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TRICARE Operations Manual 6010.62-M, April 2021
TRICARE Overseas Program (TOP)
Chapter 24
Section 6
Medical Management (MM)
Revision:  C-20, October 31, 2024
1.0  General
The TOP contractor shall apply all TRICARE requirements regarding Utilization Management (UM) and Quality Management (QM) unless those requirements are specifically changed, waived, or superseded by the provisions of this section; the TRICARE Policy Manual (TPM), Chapter 12; or the TRICARE contract for health care support services outside the 50 United States (US) and the District of Columbia (hereinafter referred to as the “TOP contract”). See Chapter 7 for additional instructions. Language in Chapter 7 that has no direct application to the TOP contract does not apply (e.g., Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) validation reviews which are not applicable in any overseas location except Puerto Rico).
2.0  UM
2.1  The contractor shall establish a MM/UM Plan for care received by TRICARE beneficiaries.
2.1.1  The contractor’s MM/UM Plan shall recognize that the Military Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) Primary Care Manager (PCM) retains clinical oversight for TOP Prime enrollees. As such, the enrolling MTF will determine medical and psychological necessity, and issue all referrals for TOP Prime enrollees, and provide UM and all Case Management (CM) services for the MTF-enrolled population. The contractor shall ensure that MTF-issued referrals and appropriate authorizations are entered into all applicable contractor systems to ensure accurate, timely customer service and claims adjudication. The contractor shall perform certain UM activities to assist the MTF with the MM of TOP Prime inpatients as described in the TOP contract. The contractor shall provide notification to the MTF Director or designee whenever an MTF enrollee is admitted to an inpatient facility (including mental health admissions), regardless of location.
Note:  The MTF will provide clinical oversight for newborns/adoptees who are deemed enrolled in TOP Prime (based on the sponsor’s MTF enrollment).
2.1.2  The contractor shall determine medical and psychological necessity, conduct covered benefit review, and issue authorizations for specialty care for TOP Prime Remote enrollees and all Service members who are on Temporary Duty/Temporary Additional Duty (TDY/TAD), in an authorized leave status, or deployed/deployed on liberty in a remote overseas location. The contractor shall provide notification of cases to the appropriate TRICARE Area Office (TAO) for reviews involving remote Service member requests for specialty care, and whenever hospital admissions have occurred for any beneficiary not enrolled to a TOP MTF (including mental health admissions), regardless of location.
Note:  The TOP contractor shall provide clinical oversight for newborns/adoptees who are deemed enrolled in TOP Prime Remote (based on the sponsor’s TOP Prime Remote enrollment).
2.1.3  The contractor shall review and authorize urgent care for beneficiaries enrolled to a stateside contractor who are traveling outside of the 50 US and the District of Columbia.
2.2  The MM/UM Plan shall recognize that private sector care network providers are the TOP contractor’s responsibility and the contractor shall ensure that any adverse finding related to private sector care provider care is forwarded within five calendar days of identification to the appropriate TAO.
2.3  The MM/UM Plan shall include a process for identifying high utilization/high cost patients and locations.
2.3.1  At a minimum, this process shall include the identification of patients exceeding the frequency and/or cost thresholds established in the TOP contract. These thresholds apply to all TOP beneficiaries, including TOP Prime, TOP Prime Remote, TRICARE Select and TOP TRICARE For Life (TFL).
2.3.2  The TOP contractor shall review these claims for appropriateness of care, and shall propose interventions to reduce overutilization or contain costs whenever possible. The TOP contractor shall forward proposed interventions to cost and/or overutilization to the Government for review prior to contractor implementation.
2.4  The MM/UM Plan shall integrate efforts to identify potential fraud/abuse. The TOP contractor shall forward all cases identified as possible fraud/abuse directly and exclusively to the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Program Integrity (PI) Office in accordance with Section 13.
2.5  The TOP contractor shall provide CM services as outlined in the contract with DHA. Specific CM processes shall be addressed in the Statements of Responsibilities (SORs) between the contractor, MTF Directors, and the TAO Executive Directors.
2.6  The TOP contractor shall closely monitor requests for inpatient care or medical evacuation services to ensure that services are medically or psychologically necessary and appropriate for the patient’s condition. Beneficiaries will not be assigned to a particular facility or medically evacuated to a particular geographic location based solely on personal preference, but will be transported to the closest medical facility capable of providing appropriate stabilization and/or treatment.
2.7  The TOP contractor shall identify and review inpatient stays that exceed the standard Length-Of-Stay (LOS) for a local area in a private sector care country or US commonwealth/territory for medical or psychological necessity. Unless a different standard has been identified by the Government, the TOP contractor shall use best business practices to determine the standard LOS for a particular overseas location. Upon Government request, the TOP contractor shall provide supporting documentation related to LOS determinations.
3.0  CONTRACTOR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE MILITARY HEALTH SYSTEM (MHS) TRICARE QUALITY MANAGEMENT CONTRACT (TQMC) CONTRACTOR
The provisions of Chapter 7, Section 7 do not apply to the TOP.
4.0  CLINICAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (CQMP)
The provisions of Chapter 7, Section 6 are applicable to the TOP. However, the Government waives requirement for interface with the TQMC contractor for the TOP contractor. The TQMC contractor does not conduct regular, ongoing reviews to validate the appropriateness of the TOP contractor’s quality of care and utilization review decisions; however, the TQMC contractor shall provide such reviews on a limited basis upon Government request.
5.0  REFERRAL/AUTHORIZATION/HEALTH CARE FINDER (HCF) REQUIREMENTS
5.1  The TOP contractor shall develop procedures for processing referrals for TOP Prime and TOP Prime Remote enrollees in accordance with the TOP contract; Chapter 7, Section 5; and this chapter. The TOP contractor shall conduct related authorization and HCF activities. The MTF will conduct medical and psychological necessity reviews for TOP MTF enrollees and determine that the requested care is not available in the MTF prior to forwarding the referral to the TOP contractor.
5.2  The TOP contractor shall conduct covered benefit reviews to determine whether the referred care is a covered TRICARE benefit. The TOP contractor shall comply with the requirements in Chapter 7, Section 5 for notifying beneficiaries about medical or psychological necessity. The TOP contractor shall locate an appropriate network or non-network private sector care provider for all authorized care and shall provide the provider information to the beneficiary. Upon beneficiary request, the TOP contractor shall assist with scheduling an appointment for the beneficiary. The TOP contractor shall also implement guarantee of payment or other business processes to ensure that TOP Prime and TOP Prime Remote beneficiaries have access to authorized care on a cashless, claimless basis.
5.3  The TOP contractor shall develop procedures for the identification and tracking of TOP enrollee claims submitted by a private sector care provider or a beneficiary without preauthorization/authorization.
5.4  The TOP contractor shall educate beneficiaries of the preauthorization/authorization requirements and of the procedures for requesting preauthorization/authorization. In MTF locations, these beneficiary education efforts may be conducted in conjunction with MTF staff. In remote locations, the TOP contractor shall provide all beneficiary education. Although beneficiaries are required to obtain authorization for care prior to receiving payment for the care requiring TOP preauthorization/authorization, the beneficiary may request retroactive authorization from the appropriate authority for issuing authorizations. Specifically, Active Duty Service Members (ADSMs) enrolled in TOP Prime or TOP Prime Remote who seek urgent care from a private sector care without obtaining authorization are required to contact their PCM within three business days so that a retroactive referral may be submitted. The contractor shall process claims for ADSMs in accordance with Section 25. The TOP contractor shall not accept retroactive authorization requests after this initial time frame without higher level approval (TAO or TOP Office). The TOP contractor shall document preauthorization/authorizations according to current contract requirements.
5.5  If medical review is required to determine medical or psychological necessity of a service rendered, the TOP contractor shall follow the requirements outlined in Chapter 7, Section 1 related to medical review staff qualifications and review processes.
5.6  The TOP contractor shall ensure the provider submits the preauthorization/authorization with the claim or the TOP contractor shall make the preauthorization/authorization available via an internal contractor system that interfaces with the claims processing system.
5.7  The TOP contractor shall maintain a preauthorization/authorization file.
5.8  When necessary, the TOP contractor shall clarify discrepancies between authorization data and data on the claims with the appropriate authorizing authority.
5.9  Except for obstetrical care or other long-term/chronic care authorizations, the TOP contractor shall consider authorizations valid for 180 calendar days (i.e., date of service must be within 180 calendar days of issue date). Authorizations may be granted for 365 days for obstetrical care, or for any other long-term/chronic conditions for which an extended care period is medically or psychologically necessary and appropriate. The TOP contractor shall only cover services that are applicable to the care authorization (i.e., a care authorization for obstetrical care cannot be extended to cover specialty care that is unrelated to the pregnancy).
5.10  The TOP contractor shall develop procedures for preauthorizations/authorizations for TOP beneficiaries for inpatient mental health care rendered in the 50 US or the District of Columbia. The TOP contractor shall authorize/review all stateside non-emergency inpatient mental health care (i.e., acute hospitalization psychiatric care, psychiatric Residential Treatment Center (RTC), Substance Use Disorder (SUD) inpatient/residential detoxification and rehabilitation for TOP Prime/TOP Prime Remote ADFMs, regardless of where the care is rendered. To perform this requirement, the TOP contractor shall at a minimum provide:
•  Three 24-hour telephone lines: one stateside toll free, one commercial and one fax for overseas inpatient mental health review requirement;
•  Sample forms referring physicians to use when requesting preauthorization/authorization for care; and
•  A system for notifying of the contractor when care is authorized. Additionally, the TOP contractor shall:
5.10.1  Inform the beneficiary/provider if a desired facility is not a TRICARE authorized facility and offer the beneficiary/provider a choice of alternative facilities and assist with identifying stateside facilities for referring providers.
5.10.2  Upon request, either telephonically or by fax, from a referring provider, the TOP contractor shall initiate preauthorization prior to admission for non-emergency inpatient care, including RTC, Substance Use Disorder Rehabilitation Facility (SUDRF), etc. (Essentially, all admissions defined by TPM, Chapter 1, Section 6.1, as requiring preauthorization.) The TOP contractor shall arrange ongoing utilization review, as indicated, for overseas beneficiaries admitted to any level of inpatient mental health care.
5.10.3  Ensure the review determination concludes in either authorization or denial of care. The TOP contractor shall submit review results via HIPAA compliant electronic means to the beneficiary/provider within 24 hours of the request. The TOP contractor shall follow the review and denial processes, as applicable, outlined in Section 7.
5.10.4  Provide an opportunity to discuss the proposed initial denial determination with the patient’s attending physician AND referring physician (if different providers). The purpose of this discussion is to allow further explanation of the nature of the beneficiary’s need for health care support services, including all factors which preclude treatment of the patient as an outpatient or in an alternative level of inpatient care. This is important in those beneficiaries designated to return overseas, where supporting alternative level of care may be limited, as well as support for intensive outpatient treatment. If the referring provider does not agree with the denial determination, then the TOP contractor shall contact the appropriate overseas TAO Medical Director to discuss the case. The TAO Executive Director will provide the schedule and contact information for all overseas TAO mental health advisors. The TOP contractor shall make the final decision on whether or not to issue a denial.
5.10.5  Notify the referring provider if the patient is returning to ensure coordination of appropriate after-care arrangements, as well as facilitate discussion with the attending provider to ensure continuity of care is considered with the proposed after-care treatment plan.
5.10.6  Adhere to the appeals process outlined in Section 11.
6.0  MEDICAL TRAVEL
6.1  TOP Prime Enrollees and MTF-Referred Transient Beneficiaries
If the TOP contractor’s HCF determines that appropriate medical or psychological care is not available in the beneficiary’s local service area, the TOP contractor shall provide Notification of Case (NOC) to the appropriate MTF per the medical travel requirements of DD Form 1423, Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL), located in Section J of the applicable contract. The NOC shall identify the nearest private sector care provider or facility that can provide adequate specialty care. The TOP contractor shall issue a care authorization upon the MTF’s request (as documented in the MTF’s response to the NOC).
6.2  TOP Prime Remote and Self-Referred Transient Beneficiaries
If the TOP contractor’s HCF determines that appropriate medical or psychological care is not available in the beneficiary’s local service area, the TOP contractor shall provide a NOC to the appropriate TAO per the medical travel requirements of DD Form 1423, CDRL, located in Section J of the applicable contract. The NOC shall identify the nearest private sector care provider or facility that can provide adequate specialty care. The TOP contractor shall issue a care authorization upon TAO’s request (as documented in the TAO’s response to the NOC Report).
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