The Military Health System is undergoing an overhaul that should affect delivery of health-care services for every beneficiary who uses it. Changes are affecting the military treatment facilities (MTFs), electronic health records (EHRs), and TRICARE benefits, the agency announced last month.
Some key provisions include:
• Transferal of oversight for MTFs to the Defense Health Agency (DHA), and away from individual services. The first phase of the transfer began last year at Joint Base Bragg-Pope, N.C., Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla., Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., and Joint Base Charleston, S.C. DHA already manages Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Md., and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Va. More such changes will take place by this October.
• DHA will manage both direct care (provided by MTFs) and purchased care (from commercial providers.
• The new EHR will “provide enhanced secure technology to manage health – connecting medical and dental information across the continuum of care.” More rollouts of the new medical-records system will occur this year, with DoD-wide completion targeted for 2023.
• Enhancements to TRICARE, the Pentagon’s managed health-care system, are addressing issues such as convenience when service members move and getting administrative costs under control. TRICARE Select, a new program, provides additional access to preventative, urgent and mental-health care. Also, beneficiaries are eligible for the same dental and vision coverage – the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Insurance Program (FEDVIP) – as their civilian counterparts in federal civil service.