Hi, anyone else here using Tricare Prime? I am interested in the lap band surgery and my PCM is onboard. I'm only waiting until my 9 m.o. reaches a year and is weaned from breastfeeding. In the meantime I am trying to get all my requirements meet..i.e. nutrition appt etc. My doc said she wouldn't do the blood work until I am closer to ready.

However, I am having trouble finding a psych here that does the evaluation. I am not near a military hospital (I'm in eastern CT). I did find one but she said I need authorization from Tricare but I was told this was a self referred appt. Does anyone have any experience with a civilian psych? Do I need to call Tricare for authorization?? Thanks!

I feel the use of an MMPI is massive overkill. A psych interview is tolerable, but a complete personality inventory for elective surgery, where there is no indication of psychopathology, is absurd and invasive of privacy. Just because we're fat doesn't mean we're addicts or dysfunctional. Is the MMPI used on all elective surgeries? It makes as much sense as requiring our surgeon to take the MMPI to ensure he doesn't commit malpractice! The MMPI results and interpretations are generally kept from the patients who pay for them! All other test results are subject to patients' rights and disclosure -- why not the MMPI? The MMPI is designed to find personality disorders, and no matter who you are it will find a disorder. That information in the wrong hands, e.g., wacko psychologists and their office help, is very dangerous, and the test results will follow you forever. Avoid the MMPI when possible, and lobby for its abolition as a condition for banding.

Edited December 30, 200817 yr by Navy Retired
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