If you have ever been on the road in an area that you are not familiar with and a situation arises where you need to get to a hospital or doctor's office as soon as possible, chances are you will go to whatever facility is closest and hope that they take your insurance.
For people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare's TRICARE West Region health benefit plans, they will not have to worry about this as an app called DocGPS is now available to them.
The app, which is compatible with select Android smart phones and iPhones, uses GPS functionality to allow beneficiaries traveling within or outside the 21-state TRICARE West Region the ability to find the nearest in-network hospital or health care facility within a 100-mile radius of their location.
App users can quickly and easily look up a facility or care provider by name, provider speciality, city, state or zip code and be provided with locations on a map, detailed directions to locations and the phone numbers to schedule an appointment. The app is intended to offer a flexible and convenient means to access care wherever they are.
“DocGPS is a powerful tool for TRICARE beneficiaries that helps them make more informed health care decisions, whether they are at home, at work or on the run,” Chad Walker, chief information officer of UnitedHealthcare Military and Veterans, said in a statement. “DocGPS App is one of many UnitedHealthcare innovations that help make it easier for millions of Americans to understand and access health care.”
The DocGPS app can be downloaded for free at the Google Play Store or the Apple AppStore.
While the app makes finding health care easier, users should be aware that TRICARE benefit plan rules for obtaining and authorizing care still apply.
Besides DocGPS being available to TRICARE West Region beneficiaries, UnitedHealthcare recently announced a new online health care shopping service called myEasyBook. The service allows consumers to compare costs of in-network care providers, as well as make appointments.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker
