innovation, he said, is a one-stop shop for medical training in one location on one learning system.
DHA’s innovations and efficiencies saved the government $350 million in 2014 alone, Robb said, with projected savings of $3.5 billion over the next four years.
Supporting Combatant Commands
Woodson said complex situations around the world, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, require joint medical solutions to support the combatant commanders in the future.
“No single service in the future will have all of the capabilities that are necessary,” he said. “It requires the combined efforts of all of the services, and to have an integrating agency that can provide those platforms going forward is going to be essential. That’s why we get back to ensuring we have sustainability but also as we pivot to the future, it will make us stronger, better and more relevant.”