The final report for the 90-day review that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called for in July 2014 was released on October 1, 2014. This request was thought to be a reaction to the recent VA issues and critical pieces of investigative journalism in the NY Times.
Hagel's bottom line: "The military health care system provides health care that is comparable in access, quality, and safety to average private-sector health care."
SUMMARY OF THE MHS REPORT
The review found that the MHS delivers safe, timely, and quality care that is largely comparable to care delivered in the civilian sector. The MHS demonstrates wide performance variability with some areas better than civilian counterparts.
MEDIA REACTION
Not surprisingly, the NY Times journalists summarized the report by emphasizing portions that recognized subpar performance. Two biases at work: Negativity Bias (media profits from negative news) and Confirmation Bias (journalists already took this position).
Wouldn't it be more accurate to use this headline from the report:
"U.S. MILITARY HOSPITALS DELIVER SAFE, TIMELY, AND QUALITY CARE LARGELY COMPARABLE TO CIVILIAN MEDICAL CARE."
MHS REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
- Identify cause of variance for MTFs that are outliers
- Develop a performance management system with core metrics
- Develop enterprise-wide quality and patient safety data analytics
- Emphasize transparency of information
- Develop common standards to advance understanding of safety culture
- Continue to develop common standards and processes
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