To evaluate the Department of Defense's health readiness assessments, the authors reviewed department health policies, the assessments themselves, and the use of health screenings and similar health assessments among high-risk civilian professions. They also conducted interviews to assess military stakeholders' perceptions of the health assessments and to gather their recommendations for improving the assessments' efficiency and effectiveness.

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

Sarah O. Meadows, Kimberly A. Hepner, Jessica L. Sousa, Ryan Haberman, Shirley Dong

ResearchPublished Feb 11, 2025

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 report, 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.

Key Findings

  • Substantial service member burden and item redundancy exist across DoD health assessments, particularly those items screening for behavioral health.
  • The content of health readiness assessments largely aligns with recommended preventive screenings, but it may not always be clearly clinically relevant.
  • Process issues may limit the utility of health readiness assessments for their intended purpose of assessing individual health readiness.
  • Technological challenges reduce efficiency, particularly for providers who complete assessments.

Recommendations

  • Use systematic criteria to evaluate the content of health assessments, especially when adding or removing items.
  • Conduct an evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with the suite of health readiness assessments.
  • Explore opportunities for improved technological efficiency in the health readiness assessment process.

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  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2025
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 172
  • Paperback Price: $40.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 1-9774-1452-4
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA2858-1
  • Document Number: RR-A2858-1

Citation

RAND Style Manual

Meadows, Sarah O., Kimberly A. Hepner, Jessica L. Sousa, Ryan Haberman, and Shirley Dong, An Analysis of the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Health Readiness Assessments, RAND Corporation, RR-A2858-1, 2025. As of April 8, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2858-1.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Meadows, Sarah O., Kimberly A. Hepner, Jessica L. Sousa, Ryan Haberman, and Shirley Dong, An Analysis of the U.S. Department of Defense's Military Health Readiness Assessments. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2858-1.html. Also available in print form.
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This research was sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and conducted within the Personnel, Readiness, and Health Program of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD).

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