Defense Health Care: Applying Key Management Practices Should Help Achieve Efficiencies within the Military Health System

摘要

DOD's health care costs have risen significantly, from $19 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $48.7 billion in its fiscal year 2013 budget request, and are projected to increase to $92 billion by 2030. GAO reviewed DODs efforts to slow its rising health care costs by changing selected clinical, business, and management practices. Specifically, GAO determined the extent to which DOD has (1) identified initiatives to reduce health care costs and applied results-oriented management practices in developing plans for implementing and monitoring them and (2) implemented its seven medical governance initiatives approved in 2006 and employed key management practices. For this review, GAO analyzed policies, memorandums, directives, and cost documentation, and interviewed officials from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, from the three services, and at each of the sites where the governance initiatives were under way.