Defense Health Agency Streamlining Business Practices for Military Health Published Jan. 22, 2014 By Michael Parker Health.mil FALLS CHURCH, Va., -- Focused on the "behind-the-scenes" business side of the military health enterprise, the Business Support Directorate within the newly formed Defense Health Agency has four principal divisions formed to consolidate business operations, streamline decision-making and reduce administrative costs within the Military Health System. The four divisions -- Facility Planning, Medical Logistics, Budget and Resource Management, and Program Integrity - represent the most resource-intensive business functions within the enterprise. According to the Business Support Directorate's acting leader, Col. Darrell Landreaux, the stand-up of the directorate represents a unique opportunity to rapidly implement improved business processes that have the ability to improve readiness and reduce costs. "We're fortunate to be building upon a tremendous amount of collaboration with the service medical departments that have been underway for years," Col. Landreaux said, "but the new organization lets us accelerate our implementation of joint solutions - in how we build our hospitals and clinics; how we outfit these institutions; how we buy medical equipment and supplies; how we operate our financial system; and how we oversee the enterprise and protect against fraud, waste or abuse." The Facility Planning arm of the directorate is responsible for the planning, design, construction and outfitting of 1,000 plus military medical facilities (hospitals, patient centers, clinics and administrative buildings) valued at $33 billion. Led by John Becker, the acting director, the Facility Planning division of the Business Support Directorate will standardize the process for determining and modernizing the medical infrastructure needs based on populations served and the anticipated demand for health services from the military beneficiary community. Medical Logistics is responsible for the organization and delivery of all medical materials that are needed both domestically and in foreign theaters. Working in close collaboration with the Defense Logistics Agency, Medical Logistics will institute greater standardization of medical supplies and equipment across the Military Health System. Capt. Bernard Poindexter is the acting director for Medical Logistics. One of the early initiatives within Medical Logistics is aimed at instilling more business discipline in the logistics arena by increasing the use of existing negotiated contracts for supplies and reducing the use of government purchase cards. The Budget and Resource Management division, overseen by Bob Moss, is managing the vast financial services, budgetary and business office functions and helping to administer the Defense Health Program appropriation. One of the objectives of this organization is to establish a common cost accounting structure for the Military Health System to provide greater standardization of business accounts as well as to improve the ability of leadership to compare business performance. This office is also pursuing a common approach for the management of third party collections in order to increase revenue and reduce overhead. Program Integrity serves as the central coordinating office in the Defense Health Agency for allegations of fraud and abuse in the TRICARE program and ensures that the prime contractors have their own program integrity programs in place and functioning as needed. When circumstances require, the division coordinates investigative activities with the Department of Justice and other federal and state agencies. John Marchlowska serves as the director of Program Integrity. "The responsibility that falls upon the Business Support Directorate is less visible to our beneficiaries, but our work is integral to supporting readiness, improving health and health care delivery, and reducing costs," Landreaux said. "Our mission is to support the bigger mission of the MHS -- from the environment in which our people work, to the equipment and supplies they use, to the resources that they have available," he said. "Our efforts are focused on implementing common business processes and best practices in way that is responsive to our customer needs and respectful of the financial resources given to us by the taxpayer."|