Military Families

baby's first dr appt

I'm a first time mom and due in two weeks. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to baby stuff and tricare prime, so this may be a dumb question. 

 What dr does the baby see for its first appt after coming home from the hospital? We have tricare prime and I plan on taking the baby to the clinic on base for all appts. I am not giving birth in a military hospital, but rather a local hospital. Do I just call the central appts line when coming home from the hospital to schedule an appt for a check up after the first week?

 Thanks in advance for your answers...they will ease some last-minute pre-baby jitters! 

Re: baby's first dr appt

  • Not sure exactly, but I think you'll have to get the LO registered with DEERS before you can schedule an appointment.  Again, not sure I"m a FTM as well but in order to get appointments you have to be registered with DEERS.  Good luck!
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  • First thing is definitely get the baby registered in DEERS.  And also, you will need to do a separate registration for Tricare.  I know many people who just got registered for DEERS and thought they were ok, only to find out that their baby did not have insurance.
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  • We went with an off baser provider so I don't know what happens when you go on base. I liked the off base provider better and that way the same doctor that saw DS in the hospital could continue seeing him and continue his care. For off base we didn't have to have him in DEERS before his first appointment because they are covered for so many days automatically, I can't remember if its 10 or 30 for some reason. Our off base provider wanted to see DS at one week. I also liked going off base because we told the nurses what office we wanted to use, then the hospital informed that office for us, and the pediatrician on call came to the hospital and took care of everything there, including his circ, all his tests, etc.

    Is there a reason you are going on base? Is it more convenient for you? You can still choose an off base provider if you have tricare prime, there are still no co-pays off base, and depending on where you are I have heard its hard to book appointments on base.

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  • imagesmwiggle:
    First thing is definitely get the baby registered in DEERS.  And also, you will need to do a separate registration for Tricare.  I know many people who just got registered for DEERS and thought they were ok, only to find out that their baby did not have insurance.

    Baby did have insurance, just not Tricare Prime.

    You have 60 days from LO's DOB to enroll the child in DEERS. If you don't enroll them in Tricare Prime, they will automatically be enrolled in Tricare Standard as long as they are in DEERS.

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  • imageWeWearCombatBoots:

    We went with an off baser provider so I don't know what happens when you go on base. I liked the off base provider better and that way the same doctor that saw DS in the hospital could continue seeing him and continue his care. For off base we didn't have to have him in DEERS before his first appointment because they are covered for so many days automatically, I can't remember if its 10 or 30 for some reason. Our off base provider wanted to see DS at one week. I also liked going off base because we told the nurses what office we wanted to use, then the hospital informed that office for us, and the pediatrician on call came to the hospital and took care of everything there, including his circ, all his tests, etc.

    Is there a reason you are going on base? Is it more convenient for you? You can still choose an off base provider if you have tricare prime, there are still no co-pays off base, and depending on where you are I have heard its hard to book appointments on base.

    What she said. It was 30 days of coverage.
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  • imageshinece:
    imageWeWearCombatBoots:

    We went with an off baser provider so I don't know what happens when you go on base. I liked the off base provider better and that way the same doctor that saw DS in the hospital could continue seeing him and continue his care. For off base we didn't have to have him in DEERS before his first appointment because they are covered for so many days automatically, I can't remember if its 10 or 30 for some reason. Our off base provider wanted to see DS at one week. I also liked going off base because we told the nurses what office we wanted to use, then the hospital informed that office for us, and the pediatrician on call came to the hospital and took care of everything there, including his circ, all his tests, etc.

    Is there a reason you are going on base? Is it more convenient for you? You can still choose an off base provider if you have tricare prime, there are still no co-pays off base, and depending on where you are I have heard its hard to book appointments on base.

    What she said. It was 30 days of coverage.

    It's 60 days.

    https://www.tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do;jsessionid=T6PW4pVJX5HZJgyDZpG8LyfXpgvhT1KpyfS0h0xc2vQvTLTMn2yB!-1432545411?puri=%2Fhome%2Foverview%2FEligibility%2FDEERS%2FChildren

    TRICARE Prime Coverage
    If any family member is enrolled in Prime, TRICARE Prime covers the following:

    • Newborns for 60 days beginning from the date of birth;
    • Adopted children for 60 days beginning from the effective date of the actual adoption; and
    • Pre-adoptive children for 60 days beginning on the date of placement of the court or approved adoption agency.
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  • Since you're delivering in a regular hospital, you need to check with the hospital's policies on whether or not you need a pediatrician prior to giving birth.  In order to pre-register and or leave with my baby after they are born, I needed to find a pedi that had rights at the hospital and could care for the baby after she's born. 

    Since I have my own insurance separate from my FI, I needed to find a pedi that would take Tri Care Prime because that's what her dad has.  So I researched people in the provider directory and was lucky to find maybe 5 doctors that accept Tri-Care and have rights at my hospital so I went with one of them. 

     Also, as pp stated you have 60 days where the baby is covered under your husband or fiance's social security number because it'll take that long for the baby to get its own so you won't be able to register them in DEERS.

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  • It just seemed more convenient to go on base for now. We are PCSing shortly after the baby is born, so it is more of a temporary thing until we get to our next station. If I wanted to see an off base provider, what would I have to do to set the baby up with a dr off base? Do I need to contact Tricare at all or just call ped office?
  • imagefreemala:
    It just seemed more convenient to go on base for now. We are PCSing shortly after the baby is born, so it is more of a temporary thing until we get to our next station. If I wanted to see an off base provider, what would I have to do to set the baby up with a dr off base? Do I need to contact Tricare at all or just call ped office?

     

    We only had to tell my OB and then the hospital who we were going with, then when my husband went to put our son into DEERS there is a place on the forms to list what doctor you are using. You usually do not have to inform the pediatrician for a new birth, the hospital takes care of that. When you move you will probably have to fill out new forms when you change all your info in DEERS and then call the pediatrician, so if you do want to go off base at your next location I would research it before you arrive. I found out about my pediatrician through a local facebook group where I just asked mom's who they liked and used.

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