Curious about the provider selections

My DS got his packet on Friday, and he's been assigned to a facility that's 45 minutes away on a good day, 1-1.5 hour with traffic. School starts next week and there is no way he will make it to an appointment by 4:00 in the afternoon. In addition, the photo in Google maps, showed the office as a boarded up store front. It was the right place because it had the office name on the awning. I should also mention that we live in an area with an abundance of highly acclaimed medical facilities, including Walter Reed, which is closer to our house. We're in Northern VA and this place is deep into the heart of DC.

Curiously, his eye exam is literally across the street from the White House, but again, a store front office. This just seems weird to me.

I've ready so many about faulty examinations, bad paperwork, etc. I wonder about Concordia's policies on contracting doctors and who they are signing on to conduct these exams.

Have you called the place they gave you to verify address and location? Have you called DODMERB to see if they have an alternate facility you could use. They tend to not use military facilities as the primary location if other providers are available because the wait for a military facility can take forever and the demand for the primary customers, active duty and then retired is extremely high. With the number of candidates applying in NoVA, DC and Maryland area for a SA and ROTC could probably add close to a 1000 appointments to the system.

Remember with all government work... goes to lowest bidder.

Welcome to the club. My DD just had her eye exam and it was a 45 minute drive. It was done at Nationwide Vision center through Concordia. I felt it was ridiculous to drive 45 minutes away when we have a Nationwide Vision Center 5 minutes from our house. Heck, we practically have one on just about every major street corner in our area. I do not even pretend to understand the ways of the military (and I spent 20 years in the Navy), but I drove her down there and things went smoothly. They had all the paperwork necessary, they knew exactly what to do and where to send it, and it was a painless process. Her physical exam is in the same general area in a couple of weeks, so we will make the drive again just because the place knows what they are doing. Having all the physicals in the same clinic does help to streamline the process for the many candidates taking the same exam.

On another note, you may have to skip an afternoon of school to get your DS to his appointment, or schedule it on a half-day or off day of school. To be blunt, do what you have to do to get it done and make no excuses. Unless you want to pay for it yourself or have the paper work done incorrectly, I suggest you just go where they have the contract. With that said, I would not leave the facility until you have a copy of everything. Welcome to the government

And 45 minutes is inconvenient, but really isn't that bad. Mine was 2.5 hours away. Some kids living in the middle of no where have to do that for each exam. Some kids will have to do a 2 hour drive just to meet their BGO/ALO half way to do their interviews Luckily things like Skype and Facetime make it easier in some of these cases.

Also don't use your own doctors for the official exams unless DODMERB specifically says so. They use specific providers for a reason (ok so they won the contract at the cheapest cost) as their doctors are supposed to be familiar with the paperwork and requirements for the exam. Some are more familiar than others.

Count your blessings! I hate to do the old "walked barefoot through snow to school" story, but here goes anyways.

Prior to Concorde 12 years ago, my oldest DS was assigned by DODMERB to a Naval Air Station 160 miles away, with an 0800 appointment! We had to book a hotel, in order to get this done and they poked and prodded and put him through the ringer. It was almost an four hour appointment! (As an aside, we got to see a squadron of F-18's deploying to their carrier group and that helped while away the waiting time).

Last fall, my youngest DS went through DODMERB/Concorde and was assigned an MD an hour away. We exchanged emails with the provider and adjusted the schedule around DS's extracurriculars. The appointment was on time and they were done in less than a half an hour.

Concorde is certainly not perfect, but for us it was an improvement over the old system.

LisaDC said:

Thanks for your replies. It's not actually the mileage, its the driving through the worst traffic in the country during rush hour to a pretty sketchy part of DC with a homicide rate that's been climbing all summer. But I've taken your advice to heart and called in the appointment. Luckily they are able to see in this Friday afternoon. I'll be taking the afternoon off to go with him.

The good news is that his eye appointment is earlier that day, so he'll be able to cross this off his to-do list before school starts! Very happy to have this off his plate.

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Just got back from taking DS to Concentra here in MD. Waited 4 hours (they don't take appointments) for a 10-15 minute physical. Needless to say missed the whole day of school, but went back for Football practice. I am just glad one more item s checked off the list.

Welcome to the world of lowest bidder.

And throughout the entire arduous non-sensical government process, keep the end goal in mind.

LisaDC, I feel your pain. I had to drive around that area a couple of weeks to go to attend my DS's OCS graduation at Quantico. I have driven all over the country on various road trip vacations, and I must say, I hope to never have to go that way again LOL. When my DS did his physical, it is sounding like he was quite lucky in that it was done right in the town where he was attending college.

Sampia said:

LisaDC, I feel your pain. I had to drive around that area a couple of weeks to go to attend my DS's OCS graduation at Quantico. I have driven all over the country on various road trip vacations, and I must say, I hope to never have to go that way again LOL. When my DS did his physical, it is sounding like he was quite lucky in that it was done right in the town where he was attending college.

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You'll be back there, if not during TBS then for TBS graduation. BTW, did you have time to get to the museum? If not you have to find time to do that on one of your trips to Quantico.

LOL I am sure I will be back there. Going six months without seeing my DS is going to be rough. I may have to hop on a plane for a quick weekend visit if that's allowed. Must...be...strong.... We missed the museum. I remember pulling into the parking lot to turn around because I was lost but I was so stressed out from the traffic that I wanted to leave it behind me as quickly as possible. But there was no escape! Maybe it's because I'm older, but I have driven through Atlanta and I have driven through around NY city en route to Vermont. They seemed like a walk in the park compared to this place.

I95 is definitely hell! Visits are allowed but you'll need to plan it with the kid for a time when he is available.
BTW DS is heading home from TBS for the Labor Day weekend. I'm sure his girlfriend os coming home from college too, so I don't know how much we'll actually see him. Sorry to divert the thread. BTW, I've wanted to use that smiley for years!!!