On June 09, I had my EFMP screening. That stands for Exceptional Family Member Program, which would make me sound pretty spectacular if it weren't for the fact that is has to do with family members who are CTD...Circling the Drain. That's right. This is the pot all of the sickly Navy dependents get thrown into when they can barely function as a human being. I have been lucky enough to have been a part of this illustrious program since I was given the misdiagnoses of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome...oh, and exercise-induced asthma...back in 2006 before we moved to Okinawa.
Now, here's the fun part about the program. Every three years, I GET to be re-screened to see if they should start digging a grave or not. So far, so good. It's the same thing every 3 years. Nothing gets done when it's supposed to get done. The only thing I could do is follow my EFMP package from office to office and hold the hand of the person who is dealing with it at that particular time. Yeah, you're right. That doesn't seem plausible.
Needless to say, I was told my package would be expedited and would be done in about a week since my husband is screening for XO in the next month or so. It is IMPERATIVE, URGENT, even EMERGENT, that THIS GETS DONE because our next duty station is dependent on the category I am assigned. Patients with certain categories can only be assigned to certain parts of the country or MTFs (Military Treatment Facilities) so we will have access to care that will meet our needs. I can't even explain what I've had to do this weekend to answer questions regarding this.
And, then there's HealthNet. HealthNet is where the referrals from Tricare are handed down from some magical place. Several months ago, my provider in DC left the practice. In order to stay with my holistic practitioner (who knows my history, and...let's face it...I insist on continuity of care because it's so rare) I have chosen to follow her to a practice in Delaware to see the Lyme-literate medical doctor (LLMD) she works with. I called HealthNet to switch my referral to that practice. Oooh! This is going to be SOOOOO easy because I haven't used any of the visits on my referral yet this year and I will get a shiny new one from that magical place! Yes, they assured me. This will not be a problem. It would if you had already used some of the visits on it, but it's an easy transfer...right up until the time that it wasn't. "The clinic name isn't coming up in the system. If you can call back with the tax ID number or NPI# we'll be able to switch it over. No problem." The NPI# is the National Provider Identifier number which is a unique 10-digit identication number issued to health care providers in the US by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Well, okay. That's easy enough. I texted my holistic practitioner and she sent me the numbers. I call HealthNet. Nope. He's not coming up in the system. You'll need to contact them and tell them to call Tricare and update the provider information. I wait a week or so and call back. No. He's still not in the system. I texted my holistic practitioner who told me the doctor had taken care of it. So, I called HealthNet again. Now, instead of telling me they needed to call in and change the provider information, I'm told that, in addition to calling, the clinic has to fax in a form or company letterhead. That, of course, is NOT what they told me the last time I had called. Every time you call it's a different story. It's like when we used to have to call the airlines to check the airfare prices. You get one agent telling you one price. You call back 10 minutes later and it's a totally different price.
RelayHealth... That's the email system we use to communicate with clinic office staff. They send me an email asking questions...and there's no reply button. Nope. I was told before that if they want you to reply to the message they have to add the option. Well, they never do. I have to go in and choose patient name, choose provider, choose reason, enter the subject, and copy and paste the previous email into a new one. There is no way to add an image or document. They asked for my Lyme med. Lyme med? They think I'm on just one? So, I had to go copy and paste my entire med list into that email when, if the option were there, I could have just attached the document or uploaded a picture of the list. While I'm still typing the message, I get a pop-up box telling me that my session is about to expire. How can that possibly be when I'm ACTIVELY typing? I also told them that all of my meds are in AHLTA, which is the system the Navy uses for patient information like meds. I guess it's too much trouble to look it up themselves. Let's ask the patient who feels great all of the time, has more energy than she's ever had in her entire life, and has nothing but time on her hands, to send us a list of her Lyme "med." Oh, my goodness. I can't even...
I'm on low-dose blood pressure meds. You wanna know why? Reread this post. I am so frustrated and angry right now. Every three years I HATE having to get my EFMP screening. The last time I got it done, the civilian clinic I was at was attached to an Army MTF. Well, the Army doesn't do the EFMP the same way as the Navy. I ended up having to get all 18 pages redone with another visit to my nurse practitioner. You would think they could make things the same across the Armed Forces but no, that might make sense.
I am all about organization and efficiency. Efficiency means getting things done in a timely manner...not shortcutting. Also, I need things to make sense. Here's an example of what didn't... When I went to get my thyroid scan done I wrote down all of my meds and if I was possibly pregnant. I was asked, by different people, at least twice what meds I was on and if I was possibly pregnant. Really? Then there's the time our daughter broke her arm in three places. We took her to the ER and FOUR times she had to tell the whole story...to FOUR different people. That's ridiculous. It's like when I was a nurse in the emergency room. I triaged patient and a lot of times the doctors didn't bother to read any of the history or assessment I wrote. What's the point? It wastes everyone's time. I don't waste other people's time and I don't want them to waste mine. I might have the time to spare, but I definitely don't have the energy.