Is There a Dominant, Effective HR Organizational Structure Within Army Medical Treatment Facilities

Abstract

Abstract : The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a dominant, effective human resource system configuration within the Army Medical Department. The final study sample size (n) included 36 Army medical treatment facilities of various care levels. Independent and dependent variables included patient satisfaction, executive satisfaction, financial performance, and human resource organization type. The data sources for this study were direct queries to individual facility Deputy Commanders for Administration and department chiefs, M2, and the Army Medical Command Management System (CMS). The results of the study revealed an strong prevalence of combined civilian and military human resource (HR) organizations (22 of 36) over separate civilian military human resource organizations (14 of 36). The distribution among survey respondents demonstrated a similar trend with combined HR accounting for 17 of 29 facilities and separate HR accounting for 12 of 29 facilities. However, human resource organization type comparisons failed to yield statistically significant correlations. The study is significant because of the increased pressure for Army medical treatment facilities to prove their competitive equivalence with the civilian sector and there is a growing body of literature that links successful human resource management practices and positive organizational outcomes such as profitability, patient satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.