Joint Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (JKSA)
Unified, Reliable and Ready Medical Forces
The JKSA Program develops, improves, and maintains methodologies to measure clinical readiness, based on MILDEP requirements, and are foundational to supporting the sustainment of clinical readiness and enhancing the interoperability of critical wartime medical specialties in order to inform the optimization of the ready medical force.
JKSA Branch aims to help raise medical readiness, improve the services of the military medical treatment facilities (MTFs) and bolster the capabilities of Combatant Command (CCMD) trauma systems (CTS). The JKSA program will optimize the MTFs' practices by identifying medical personnel's KSAs, pinpointing gaps in skill sustainment, influencing readiness-training requirements, and providing immediate solutions through military civilian partnerships. To this end, JKSA:
- Supports the sustainment military medical personnel clinical readiness through optimization and enhancement of routine medical practice within the MTFs.
- Facilitates the identification and alignment of personnel to MIL-CIV Partnerships when that clinical readiness cannot be attained within the MTFs.
- Supports individual clinical proficiency and the overall military health system by providing an innovative approach to measuring, evaluating, and sustaining clinical proficiency AND an enterprise "value" of readiness assessment to capitalize on MTF efficiency and effectiveness comparisons.
What are JKSAs?
- JKSAs are the specialty-specific Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities derived from an expeditionary scope of practice (ESP) for military medical personnel.
- JKSAs were developed by specialty-specific military medical personnel based on the Joint Trauma System Clinical Practice Guidelines, case registries, and relevant literature.
- Mapping specialty-specific ESPs to patient workload (in the MTFs and military-civilian partnerships) yields a readiness indicator (JKSA clinical activity score) for military medical personnel.
- MTF and market optimization creates and streamlines clinical readiness opportunities supporting the ready medical force.
- Knowledge and Procedural Skills Assessments are mapped to each specialty-specific expeditionary scope of practice. They provide additional measures to identify and address gaps prior to deployment and inform vulnerabilities associated with knowledge and skills degradation over time.
JKSA Dashboards Deliver Actionable Data
The dashboards for specialty injury data were created to support clinical teams and gather feedback to refine the readiness assessment tools and methodologies. The dashboard provides a standardized view for the team to review and evaluate physicians' readiness to deploy and utilize actionable data to identify gaps in their peacetime practice, as it relates to necessary downrange skills. The dashboard displays KSA scores at both the physician and MTFs within the military health system. This KSA score and management tool was developed in response to the Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense direction to assess the ability of the military's inpatient hospitals to support a set of Essential Medical Capabilities. Prior to the request of a proof of concept, there was no consistent method to measure a physician's readiness for deployment.
The scores on the dashboard were populated using data from the Military Health System Management Analysis and Reporting Tool. Military Health System Mart Data Procedural Terminology code procedures were extracted from M2. Within M2, direct care data was obtained from the Comprehensive Ambulatory/Professional Encounter Record database and purchased care data was obtained from the TRICARE Encounter Data Non-Institutional database.