FORT BENNING, Ga., (Nov. 27, 2013) -- Martin Army Community Hospital encourages military personnel and their Families to keep their records regularly updated through the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System for more efficient health-care services.
According to the DEERS website, patients are responsible for keeping information current on their records. Active duty and retired service members are automatically registered in DEERS, but they must register Family members and ensure they are correctly entered into the database.
DEERS should be updated anytime a service member moves, changes status, gets married or divorced, has an additional dependent or any change that would affect benefits and entitlements for the member and dependents. DEERS information should be reviewed for accuracy once a year.
Terry Beckwith, chief of public affairs for MEDDAC, said the hospital's Composite Health Care System only stores updated patient information for 24 hours. However, keeping the DEERS system updated with the most recent contact information prevents inaccurate information and missed notifications for upcoming appointments.
"What we really need our patient population to do is make sure all of their patient information is up to date and correct in DEERS, that they have an ID card for each eligible patient who will get their care in the hospital or in our network," she said. "If their information isn't correct, we have a hard time calling them on the auto reminder system about an appointment. We might have challenges in sending them a letter when we're changing their enrollment to another primary care manager, but the information goes to the wrong address."
Beckwith said patients are asked to arrive to appointments on time or cancel an appointment in advance to ensure proper service to other patients. The RelayHealth system is available to patients for faster communication with primary health-care providers, prescription renewal and requests, appointment requests and more.
Active-duty Soldiers will complete Tricare enrollment during in-processing at Soldiers Plaza.
Enrollment forms for Family members are taken at the Tricare Service Center, located at Building 9204 on the hospital campus from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Tricare information is available by calling 800-444-5445 or visiting www.tricare.mil. For appointments, call 706-544-2273 or visit www.tricareonline.com.
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