Managed Care in the Military Health Services System: Did DOD Properly Plan and Will it Succeed or Fail
Abstract
This paper addresses implementation of the managed care program in the Military Health Services System (MHSS). Two specific questions to be addressed are: did the Department of Defense (DOD) properly plan and prepare to implement managed care in the Military Health Services System? and will a lack of planning and preparation cause managed care to fail? First to be addressed is a brief background of managed care in the civilian sector and why it has been successful. Next, three specific processes of the Department of Defense managed care program, called TRICARE, will be discussed. These processes are marketing, information systems and reimbursement procedures. Each process is evaluated through a review of DOD policies; government managed care contracts and implementation guidelines. The wide array of government policies and guidelines used to evaluate each process were developed both before and after the implementation of TRICARE. Finally, the likelihood of success or failure of TRICARE will be addressed. There are no conclusions to be drawn yet. The TRICARE program is too new for any findings to have been determined. It will be several more years before anyone can tell if TRICARE will succeed or fail.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA398329
Entities
People
- Brenda R. Bullard
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College