GRRRRRR - How stupid is this?!

[hearts and roses]

My Dr called me back to schedule me in today. Says she will only see me for ONE thing at a time.

Ahem, I have three issues I want to talk about:

1. Pain Mgmt
2. Lyme possibly
3. Athlete's foot issue (from the showers at pt, gross)

The nurse said, "That's the way we do it - one issue at a time. I'm sorry". So I asked if I could schedule a double slot if it's a time issue. Nope, not a time issue.

Makes me second guess how important I am as a patient if my PRIMARY doctor will only discuss one issue per visit. I mean, what about WHOLE health?? Hello?? I believe that two of my symptoms are related!!! The pain and the lyme...wth??

Ugh, I really liked this Dr because she knows her stuff, but I feel it may be time to start dr shopping again, dammit.

 

[DaisyFace]

Ugh!

That sounds like an insurance billing issue if I ever heard one!

Visit with diagnosis A - $45
Visit with Diagnosis B - $45
Visit with Diagnosis C - $45

as opposed to Visit with Diagnosis A, B, C - $60

 

[AnnieO]

Jo... Yeah, I agree. I would hate to have to look again, but...

 

[donna723]

I would find another doctor! That sounds not only stupid but downright dangerous! If they would only want to hear about one issue for each appointment, that would make you have to prioritize. And what if that secondary issue you wanted to discuss but couldn't turned out to be a symptom of something really significant that could be dangerous to ignore?

 

[InsaneCdn]

If you go in for, say, pain management... then you CAN bring up other related stuff, like the other two on your list... you may still need a second appointment, but the right things will be on the radar and prioritized?

 

[buddy]

oh yeah, I agree.... How many times my son's doctor put together something that once we discussed my list of issues .... oh my gosh, I can't even imagine if I had to bring them up at different appointments. That is frustrating enough when you got to specialists. (you know, when you go for a problem in their area but are sure that some other issues are related...uggg). I went to a guy one time who kept his costs lower for uninsured people by charging differently for one issue or two etc...but you could still bring them all up at the same appointment!
I think it is risky to be in a clinic like that. Way to easy to miss the big picture not to mention the inconvenience for people who are already suffering physically. I hope you can find a better option.

 

[trinityroyal]

That's ridiculous, epsecially since as you say your symptoms are likely related.

As for the separate appointments, it does sound like a regulatory or billing thing. It might be worth investigating a bit whether the rules have changed across the board or whether this is something only your doctor is doing before you start the onerous process of doctor-shopping. If you're going to run into the same hurdle everywhere, you may as well stick with a doctor that you know, like and trust.

Still, it hoovers.

 

[hearts and roses]

I would find another doctor! That sounds not only stupid but downright dangerous! If they would only want to hear about one issue for each appointment, that would make you have to prioritize. And what if that secondary issue you wanted to discuss but couldn't turned out to be a symptom of something really significant that could be dangerous to ignore?

Well, that is exactly right, Donna! They made me choose which was the most pressing issue! I'm thinking maybe I should have just went to the walk in clinic.

 

[hearts and roses]

IC, I should have just made an appointment for one of those things and just brought up the other things while I was there. Something tells me she would have said something like, "Let's address why you're here today" and blew off my other concerns.

I just feel that since she is my PRIMARY dr, I should be able to address more than one concern at one visit. BS.

Trinity, I agree, if I'm going to run into this issue with another Dr, I may as well stick with her.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Something tells me she would have said something like, "Let's address why you're here today" and blew off my other concerns.

H&R... that depends... our docs here do a bit of this, and for the same reasons... but they want to HEAR the list of "other things"... because sometimes they relate to the "primary concern". That would be logical, for example, when dealing with pain... and maybe there is another part of the pain issue? The foot issue, though... would probably still be separate.

 

[Jody]

I would fire her immediately. I have never ever heard that from any Dr. and it would not set well with me at all. I cannot even understand that a Dr. would do that. It's crazy. I am sorry that i feel lousy and have several things going on at once. Ugh. I am sorry but definately would be looking for a new Dr. I can see a specialist telling you that is something that you should talk over with your regular MD. That is just crazy Jo. There are a lot of knowledgeable doctors out there. I am sorry you have a greedy one. Ugh. To be in pain and then to have to deal with this.

 

[hearts and roses]

H&R... that depends... our docs here do a bit of this, and for the same reasons... but they want to HEAR the list of "other things"... because sometimes they relate to the "primary concern". That would be logical, for example, when dealing with pain... and maybe there is another part of the pain issue? The foot issue, though... would probably still be separate.

Yes, I can see the foot thing being a separate issue, but the pain and the possibility of lymes may go hand in hand. I'm going to say this to her today when I see her. And realistically, it would take her about all of two minutes to look at my foot and write a script for that. Ridiculous!

 

[DammitJanet]

That makes no sense at all. Like others said...yes if it was a specialist such as an ortho doctor and you asked about lyme. Or athletes foot. But a GP does all GP work. I go to my GP with a list and we go down it. Last fall I went in with several things, one of which was that I wanted to find an upright MRI in NC and get an appointment with one! It took me calling back several times to keep them on it but I finally have that appointment for tomorrow evening. That surely wasnt something he has a huge calling for considering he had to look it up on the internet. I only see my GP about every 4 months because I see my other dr's monthly so I have to keep him down to a minimum or I really run the money up.

 

[1905]

I never heard of anything like that!

 

[Tiapet]

It's ridiculous but on the other hand I recently ran into something similiar with my primary. Only she didn't say it like that. I had multiple issues happening at once and her reply was more to the point of a "time" issue allotted for each patient per visit. They only have so much and even if I stated all of them they can only slot out so much per patient anyway so she said it would take a couple of visits but that didn't mean I couldn't go back the next day or something like that. In some cases I think it's the whole "management of patients" by the insurance companies in general now a days but in other cases it is a money issue. So often we see patients crammed in a day to get as many as possible to recoup lost money since they aren't getting the money they once got.

I know it's a hassle finding another doctor and I'm not I'd want to. I think this is a wide spread problem. I'd probably take the chance and throw out the issues to the dr once there and see what happens. At least you may get answers. If not, well you didn't have to dr shop and you still have to make another appointment anyway with that dr or another! Make a second appointment immediately just incase so your 1 step ahead already. You can cancel it if things are taken care of it.

 

[donna723]

To me it sounds like it's greed-based too! Why have you pay for just one appointment when they can get you to pay for three appointments!

If someone has more than one issue, this is forcing the patient to try to decide which one of their problems is the most urgent! And usually this patient is a layperson with no medical training so they may decide to have the most painful or most annoying symptom looked at first and postpone something else that might be much more significant. And seeing as how it can sometimes take weeks to get an appointment, this could create huge problems!

 

[Hound dog]

H&R

First, if you weren't talking to the doctor? Ignore it and address any issues you have when you see the doctor. Odds are even if it's office policy, most docs don't stick to such things because it is stuipd...not to mention can lose them patients. Many doctor offices are now corporations ect.......in other words docs don't have a lot of say as it's a profit gig. I don't remember what it's called, but many around here have switched to that type of office because they were having money troubles. Docs don't usually like it either.

I simply made appointments. I rarely, unless I needed seen asap, told staff what the appointment was for. None of their bleeping business. HIPPA you know? lol Then when I'm face to face with doctor, I address what I want addressed. IF doctor goes along with this money milking scam (and c'mon we ALL know that is ALL it is) it's time for a new doctor. If they're only in it for profit, they don't have their patients as their top priority, and seriously do you really want a doctor like that?? I don't.

I've never had any trouble finding a doctor that suits me even if I have to shop around. Docs are a dime a dozen (which is why profits are down), sometimes it's wise to remind them of that.

Hugs

 

[hearts and roses]

Nope, Lisa, it was the Dr who had her call me back and say which was the most pressing issue! In fact, when I asked if they could simply call in for the Lyme test and see me for the pain mgmt, the nurse had to put me on hold to get the doctors okay. Yah, unbelievable.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Sounds more to me like it's a front-office-staff issue, and they are controlling it the wrong way. Staff needs to be able to make some "calls" on things, and push back on the patient when necessary. My fav fam doctor (20+ years ago) had a color-coded chart system - if you were coded "green", it meant you were consistently on time, consistently did your part in solving the problem, and consistently stated the problems up front so that time could be properly allotted (we were green). The yellows and reds... were restricted to "one issue". It was a time-management issue (bring baby in for an ear infection, and bring in the 3 other kids at the same time for 7 different other issues... all on a 15-min appiontment), not a billing issue... and I though this was a fair way of handling it.

 

[hearts and roses]

Sounds more to me like it's a front-office-staff issue, and they are controlling it the wrong way. Staff needs to be able to make some "calls" on things, and push back on the patient when necessary.

I would agree except that it is clear that the Dr micromanages her staff. They all seem fairly intimidated by her and she's very clear about the way she does things, etc. I think it's the Dr rather than the staff. That said, however, if I were the Dr, I would not want my staff to so blatantly convey that to the patients. I would expect them to be a bit more discreet in their handling of such things. And if it is a time/billing issue then why not just bill accordingly? I see the codes on medical billing all the time and there are different levels of appts. There's new, established, limited, intermediate, and extended, etc. Instead of billing for a 15 minute appointment, why not bill for 30 minutes?? In fact, see me for 15 and bill for 30 - I don't even give a rat's *****, just don't make me come back again and again!!! Know what I mean???