An integrated practice unit tool for the Military Health System

To develop a tool for measuring performance of a coordinated care center against the criteria of an integrated practice unit (IPU) and test it against an established care center in the Military Health System (MHS).

Characteristics of 4 patient care coordination models were sorted using the 11 criteria of the IPU.

Subject matter experts evaluated characteristics and criteria for inclusion or exclusion based on the needs of specialty care in the MHS. The consolidated tool was tested using the example of the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), which provides coordinated, colocated care for patients with traumatic brain injury, using responses of yes, partial, no, not applicable, or incomplete.

The final tool contained 7 IPU criteria subdivided into 18 measures. NICoE was found in 2020 to meet 11 measures fully and 6 partially, with 1 deemed not applicable. In 2023 it met 17 of 18 measures, with the remaining (translation services) available as an enterprise-wide resource. The tool was seen to need improvement in clarification of 3 measures and in 1 criterion that is evaluated differently by patients vs providers.

This IPU assessment tool accurately captures both the strengths and weaknesses of a coordinated care facility within the MHS. Iterative refinement of the tool is expected to inform ongoing discussion of the transformation of care in the MHS and the US and to provide a framework by which to measure the care performance of centers wishing to reorganize as IPUs.