An Analysis of the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Health Readiness Assessments

Congress mandates that the Department of Defense (DoD) assess and monitor the health readiness of the armed forces. Accordingly, DoD implements a suite of health assessments to monitor service members' health readiness. One annual and four additional deployment-related health assessments screen for issues with physical and behavioral health at specified intervals throughout the deployment cycle to facilitate early intervention and any medical care required to maintain force readiness. The content of many of the items in these assessments overlap, and the required time frames for assessment completion can be very close to one another. In addition, administration of similar assessments can involve unnecessary monetary and other resource costs. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs asked the RAND National Defense Research Institute to evaluate DoD's suite of health readiness assessments against their stated objectives and identify potential opportunities for improvement, increased efficiencies, and cost savings. In this study, the authors review the policies behind these health assessments at both department and service branch levels and the assessments themselves for overlaps and gaps, comparing them with U.S. guidelines for health screenings and the use of similar health assessments among high-risk civilian professions. Drawing from this analysis and interviews with military stakeholders, they offer recommendations for improving the health assessments' efficiency and effectiveness.