A descriptive analysis of the 1992 active-duty physician asset: with comparisons to the Kaiser-Permanente physician staff model data

Abstract

In a time of declining military budgets, DoD is reducing health care costs while insuring available, accessible, and quality health care. One area which impacts these factors is physician staffing levels. The problem for DoD is one of maintaining a cadre of active-duty physicians, which is generally based on wartime requirements, while providing peacetime medical care to over eight million beneficiaries. This thesis examines this problem by using data from the Defense Manpower Data Center and the Kaiser-Permanente HMO, northern CA region, in Oakland, CA (K-P). A baseline assessment of the 1992 active-duty physician asset is done by first analyzing each Service's number of active-duty physician specialists and then by comparing DoD active-duty physician staffing levels to the corresponding physician staffing levels of K-P. Additionally, beneficiary demographics are analyzed and compared between each Service, as well as, DoD and K-P. Similarities and differences in physician staffing levels between the Services and between DoD and K-P are discussed