Measuring the Success of Warrior Transition Units

reportActive / Technical Report | Accession Number: ADA508315 | Open PDF

Abstract:

In April 2007, the U.S. Army Medical Command MEDCOM established the first Warrior Transition Unit WTU to facilitate improvements in care for the Armys wounded, ill and injured Soldiers. Since then, 35 WTUs and nine Community Based Warrior Transition Units CBWTU have been established around the country. The continued success of any unit requires a constant assessment and analysis of effectiveness. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that the MEDCOM should use evidence based outcomes measures of effectiveness to measure the success of Warrior Transition Units WTU. Civilian case management benchmarks for measuring outcomes can be effectively employed to measure WTU success rates. Military specific outcomes metrics must also be employed to measure organizational effectiveness. Military specific measures include return to duty rates, medical evaluation board processing times, and post-deployment social functioning. This essay will also provide support for the argument that by using evidence based outcomes metrics to measure the overall success of WTUs, the MEDCOM will have clear, standardized evidence that its resources are improving the lives of Soldiers.

Author(s):
Shaw, Suzanne K.
Author Organization(s):
ARMY WAR COLL CARLISLE BARRACKS PA
Descriptive Note:
Research paper
Supplementary Note:
Program Research Project DOI: 10.21236/ADA508315
Pagination:
0027

Security Markings

DOCUMENT & CONTEXTUAL SUMMARY

Distribution:
Approved For Public Release
Distribution Statement:
Approved For Public Release; Distribution Is Unlimited.

RECORD

Collection: TR
Identifying Numbers
Monitor Series:
USAWC
 Subject Terms
Joint Capability Areas:
JCA_5_Command and Control; JCA_5.3_Planning; JCA_1.4_Force Support; JCA_1.4.1_Force Health Protection; JCA_5.3.4_Develop Courses of Action; JCA_5.3.5_Analyze Courses of Action; JCA_6.4.1_Secure Information Exchange; JCA_1_Force Support; JCA_1.2_Force Preparation; JCA_6_Net Centric; JCA_1.2.3_Educating; JCA_6.4_Information Assurance; JCA_5.2.3_Share Knowledge and Situational Awareness; JCA_5.2_Understand; JCA_1.4.2_Health Service Delivery; JCA_4.1_Deployment and Distribution; JCA_8_Building Partnerships; JCA_1.2.1_Training; JCA_1.2.6_Concepts; JCA_8.2_Shape
Modernization Areas:
Fully Networked C3
Communities of Interest:
Biomedical
Descriptor(s):
*HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT, WOUNDS AND INJURIES, MEDICAL SERVICES, ARMY OPERATIONS, ARMY PERSONNEL, TRANSITIONS
Field(s)/Group(s):
Medicine and Medical Research
Keyword(s):
WTU(WARRIOR TRANSITION UNIT), CBWTU(COMMUNITY BASED WARRIOR TRANSITION UNIT), MEDCOM(MEDICAL COMMAND)
Report Date:
2009 Apr 30
Creation Date:
2009 Nov 18