TRICARE expands coverage online for Malmstrom patients

  • Published
  • By Jason Heavner
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Recently, patients at the Malmstrom Clinic have been able to take care of their medical needs by using TRICARE Online, which is a patient-focused portal that provides access to online health care information and services including appointments, personal health data and prescription refills.

When it comes to appointments, a patient may make or change and appointment. Individuals can also cancel a military hospital or clinic primary care manager and select self-referral appointments. Past and future appointments can also be viewed as well as setting up email and text reminders.

With personal data patients can securely view, download, print or share lab and/or radiology results, medication profiles, allergy reports, immunizations and vital signs.

Prescription refills can also be requested through the portal as well as activating new prescriptions.

TRICARE Online is not a new initiative but has recently received an overhaul which allows streamlining communications between the customer and their respective PCM’s.

“The Defense Health Agency has made it better by allowing the customer to not only manage their appointments but having access to their providers,” said 2nd Lt. Marques Hiers, 341st Medical Support Squadron TRICARE operations and patient administration flight commander. “By allowing the site to have a link to our secure messaging, it allows the patient to ask questions to their provider for any minor questions they might have instead of having to make an appointment just to speak to their provider.”

Julie, a patient at the clinic, has been using TRICARE Online for a month and agrees that the site is beneficial.

“I really like the website because it eliminates having to call the main line and being put on hold,” said Julie. “With this site I can log on, make an appointment and I’m done within a matter of seconds. I sent a quick message to my provider and got an instant response within a few minutes. I was really impressed with that because you definitely can’t get that kind of quick service through the telephone.”

To log into the website, indiviuals will need either a common access card, Department of Defense self-service logon Premium (Level 2) or your Defense Finance and Accounting Service MyPay credentials. If a patient does not have any of these credentials, they can still register on the website itself at www.tricareonline.com