The Military Health System is comprised of the following elements.
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs
Leading the MHS, is the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The ASD(HA) is a civilian, Senate-confirmed official who serves as the chief medical adviser to the Secretary of Defense and oversees health policy and budgeting across the system, as well as directing the activities of the Defense Health Agency. The ASD(HA) is supported by the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and three Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense.
Joint Staff Surgeon
The Joint Staff Surgeon is the chief medical adviser to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, providing advice to the Chairman, the Joint Staff, and the Combatant Commanders, coordinating all issues related to Health Services to include operational medicine, force health protection, and readiness among the Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Services. | Read more about the Joint Staff Surgeon, Brig. Gen. John R. Andrus
Defense Health Agency
As an integrated Combat Support Agency, the Defense Health Agency enables the Army, Navy, and Air Force medical services to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime, as well as serving the healthcare needs of our Nation’s service members and families. DHA uses the principles of Ready Reliable Care to advance high reliability practices across the MHS by improving system operations, driving innovative solutions, and cultivating a culture of safety. DHA operates the TRICARE health plan, the DOD’s electronic health record—MHS GENESIS—and provides care through 700+ military hospitals, clinics and dental treatment facilities around the world.
TRICARE
Operated by the DHA, TRICARE is designed to provide the integrated, high quality care that millions of military families, past and present, deserve. As such, it offers one of the most comprehensive and affordable health benefits available to any American. Integrated health care is offered through military treatment facilities and through networks of civilian providers operated by civilian managed care support contractors in the United States and abroad. With 9.5 million beneficiaries, TRICARE would rank, if it was a civilian health insurer, among the 10 largest health plans in the nation. | Read more about the TRICARE health plan.
Military Hospitals and Clinics
Military hospitals and clinics are the heart of military medicine, where military, civilian and contract personnel provide care for TRICARE beneficiaries and gain the skills and training to support operational units. Military hospitals and clinics are located on military installations around the world, making the MHS is one of the nation's largest health systems. The DHA operates more facilities than any nonprofit hospital system in the nation, and would rank among the top five for-profit systems. | See Current Stats
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Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is the nation’s federal health professions academy — akin to the undergraduate programs of the U.S. military academies at West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs. And like the academies, students are not charged tuition; they repay the nation for their education through service. In many respects, USUHS’s curricula and educational experiences are similar to those of civilian academic health centers, with one important difference: its emphasis on military health care, leadership, readiness and public health set USUHS apart.
Expeditionary Care
Army, Navy and Air Force medical professionals help ensure those in uniform are medically ready to deploy anywhere around the globe on a moment's notice. And these medical professionals are also ready to go with them. There isn't another military medical force like it in the world—with the expertise, the assets and the global reach of our health system.
