Practice Management
Due to its oversight by the federal government, TRICARE is challenged with limitations that don’t apply to most insurers—one being that they’re not able to offer some of the economic incentives commonly used to push patients to lower-cost care settings. At the same time, the military insurer is held to the same (or higher) standard for keeping costs under control. One strategy its administrators have come up with is a familiar one: Get patients to …
Read MoreUrgent care in a shifting healthcare delivery environment brings to mind Shel Silverstein’s children’s classic, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. In that tale, the missing piece stands alone, waiting for someone to come along and take it somewhere. Various shapes come by, but none are quite right. Some could not roll. Some had too many missing pieces. Finally, a shape comes along that fits just right and they roll along until the missing …
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The newly released Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) ensures that service members and their families will be able to visit urgent cares when necessary without prior authorization—access that would not have been covered under the NDAA, historically. The 2017 rules state that military medical treatment facilities must provide urgent care services for members of armed forces and covered beneficiaries until 11 PM daily; in areas where there are no such facilities, however, …
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Military members and their families covered under Tricare Prime, Tricare Prime Remote, or Tricare Young Adult–Prime will be allowed two urgent care visits without a referral per year, thanks to a pilot program starting May 23. Right now, beneficiaries need a referral before going to urgent care. Delays in getting appointments with a primary care provider have been a common complaint among military families for years, putting pressure on the Department of Defense to reconsider …
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The “ayes” had it as Congress approved a three-year pilot program that waives preauthorization for Tricare beneficiaries who want to visit an urgent care center. Tricare provides civilian health benefits for military personnel, military retirees, and their dependents. Part of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, the program will take effect six months after President Obama signs the bill (S. 1356) into law. At the end of year 1 of the pilot, the …
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