Development of a Backfill Analysis Tool in the Army's Great Plains Regional Medical Command

摘要

The purpose of this study was to analyze backfill and PROFIS tasking data from fiscal year 2001 and develop a methodology to estimate costs associated with backfill missions within GPRMC, which then could be adequately resourced. The future arrival in fiscal year 2004 of the next generation of TRICARE Managed Care Support Contracts (TNEX), and the subsequent major financial structural modifications in TNEX will drastically increase a commander's exposure to financial risk. A clear understanding of the nuances and relationships between financing and Military Healthcare System (MHS) unique readiness issues is needed to assist the GPRMC commander in executing the soundest financial decisions possible. The resulting process, coined the Backfill Analysis Tool (BAT), provides a comparative view of expected travel costs in conjunction with TRICARE Prime leakage to the network; facilitating a holistic financial comparison. The results of the study indicate that two of five real-world taskings under study could have been supported with reduced costs to the region. The BAT process provides GPRMC staff the opportunity to routinely factor in leakage costs into the backfill decisionmaking process.