Sept. 7, 2015
Rachel Librach
[email protected]
Although the UCCS Health Circle Primary Care Clinic in the Lane Center is affiliated with UCCS, these clinics are accessible to both the public and students.
The Primary Care Clinic currently accepts Anthem (PPO, High Deductible Plan), Anthem CU Exclusive Plan, Kaiser, Multiplan, United Healthcare, Rocky Mountain Health Plans, Cigna and Medicare.
This summer, the Primary Care Clinic added Tricare to its list of accepted healthcare plans.
Valerie Anderson, clinic director at the Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic, said the majority of patients they see are Veterans Health Administration referrals and Tricare patients. Tricare was accepted at the Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic before this expansion this summer.
“We have accepted Tricare since the first day we opened. Tricare is a health plan that is managed by the United Healthcare Military and Veterans organization in this region,” Anderson said.
Mike Bigelow, senior executive for Clinical Activities, explained that Tricare is an excellent addition to the UCCS Health Circle since active duty, retired military and family of active duty members are prominent in the Colorado Springs community.
“The military is such a huge part of this community including the campus and by acquiring the relationship and contract with Tricare for the Primary Care Clinic, we can expand the services we offer the people in this community.”
The Veterans Health and Trauma Clinic specializes in behavioral health with experienced providers working with military members to help them through traumatic experiences.
“About 80 percent of the patients we see have military connections, and about 20 percent do not,” said Anderson. “We treat people with trauma, whether that be combat, military sexual assault or natural disaster trauma.”
“Most of the time we receive referrals from the Primary Care Clinic since most active duty members have their health care services provided for them on base.”
The main goal for incorporating Tricare into the Primary Care system is to allow various clinics to work together with veterans and active duty members in order to structure the best health care plan for that individual.
“The point of the holistic approach is that one of the things we are focusing on is if a patient needs nutrition counseling, they could just go down stairs and receive that counseling,” Bigelow said.
“There could be communication between the providers to work together to improve the health of that individual.”
The Primary Care model positions primary care services near one another, integrating their practices into providing the most holistic care available for the patient.
While the Primary Care Clinic implemented Tricare, the Student Health Center, Aging Center, Center for Active Living and Peak Nutrition Clinic do not have a direct affiliation with Tricare at this time.