It is Thursday morning and I’m sitting in the doctor’s exam room waiting to see my physician. The appointment was for 9:00 AM; scheduled one year ago. I called this morning to confirm and they said the doctor does not come in at all on Thursdays and claim my appointment was cancelled in December. I ask to reschedule and eventually get to talk to someone in scheduling. I’m rescheduled for TODAY at 11:30 AM – for a doctor that does not come in at all on Thursdays. I said, okay with the caveat that I had a 12:30 PM meeting. The scheduler on the phone acknowledged this and confirmed the appointment.
I show up a few minutes early and sign in to be told that the doctor is running late. Further, the woman at the desk is puzzled. She cannot find my appointment. After consulting with a colleague she proclaims that she could not find my appointment record because I was scheduled today. Well, sort of because I was scheduled for today one year ago, allegedly cancelled in December with no new date given, I called this morning to verify and rescheduled today to be seen today. Oh yeah, I’m seeing a doctor who does not come in on Thursdays but is running late on her patients scheduled today.
Let me provide some additional history. The reason I called to verify my appointment is because last year I showed up on a Thursday for an appointment to be told I was rescheduled the November before and that the doctor no longer sees patients on Thursdays. I rescheduled for a Monday about six weeks later because her calendar was so full and the person who allegedly called me in November to cancel and reschedule failed to note my new appointment. To state the obvious; no one called me in November two years ago and no one called me this last December. Yes, I learned a lesson and am trying to be proactive about my health care by calling to confirm my appointments.
For anyone who does not know, I’m a Professor of Neurology doing research into stroke. I do not see patients, but my office is in the same building as my physician’s office. I’ve chatted with her at faculty conferences and could call or email her directly as a fellow faculty member. But I do not use those opportunities to communicate with her as my physician because I think that would be unfair to her and all the other patients she has. However, when I was informed the doctor was running late, I reminded them that I had told the scheduler of my 12:30 PM appointment. The nurses had no notes to this effect and I said I would wait until 12:30 PM, but would need to leave at that time. Frustrated, they said they would inform the doctor of my timing issues.
The real lesson here is that every patient needs to take charge of their own health care. Also the system is highly flawed so if you are not pro-active you will be lost and that could be bad for your health. I’ll be coming back next year because I like and trust my doctor. That professional bond is important but the support people (nurses, schedulers and administrators) need to make sure physicians and patients are able to get together regularly and efficiently. I got the face time I needed with her and am pleased with the care I eventually got today without needing to be rescheduled two months later. Let’s hope the new appointment is not on a Thursday because we all know she does not see patients on Thursdays.
The answer to the question posed in the title of this blog is; write a blog about how the system is broken.
Posts
Sent directly to me and reproduced here with permission.
“Medical care for me is a luxury. I am self employed, and cannot afford the cost of privatized health insurance. I pray I stay healthy and fear if I fall ill that I will lose what Ive worked so hard to obtain…my home…my financial nest egg…and my retirement. I fail to make appointments for annual exams …. reasoning that I feel well – therefore I must be fine. I play healthcare roulette because insurance for someone in my position is unattainable… I make too much money for state assistance – and too little for privatized insurance.
Furthermore, I do not like to take medication, and I feel my physician has not been educated in treating illness using natural remedies. He is taught to drug it, or cut it out of his patient. In my effort to avoid contracting pancreatic cancer or having to show up at the emergency room with a four hour erection (lol) because of a pill I took, I simply suffer through most of my ails, or hope the lady at the natural foods store knows what shes talking about and gives me some herbal relief. Modern medicine needs to find the balance between natural and manufactured medications so people like me aren’t self diagnosing and potentially missing serious illnesses.
The lack of common courtesy in the doctors office is something I think spans across society as a whole. We don’t respect one another… lets not even mention how long you waited to see the doctor… were you able to drive there without someone giving you the finger for being on the road? It isn’t really a systemic problem… its a societal problem. “
February 20, 2010 @ 1:09 am
Another comment posted with permission.
I can relate to your experience(s). Another pet peeve of mine is when I do have to leave and the receptionist informs me that it will be considered a “missed appointment” and will have to charge a small fee because I didn’t give 24 hours notice.
Our current tax code does not allow self-employed people, partners, more than 5% S-Corp owners, etc. to deduct the cost of medical insurance premiums for themselves, their family members, or even their family members who work for them (brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, parents, brother-in-laws, etc.) as a business expense. They can deduct 50% of the portion for their immediate family from page 1 and the remaining 50% as an itemized deduction subject to the 7 1/2% limitation but this puts them at great disadvantage. In my humble opinion, correcting the tax code and also allowing the sale of medical insurance products across state lines would great decrease the cost nationwide.
5 minutes ago ·
February 20, 2010 @ 2:45 am