TRICARE beneficiaries prove they would rather “Switch Than Fight” Published Feb. 5, 2008 FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- The classic marketing slogan "I'd rather fight than switch" has no place in the campaign to encourage TRICARE beneficiaries to make the switch from retail pharmacies to the TRICARE Mail Order Pharmacy. The "switch" has taken place in record numbers, in record time, all pretty much due to the new Member Choice Center. The goal to convert 60,000 retail prescriptions to mail order within a year through the MCC was a done deal in less than four months according to TRICARE officials. By mid-January 2008 there were over 65,000 conversions with another 10,000 in the process. "The ease of using the Member Choice Center, coupled with our efforts at getting the word out, contributed to immediate success," said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, deputy director of the TRICARE management activity. "Everyone who makes the switch from now on is above and beyond our initial goal. It just goes to prove, the more convenience and savings you offer, the more receptive beneficiaries will be to making the TMOP choice." TMOP allows TRICARE beneficiaries, consisting of the members of the seven Uniformed Services, retirees and their families, to save money by receiving up to a 90-day supply of most medications for the same amount they would pay for a 30-day supply at a retail pharmacy. Some beneficiaries save as much as 66 percent on medications for conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma or diabetes. In all, a beneficiary's savings with TMOP could range from $24 a year for each regular formulary generic drug to as much as $176 a year for each non-formulary brand-name drug. The savings increase with each additional prescription. As an added bonus, prescriptions are 30 - 40 percent less through the mail-order service compared to retail pharmacies. The Department of Defense estimates savings as much as $22 million a year with just a one percent shift of prescriptions from retail to mail order. For many beneficiaries, the key factor is the convenience of making the switch through the MCC and the appeal of "home delivery." TMOP pharmacists are available 24 hours a day, any day of the week. Beneficiaries can ask questions about their personal drug treatment in complete privacy over the phone -- rather than in public at a retail pharmacy counter. The MCC can also refill a beneficiary's prescription by mail, phone, fax, or online and take payment by check or credit card. Although toll free phone calls now out number Internet requests, initial communication efforts resulted in the majority of beneficiaries using the MCC's online features to "click and convert." "Even now, many of TRICARE's beneficiaries are using the online option," said Rear Adm. Thomas McGinnis, chief of the TRICARE management activity pharmaceutical operations directorate. "We are finding that our beneficiaries are very computer savvy and enjoy the convenience of managing their health care needs online. TRICARE beneficiaries use the online refill option 34 percent of the time." That's higher than in commercial versions of mail order programs. There are other convenient features. An electronic alert is e-mailed to beneficiaries when their prescription is about to expire, giving them time to arrange for a renewal from their physician. Beneficiaries also get an e-mail when prescriptions are shipped and an additional reminder is sent when they are eligible to refill the prescriptions. "TRICARE is dedicated to staying at the forefront of today's growing technology and to offer tools that enhance service, savings and convenience for the beneficiary," said General Granger. "The early success of the MCC is a clear indication that we're hitting the mark with our beneficiaries."