Posted on Dec 7, 2023
DOD watchdog report warns of issues across military health care system
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This comes as no surprise since the military continues to decrease the number of medical and nursing personnel. Shifting smaller military hospitals to clinics doesn’t help either.
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown COL Randall C. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson @CPT Jack Durish CSM Chuck Stafford CSM Charles Hayden Sgt (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro Cpl Vic Burk
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown COL Randall C. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson @CPT Jack Durish CSM Chuck Stafford CSM Charles Hayden Sgt (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro Cpl Vic Burk
DOD watchdog report warns of issues across military health care system
Posted from militarytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Medicine Emergency Medicine
Posted 12 mo ago
Responses: 2
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Everything they have said is true. I work on and live near a base. Becasue I am in the thirty mile radius I am required to use the base clinic. If I am able to see a provider it may be two to three day or a week later. By then I have self medicated so much I am just about over whatever it was that I was being seen for. On top of that the pharmacy is late to need. What I mean by that is when I see a provider in clinic (30 feet from pharmacy) it could take several hours to get a prescription filled and if it is afer 1400 the medicine might not be ready till tomorrow. UNSAT. SO what I do is go to urgent care when I need to be seen and just pay the co pay. The only thing about that is that they cannot refer me to another specialist...I still have to be seen by the on base doc for a referral...Now they have rolled all of military medicine under Defense Health Agency to streamline...that was a mistake. Our medical system would be better of at some locations if they sent retirees to clinics downtown as primary care and just took care of the active duty and allowed us to use our benefit downtown with a pharmacy as well. Just my two cents but I am living it.
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Maj Robert Thornton
The year I retired from the AF Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth, Tricare became the norm. I refused to pay for a medical insurance that required me to see a gatekeeper before seeing a specialist.
Instead, I chose Tricare standard which didn’t cost anything and paid for a real medical plan through my wife’s school board. As an advanced practice nurse, I know who I need to see, I don’t need a gatekeeper to make that decision.
When I turned 65 I went on TriCare for Life. A year later my wife did too, as they got ready to change the Tricare for Life the next year.
I watched how bad the Tricare gatekeeper system was when one of my soccer player blew out his ACL at practice. I told his dad when they saw the military gatekeeper to see his credentials as an orthopedic surgeon. Since he couldn’t produce them then asks for an orthopedic appointment with a civilian ortho doc. He didn’t follow my advice. It took two months of physical therapy failure for the physical therapist to confront the doctor and to tell him the ACL was torn and to send him to an orthopedic surgeon.
Three months after the accident, I did his anesthesia at the local hospital. He was finally allowed to play high school soccer three games into the season.
Instead, I chose Tricare standard which didn’t cost anything and paid for a real medical plan through my wife’s school board. As an advanced practice nurse, I know who I need to see, I don’t need a gatekeeper to make that decision.
When I turned 65 I went on TriCare for Life. A year later my wife did too, as they got ready to change the Tricare for Life the next year.
I watched how bad the Tricare gatekeeper system was when one of my soccer player blew out his ACL at practice. I told his dad when they saw the military gatekeeper to see his credentials as an orthopedic surgeon. Since he couldn’t produce them then asks for an orthopedic appointment with a civilian ortho doc. He didn’t follow my advice. It took two months of physical therapy failure for the physical therapist to confront the doctor and to tell him the ACL was torn and to send him to an orthopedic surgeon.
Three months after the accident, I did his anesthesia at the local hospital. He was finally allowed to play high school soccer three games into the season.
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Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth
Maj Robert Thornton - I will say this...when I see a doc on base and ask for a referral there have been no issues...they shoot it through immediately and I get seen...I am with you on it though when I see a doc downtown and they say I need a specialist why do I have to see a doc on base to verify what another MD has already stated. TY pical military two step.
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Maj Robert Thornton Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth My experiences are the same in general but I do have a few differences that I write of to differences in individual base policies. First I must add that even when I was on active duty it took several hours from seeing a provider to getting the prescription filled at the pharmacy, so that's nothing new or caused by recent reductions in personnel IMO. I always carried a supplemental policy to cover the expenses that TRICARE didn't cover, and that goes back to before TRICARE existed (thanks to some crusty old SMSGT whose name I can't recall when I was a butter bar for that advice). Now that we are both over 65 Medicare is our primary and TFL serves as that supplement.
Locally I've seen our medical facility go from a large full blown hospital to a very large clinic. Wife and I are still seen on base as retirees but about 3 years ago she was moved to a satellite clinic because her PCM speciality was no longer on base and they had no idea when or if a replacement would be assigned. I'm still at the base clinic but the big difference for both of us is that both our PCMs are civilian, not military doctors. Because my wife is a diabetic she was seen by the base Ophthalmology clinic unil this year when they told us they were no longer going to have any Ophthalmologist at the clinic. That kind of surprised us since I assumed active duty would still need that speciality,, but sure enough, the last time I was on base that office had been gutted and was being turned into something else.
I'm still waiting for us, as retirees, to be told that we can no longer use the base doctors. We received a letter about 4 years ago saying this was going to happen but the base told us not to worry because that policy probably wouldn't get implemented.
Locally I've seen our medical facility go from a large full blown hospital to a very large clinic. Wife and I are still seen on base as retirees but about 3 years ago she was moved to a satellite clinic because her PCM speciality was no longer on base and they had no idea when or if a replacement would be assigned. I'm still at the base clinic but the big difference for both of us is that both our PCMs are civilian, not military doctors. Because my wife is a diabetic she was seen by the base Ophthalmology clinic unil this year when they told us they were no longer going to have any Ophthalmologist at the clinic. That kind of surprised us since I assumed active duty would still need that speciality,, but sure enough, the last time I was on base that office had been gutted and was being turned into something else.
I'm still waiting for us, as retirees, to be told that we can no longer use the base doctors. We received a letter about 4 years ago saying this was going to happen but the base told us not to worry because that policy probably wouldn't get implemented.
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Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth
I wish my issues were just for retirees but active duty is the same and we are apilot training base. Nothing but the best for americas finest.
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