Prescribing Psychologists: DOD Demonstration Participants Perform Well but Have Little Effect on Readiness or Costs

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Military Health System's (MHS) Psychopharmacology Demonstration Project (PDP), focusing on: (1) how PDP graduates have been integrated into MHS; (2) the quality of care they provide to military personnel and beneficiaries; (3) their effect on medical readiness; and (4) comparing the costs of the program graduates to those of other military psychologists and psychiatrists.