Access to the MDG Changes

  • Published
  • By Maj. Barbara Blake
  • 22nd Medical Support Squadron
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  With the permanent change of station cycle in full swing, the 22nd Medical Group is experiencing significant turnover in its provider staff.

Effective immediately, the clinic will no longer have a pediatrician on staff; however, all existing and inbound family practice providers are credentialed in pediatric care and can effectively treat the broad variety of common pediatric medical problems.

In light of this, our group practice management staff will be reassigning affected patients to the family practice clinic.

Rest assured we will strive to keep family members assigned to the same provider.

In rare cases, when a child has a complicated medical problem, other options for care are available through the TRICARE Service Center.

As a reminder, when you call for an appointment the clerks will first look for an appointment with your primary care manager. If there are no appointments available, they will look for one with a provider from your PCM's team. If there are no appointments available on the team, they will look for an appointment with a provider on another team. If there are no appointments left in the family practice clinic, the appointment clerks will follow established procedures to ensure the MDG meets your needs.

To book an appointment, visit https://www.tricareonline.com, log in and choose the reason for the appointment. You will then see available appointments for your PCM. If there are no appointments displayed, click on the link entitled "Appointments with other providers on your team." This will show you all appointments for the team. There is a common misconception that you must log onto tricareonline.com at midnight to get an appointment. This is not accurate since any same-day appointment available at 1201 a.m. will be available until either booked by another patient online or booked by the appointment clerks when they start making appointments at 7 a.m.

As always, it is our desire to provide you with the highest quality healthcare, if you have questions or concerns, please call Maj. Ted Rhodes at 316-759-4570 or Maj. Barbara Blake at 316-759-5455.