TRICARE Recognizes Employee Excellence

 

 By Staff Sgt. Kathleen T. Rhem, USA
 
American Forces Press Service


 WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2000 -- TRICARE officials are working to 
 improve their program's image by giving a high-profile pat on 
 the back to those who go "above and beyond" to make TRICARE a 
 success.
 
 "We were kind of forgetting one absolutely vital group and that 
 is the people in the trenches who deliver TRICARE every day -- 
 the people who book the appointments, set up the referrals and 
 help with claims, the health benefits advisers, the TRICARE 
 support center personnel," said Air Force Col. Frank Cumberland, 
 TRICARE's director of communications and customer service.
 
 As a result, he said, officials started "Heroes of TRICARE," a 
 monthly recognition program that honors an outstanding person, 
 office, facility or organization for their achievements in 
 helping beneficiaries learn about and successfully use TRICARE 
 and the military health system.
 
 Since the program's inception in June, TRICARE has recognized 
 three Heroes for their excellence in claims work, improvements 
 to TRICARE and patient access. Future salutes will focus on 
 improving business processes, communications and optimization, 
 among other areas.
 
 Honorees receive a letter from TRICARE Management Agency 
 Director Dr. James Sears and recognition on the agency's 
 Internet home page at www.tricare.osd.mil. 
 Posters highlighting the recognition go up at recipients' 
 workplaces and in a "Hall of Heroes" at agency headquarters 
 here, and they will be displayed at the annual DoD TRICARE 
 Conference in January. TRICARE officials will also share the 
 recognition with each recipient's service surgeon general.
 
 "Maybe it's not a million dollars and maybe it's not an 
 immediate promotion, but it announces to your peers, your 
 customers and your leadership that you're there doing the job 
 day to day in an outstanding manner," Cumberland said.
 
 Cumberland also said he hopes the program "puts a face on 
 TRICARE" in the minds of beneficiaries. "It's easy for people to 
 think of TRICARE as a program or a benefit or a contractor, but 
 you have to remember that, just like everything else we do in 
 the Department of Defense, it really is people that are out 
 there delivering the goods," he said.
 
 The Heroes of TRICARE to date are Grace Potts and her staff at 
 the National Naval Medical Center Branch Medical Clinic, Naval 
 Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pa.; Army Spc. 
 William Thaxton, TRICARE Europe Region, Sembach Air Base, 
 Germany; and Christiane Fetz, Tripler Army Medical Center, 
 Honolulu, Hawaii. Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, 
 Wash., starting Oct. 1 will become the fourth Hero highlighted 
 on the TRICARE site.
 
 “It’s the itty bitty things” that can cause problems, Potts 
 said. The award citation credits Potts and her staff, Petty 
 Officer 2nd Class Eric Guptill and Theresa Puskar, with serving 
 their 40,000 TRICARE beneficiaries with an enthusiasm and 
 dedication reflected in surveys as 100 percent provider and 
 patient satisfaction and minimal claims problems.
 
 Thaxton was cited for successfully resolving over 400 claims 
 problems of active duty members serving in remote locations in 
 Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He was also credited with 
 helping to prevent new problems -- the number of denied claims 
 overall for remote sites fell from 36 percent to 4 percent 
 during his watch. Thaxton now works at Fort Meade, Md. 
 
 Fetz was cited for her service to 180,000 TRICARE beneficiaries 
 in the Western Pacific, which includes newcomers' briefings, 
 claims processing, patient assistance and mentor to two dozen 
 remotely located TRICARE representatives.
 
 Madigan was cited for outstanding clinical quality, as reflected 
 in the perfect 100 score it received on its 1999 review by the 
 Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care 
 Organizations.
 
 TRICARE officials say they receive 10 to 15 nominations each 
 month. A five-member panel from the TMA Office of Communications 
 and Customer Service selects the "Heroes." Nominations can be 
 made online at http://www.tricare.osd.mil/newhero/newhero.htm, 
 by fax at 703-681-3692, or by sending an e-mail message to 
 media@tma.osd.mil. 
 
 

Printer-friendly Version

Email A Copy