Implementing the Post-deployment Health Practice Guideline : Lessons from the Field Demonstration

The Office of the Secretary of Defense/Office of Health Affairs (OSD/HA) is implementing a guideline to identify patients with post-deployment health (PDH) concerns and manage their care.

Before implementation, OSD/HA conducted a demonstration with treatment facilities at three sites.

RAND evaluated their experiences with the guideline, related OSD/HA policy, and the tool kit of support materials.

This briefing presents the demonstration 1s findings, which document successes and challenges, how problems were addressed, and systemic issues.

The authors delineate four issues to be resolved for successful implementation and three ways to provide corporate support.