The Department of Defense’s military treatment facilities are changing management, but better definitions of operational functions and organizational structures are needed to avoid issues, cautions a Government Accountability Office report.

The Defense Health Agency has made progress accepting administrative responsibility for the MTFs, acknowledges GAO. However, significant work remains to complete the implementation plan by its March 1, 2018, deadline.

The report found that data provided in the DoD’s March 2017 and June 2015 interim reports on transition planning provided “high level” information on the transition, but lacked important details.

“In the March 2017 and June 2017 interim reports, DoD summarizes roles and responsibilities at a high level to address how DHA will take administrative responsibility of the MTFs […], but a significant amount of work remains to complete the implementation plan by March 1, 2018 — the due date of the department’s final report on its planned implementation,” the report said.

Section 702 of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act directed DHA to take control of the MTFs by October 2018. It requires the secretary of defense to create an implementation plan for how DHA will take responsibility for the MTFs, eliminate duplicative activities, maximize efficiencies and reduce the number of full time employees relating to the headquarters activities of the military health system.

“Our review of the August 2017 draft Deliverables Work Plan found that a significant amount of work is still needed to complete the implementation plan for how the reform will be accomplished,” the report said. “For example, the draft Deliverables Work Plan showed that the work group still needed to define readiness functions, define the organizational structure, and define the governance structure, among other things.”

According to the March and June interim reports, details on how the DoD will accomplish the elimination of duplicative programs, increased efficiency and staffing reductions will not be released until the submission of the final plan.

“Specifically, the June 2017 interim report stated that in order for the department to eliminate duplicative activities, maximize efficiencies, and reduce headquarters staffing across the [military health system], it must first complete an analysis by comparing ‘future state requirements under the component model with ‘current state’ resources,” the GAO report said.

GAO did not offer any recommendations in its report and said that it would continue to monitor DoD progress.

About Jessie Bur

Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.

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