Health Professions' Retention-Accession Incentives Study Report to Congress (Phase II & III: Adequacy of Special Pays and Bonuses for Medical Officers and Selected Other Health Care Professionals)

The Military Health System (MHS) must execute twin missions. The primary mission of the MHS and the three Service medical departments is force health protection. This readiness mission involves providing medical support in combat and other military operations and maintaining the day-to-day health of about 1.5 million men and women who serve in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. The second mission is to provide a health care benefit to nearly 6.6 million other people who are eligible to use the MHS. Because the Department of Defense (DOD) relies on a single force to meet the sometimes disparate missions, it must cultivate a workforce that is dedicated to caring for patients, committed to continuous improvement in performance and productivity, and competent in both wartime and peacetime. This challenge is particularly difficult because uniformed health care professionals are costly to access and train, and they have skills that are in demand in the private sector. Congressional awareness of this mandate and competition from the private sector for qualified health care professionals resulted in the following committee language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001: "The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a review and to report to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the adequacy of special pays and bonuses for medical corps officers and other health care professionals. The committee directs this review because of the level of competition within the economy for health care professionals and the potential devaluation of current special pays and bonuses, which could have a significant impact on recruiting and retention of health care professionals." As a result of this language, the TRICARE Management Agency (TMA) asked CNA to conduct a study to address the concerns voiced by Congress. This research memorandum describes the results of phases II and III of this study, adequacy of special pays and bonuses for medical officers and selected other health care professionals.