Choice program

[boomer2]

I seen my PCP on the 8th of Sept. and told her I had real bad blurry vision.  She said she was going to request a consult with an eye doc ASAP.  Well on the 18th of Sept they finally called me and told me they couldn't get me in until the 23 of Nov. I called the choice program on the 19th of Sept. They said we need an authorization so I went to the VAMC and got one. The choice people said we'll get back to you in 5 days, didn't happen, I recalled them and they said oops we messed up we'll call you back in 5 days. Didn't happen again.  Called them a third time got the same BS. Never happened again. Went to my PCP again on the 19th of Oct. for different issue and she told me the choice program don't work. She got on the phone right there and called the eye clinic and I have an appt on the 9th of Nov. She wasn't happy with that and they said that was the earliest they could get me in.  THE CHOICE PROGRAM IS BROKE.  If the eye clinic or for that matter any clinic is that busy they should automatically give you an outside referral.

[Sgt. Wilky]

Yep, my PCP (through my wife's insurance) said they wouldn't even participate. He said they signed up for it and saw 3 veterans, but were never reimbursed by the VA. They dropped the program after just a couple weeks.

[Buck52]

I used the choice program for sleep study, my VA sleep study  clinic sent me a letter saying they could not get me in  and gave me a number to call, my spouse called it and they shop around for a private sleep study  and called back and gave the name/address and when to report to the sleep study  this was all done within 2 weeks.

I went had the sleep study done...and now I'm waiting on the results....so I hope the VA pays for it  cause I sure can't.

 

..........Buck

[pwrslm]

I am using the choice program for back surgery.  Didn't hear a word from them, so I called in.  The total hours I have spent to insure that my preferred provider is in the CC program and properly registers, with approval to perform whatever needs to be done, is about 4.5 hours.

You have to be a pit bull and call every day until you get the desired results, otherwise its useless.  It took them 5 days to get 1 fax with approval sent.  This was after it was supposed to have been sent already, and the provider was given verbal instructions on what they had to do, and why. 

 

Incompetence runs the Choice Card Program.  He could never qualify for any other branch of service...

[pumibel]

boomer2,

It is frustrating, but once the VA eye clinic sees you, it will be better for subsequent appointments. I had an eye emergency a few years ago, and the VAMC ER doc said I was having a panic attack. It turned out that I had uveitis, which was starting to cause high IOP. I had to pay a small fortune to a civilian eye clinic to find this out and avoid going blind.  

Then I had to wait 6 months to see my PCP for other issues that may or may not be related to the inflammation. She was worried that I still had some eye inflammation at that point, so she had the eye clinic see me as a walk-in that same day. After they were done, they made me some more appointments, got me some nice glasses, and now I get an eye exam every two years like clockwork. Before this walk-in, they could never see me for regular eye checks whenever I tried to make appointments. So the urgent eye issue got me in the door faster.

How does this relate to your situation? Well, having sudden blurry vision is an eye emergency, and you may be able to get them to see you right away if you think the symptoms just showed up acutely. I am assuming it is pretty serious if your PCP was concerned about getting you in sooner than November.  

[Notorious Kelly]

Washington put the Union in charge of sending veterans to Non-Union care; how does the average thinking person expect that to work?

[john999]

My experience with the choice program for dental and vision is that is it really poor.  The dentist and doctor I saw were just worried about getting paid.  The dentist wanted to crown every tooth in my head and the eye doctor would not prescribe new glasses because he thought the VA would not pay him.   If I have any serious sorts of medical issues I use Medicare and my insurance.  I would not have a VA choice doctor do back surgery on me.   What about your follow-up and any PT you might need?  Is the VA going to run your over the hurdles for every little issue you have every time you have one with your back. I am pursuing the VA Fee Base program now for dental bills for treatment the VA should have done. I got $940 out of them so far.  I want $14,000 more.   They just wanted to pull my teeth and then tell me I did not need them anyway.  The Tampa VAMC is in chaos due to very heavy turnover among PCP doctors.  I have had three in the last year.  One quit, one got pregnant and one I never met yet.

 

 

                                   John