What kind of TRICARE doc can you have?

  • Published
  • By Shari Lopatin
  • TriWest Healthcare Alliance
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Most military families have a primary care manager, but not everyone knows who qualifies as one.

TRICARE defines a primary care manager as "a civilian network provider or military treatment facility provider who provides primary care services to TRICARE beneficiaries."

Most families with TRICARE Prime or Prime Remote have a PCM. This is the person to run to for all non-emergency services.

A PCM may be a:

  • Certified nurse midwife
  • Family practitioner
  • General practitioner
  • Gynecologist
  • Internal medicine physician
  • Nurse practitioner
  • Obstetrician 
  • Pediatrician
  • Physician assistant 
Either the beneficiary will choose or the military installation clinic will appoint a PCM to a family.

So, who to choose? A favorite gynecologist? A favorite pediatrician? 

A PCM may be a certified medical professional who practices within the state's rules and regulations and has signed a contract to be a TRICARE PCM. That could be anyone from a pediatrician to a nurse practitioner. Either way, the medical professional must be within the beneficiary's Prime Service Area.