Don’t Wait to Send in Consult Reports
Consultation and treatment reports help facilitate continuity of care for all TRICARE beneficiaries. In addition, having a complete medical record is necessary for the military to assess "combat readiness" and "fitness for duty" of troops. To help the service branches, both civilian and Military Treatment Facility (MTF) referring providers need timely feedback to properly manage their patients’ care, including Active Duty Service Members, retirees and their family members.
If you determine that your TRICARE patient needs further tests and/or treatment after the initial appointment, please submit your consult report within 10 days after the patient’s initial appointment. The report should be submitted to the fax number indicated on your referral/authorization approval letter and fax cover sheet. By submitting your report to TriWest after the initial appointment, it will eliminate the follow up phone calls, letters, and e-mails from TriWest seeking your report.
TriWest’s consult report tracking system assists the MTF with receiving and tracking the reports. Both providers and TRICARE beneficiaries benefit when consult tracking reports are submitted in a timely manner, as noted below:
- Improves the patient’s quality of care
- Improves the patient’s continuity of care
- Assesses the Active Duty Service Member’s combat readiness and fitness for duty
- Ensures all Consult Reports are received and routed to the referring provider for all beneficiaries (Active Duty Service Members, retirees and their family members)
- Archives consult reports electronically
- Provides referring provider access to archived reports, decreasing duplicate report requests from the servicing provider
- Decreases unnecessary work for servicing and referring providers
For more information about the consult report tracking process, refer to the Provider Handbook. The online version of the Provider Handbook is available in the Resource Library section of the Provider Connection area of www.triwest.com. You may also call TriWest at 1-888-TRIWEST (888-874-9378).