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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 26. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
I am nearly in tears - I haven't been feeling well for a while now, achy and what-not, and I thought, "maybe it's allergies" - so I went to an allergist. Well, that's not it. Then I came down with a nasty cold, so I thought, "Ah ha - I was just getting sick..." Well, the cold is nearly gone, and I don't feel any better. If anything, I feel worse right now. Achy and joint pain and occasional numbness in my hands, etc.
But that's not my problem. That's not the source of my frustration.
I work at a major University, and my GP is a physician at the family practice center on campus. Well, two or so weeks ago, I called for an appointment - the receptionist couldn't make an appointment with MY doc for me because all her appointments were filled and she wasn't in the system past that amount of time, for some reason. I said I'd call back, instead of being forced to see someone "on her team," which, to me, defeats the purpose of having *my* doctor.
I called back yesterday and made an appointment for next Thursday afternoon at 2:50 p.m. Well, after I got off the phone, it occurred to me that I may have to do some testing that would require fasting. That means, of course, that I would have to go BACK to the doc on a different day for the tests, or I could change my appointment to a morning one and only have one visit (which is much easier on me and my schedule!). So I called back this morning and the receptionist, who wasn't at all helpful, said, "Well, she doesn't have any morning appointments open. I can make you an appointment with a member of her team." I told her to just cancel the appointment and I would call back another time.
So I called another practice, not affiliated with my university. By this time I was in tears anyway and frustrated that I can't even make an appointment with the doctor who knows me... The doc I called is someone my wonderful pdoc has worked with, but the receptionist put me on hold, and, after nothing for 3 and a half minutes, I gave up and hung up. So, here I am, I feel bad, I'm worried that I may be on the verge of developing Type II diabetes (if I haven't already) and I CAN'T EVEN GET AN APPOINTMENT WITH MY DOCTOR. WTF???
I'm sorry...just had to get that off my chest. I'm so angry right now I could scream. And what I want to do ... well, I won't go into that.
I guess I'll eat lunch now, try to calm down, and try to call again. Perhaps I'll be able to get someone HELPFUL on the line.
P
Posted by rainyday on April 16, 2004, at 12:09:02
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
I had an incredibly bad "customer service" problem with the receptionist in the podiatrist's office when I was having bunion surgery. I won't go into the whole story, but it is strikingly similar to yours.
I was so frustrated, that I called and asked for the doctor to call me directly. No message, no clue as to why I was calling.
When he called back (and I haven't seen a doctor who won't call a patient back), I explained my frustration and anger. Then I backed it up with a letter of complaint. It felt so good to get it out of me!!!
I really don't think there is ever a good reason for poor customer service, no matter what the industry.
BTW, I am a receptionist!!! Perhaps it's pride of "profession".
rainyday
Posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 12:32:50
In reply to Re: Soooo frustrated... » Penny, posted by rainyday on April 16, 2004, at 12:09:02
I just zipped off an email to the family practice center. It's amazingly difficult to get through there anyway - when I called this morning, I waited about 10 minutes before anyone even answered. It was 10 minutes of "Your call is very important to us. Please have your medical records number ready." Yeah...thanks.
Anyway, what's unfortunate is that the other practice I called that's not affiliated with my university, well, I wonder if they know how much first impressions mean. Their website is good, in that it gives a description of all the docs, and talks about customer service and so on, but then I call and the receptionist, who didn't speak very clearly in the first place, puts me on hold immediately, and then leaves me there for three minutes. I've worked some as a receptionist as well (used to have to fill in for our receptionist at the ad agency I worked at), and it doesn't take that much effort to, at the very least, be articulate!
Now, I understand if they were overrun with people at that moment, and she was getting a bazillion phone calls, and so on. And I'm trying to not let this one occurance color my view of them - things happen, and I understand that (unlike with family practice, where it's a continuing occurance). But I'm still so frustrated at the moment, I don't even want to call back.
Sigh.
The worst part, IMO, is that the family practice center I called is part of a major medical center in the southeast. I remember when I moved here thinking, "Well, at least quality medical care won't be a problem!" Boy, that's a joke. Because I was far more impressed with the medical care where I used to live than I am with the research hospital and it's affiliates here.
Sigh again.
P
Posted by 1coyote on April 16, 2004, at 14:29:52
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
it's good to hear from you, even if it's a beef. yep, doctors are in a league of their own and have their own time-line. I totally understand your frustration, especially when you're not feeling well. Is there an urgent visit clinic you can go to in the meantime just for a quick fix? I hope you feel better - it has finally quit raining here & is sunny on the east coast. have a good weekend...
Posted by Wildflower on April 16, 2004, at 15:32:54
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
Posted by All Done on April 16, 2004, at 17:24:37
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
(((Penny))),
Sorry to hear about your frustrations. Doctors' offices seem to be getting worse and worse in my opinion. I don't understand why they don't assume we want to see our *own* doctors and not jump from one doctor to the next.
Hopefully, if you haven't resolved this by the end of the day, you can forget about it temporarily so you can enjoy the weekend. On Monday, start over again. Stinks, but your persistence will pay off.
But hopefully your e-mail worked and you can get your appointment with no more worries.
Take care,
All Done
Posted by Dinah on April 16, 2004, at 17:39:26
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
Sorry, Penny. :(
I almost left my current internist over the chaos in her office when she went into solo practice. Then I went to my parents doctor and the chaos was even worse so I went back to her. I blame the whole funding situation that causes doctors to see way too many patients and patients to have to wait hours and get sloppy phone service.
Posted by noa on April 17, 2004, at 9:59:54
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
Penny, I just had a frustrating doc office experience, too.
My insurance sent me a letter saying my doctor is no longer going to participate with the insurance and that I have to choose a new primary care physician.
I go online and look at the list of PCPs. I want a woman doctor. Almost all of the women in my area are not taking any new patients, or have retired or moved.
But I found one. I go to my first appointment, I figured I should meet this person I've now signed on as my PCP. Well, the doctor was fine. I liked her well enough. But the practice? Everything I hate about the way these multi-doctor managed care practices are. The waiting area was very noisy. The patients waiting were not the problem. It was the noise from the surround sound video, first of all. But even more so from the loud talking and laughing of the numerous clerks. It just seemed like such an unprofessional environment.
So I go in, walk up to the window. It is a BIG open window with a counter in front with the clipboards and forms, etc. Through the window is the office area where the many clerks work. I want to sign in but this patient is leaning on the clip board with the sign in sheet. She and a clerk are engaged in a somewhat intense discussion about a disagreement over the charges for her visit. Meanwhile, there are about FOUR other clerks sitting and standing there at the counter doing nothing other than listening and watching (with rapt attention) this disagreement unfold. (In the background are another bunch of clerks, mostly at computers).
Finally, I say "excuse me" to the woman and take the clip board and sign in. Since I can't seem to get anyone's attention behind the counter, I take a copy of a form there on another clipboard that reads, "Please list all your medications at every visit." Since this is usually a time consuming part of my visits to medical professionals, and since I can't interact with the clerical staff yet because they are still engrossed in the drama of this dispute going on, I figured it would be good for me to start filling out the medication form.
After a few minutes, a clerk calls me over and asks for my insurance card. As I give it to her I explain that the doctors name isn't on the card yet because I have just signed her up as my PCP. She brusquely replies that I can't see the doctor because she is not my PCP. I explain again that I did sign her up using the insurance company's online registration system, but I just had not received the new card yet. She tells me that I have to come back after I've called the insurance company and had them verify that this doctor is my PCP. I ask, is there any way they can contact the insurance company now to get that verification? She says, no, you have to do that. I say, ok, may I use your phone? She says, ok, give me your card. She dials the number and I get on the phone and this issue gets resolved and the insurance company faxes the verification. But the way this clerk handled this was so incredibly coldly and unhelpfully.
OK, so then she gives me the patient forms to fill out. I take the clipboard and forms and go sit down and start filling them out. I'm starting to feel distracted by all the noise in the room, and this is irritating me.
Meanwhile, a woman comes in and tells the clerk she is there for her 3 pm appt. with the same doctor. My appt. was for 2:45 and I was on time but the insurance snag took up some time. So, I figure, ok, they'll probably take her before me, but that's ok. I have plenty of time.
But Then, the clerk comes over to me and bends over me and into my space and takes the pen out of my hand and says, "I'm going to help you fill this out because they want to take you in now and you need to finish the first page of the forms before they do". The first page of the form is the insurance info. I'm already mostly finished with filling in this info already and I'm totally taken aback by how this woman is in my face and actually taking the pen out of my hand! But I tell her, no, that will be too distracting, just let me finish it myself. I'll be done in a minute.
Which I do, and I bring the page up to her at the counter. Then I sit back down and start the rest of the forms. A few minutes later, my name is called to go back. The medical assistant takes me back and says, I'm just going to triage you and then send you back out there again because Dr. so and so doesn't have any open rooms right now. So she does the weight, temp and BP back there and sends me back to the waiting room. I continue filling out forms for a while and then am called back again. At this point, it is fine--I sit in a room for maybe 2 minutes max and then the doctor comes in. She was fine.
But I'm still not done with the forms. I'd finished the med. history part of the forms but hadn't had a chance to read the policy forms, the financial agreement forms, or the privacy forms.
What is stupid about these, to begin with, is that each of these policy type forms has you sign at the end of it (sometimes one page, sometimes up to 4 pages) and then you are supposed to give it back to them--the signed form. But that obviously means you aren't taking the printed policy statements with you. How the heck are you supposed to follow their policies if you don't keep the forms? So, I asked for them to make a copy, but I'm sure most people don't go out of their way to request a copy.
But also, the forms are so patient unfriendly. First of all, they are like 1000th generation bad photocopies, some printed at a slant or with words cut off. And, they are rife with spelling and grammatical errors and typos. Not to mention that they ramble and offer confusing, conflicting statements in places.
For the HIPAA privacy policies, it's a bad nth generation copy of a template that they printed off the internet, and they haven't modified it to the specifics of their practice. The most obvious example of this is that at the end of the HIPAA privacy statement, it says, "if you have any questions about the privacy policies, the person you should contact is [BLANK LINE} who can be reached at [BLANK LINE]"!
And the way the HIPAA policy reads makes me feel like I am basically signing away ALL my rights to any kind of privacy. OK, so I know that this is a universal issue, not just this practice's problem. But, they have done NOTHING to give me the impression that they are going to handle my information professionally and to try to preserve my privacy or dignity and only share what they need to. By using a bad copy of the rambling, difficult to understand template from HIPAA, without putting any practice-specific statements on it about their intention to maintain privacy to the best of their ability, and by having such an unprofessional, chaotic front office atmosphere, and with the rather unhelpful approach of the clerk I dealt with, this does not instill confidence in me that they are going to treat my very personal medical information the way I wanted it to be handled.
Penny, I left there feeling frazzled and irritated and upset. It wasn't anything awful that happened. But I want to be able to go to a doctor's office where I feel more of a sense of safety. I actually have such a doctor but she isn't on the plan (my employer switched plans last July!). I sometimes go to this doctor but it is out of plan. I don't mind paying for the office visit, but then anything that flows from that visit is not covered in plan, and those things, like blood tests, etc., can add up very quickly. Not to mention that if I needed something more serious it would be prohibitive to pay out of pocket and only get partially reimbursed.
So, I understand why you feel so upset after your encounter with your doctors office.
I hope you feel better soon, Penny.
Posted by poppi on April 18, 2004, at 2:05:57
In reply to Re: Soooo frustrated..., posted by Dinah on April 16, 2004, at 17:39:26
Okay
Screw the docs. Just don't go. See if they care!!
Just die!
poppi
Posted by poppi on April 18, 2004, at 2:06:09
In reply to Re: Soooo frustrated..., posted by Dinah on April 16, 2004, at 17:39:26
Okay
Screw the docs. Just don't go. See if they care!!
Just die!
poppi
Posted by Dinah on April 18, 2004, at 8:31:49
In reply to Re: Soooo frustrated..., posted by poppi on April 18, 2004, at 2:05:57
> Okay
>
> Screw the docs. Just don't go. See if they care!!
>
> Just die!
>
> poppiDinah here, acting as deputy for Dr. Bob.
Please don't be sarcastic, joke about death or suicide, suggest that others harm themselves or others, jump to conclusions about others, post anything that could lead others to feel accused or put down, harass or pressure others, use language that could offend others, exaggerate or overgeneralize -- et cetera.
The civility guidelines are at
Http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#civilPS: Follow-ups regarding posting policies, and complaints about posts, should be redirected to Psycho-Babble Administration
Dinah
Posted by poppi on April 19, 2004, at 0:50:47
In reply to Please be civil » poppi, posted by Dinah on April 18, 2004, at 8:31:49
Dinah
sorry if I seemed uncivil. The post was an obvious troll and I only meant to expose it. If this caused you problems then I apologize!
Posted by justyourlaugh on April 19, 2004, at 7:06:15
In reply to Re: Please be civil, posted by poppi on April 19, 2004, at 0:50:47
?
poppi..
please stop calling others trolls.
penny is a dear friend of babble and i think you need to apologise.
sdj needs your respect aswell.
jyl
Posted by fallsfall on April 19, 2004, at 7:28:24
In reply to poppi, posted by justyourlaugh on April 19, 2004, at 7:06:15
Thank you for your eloquent post. You expressed my feelings better than I could.
Posted by rainyday on April 19, 2004, at 8:07:11
In reply to poppi, posted by justyourlaugh on April 19, 2004, at 7:06:15
Ditto, here. Careful with name calling!
Posted by Penny on April 19, 2004, at 8:20:13
In reply to Re: Soooo frustrated... » Penny, posted by noa on April 17, 2004, at 9:59:54
Thanks, all. :-)
I received a response to the email I sent to family practice a couple of hours later, essentially saying that my email had been forwarded to the clinic director and practice manager, and that they would be in touch with me on Monday, when they returned from vacation.
Then I got home and had a message on my answering machine from my doctor, saying she'd try me again on Monday.
I told my pdoc about it when I saw him on Friday night, and he said that I definitely did the right thing by complaining - he said that the clinic certainly doesn't want to lose its patients, especially patients that have "good" insurance. Apparently not...
So, we'll see what happens.
Thanks again.
P
Posted by Penny on April 19, 2004, at 8:21:13
In reply to poppi, posted by justyourlaugh on April 19, 2004, at 7:06:15
Thanks. :-)
P
Posted by Dr. Bob on April 19, 2004, at 8:27:48
In reply to Re: Please be civil, posted by poppi on April 19, 2004, at 0:50:47
> The post was an obvious troll
Please don't post anything that could lead others to feel accused or put down. You've already been asked to be civil, so now I'm going to block you from posting for a week.
If you have any questions or comments about this or about posting policies in general, or are interested in alternative ways of expressing yourself, please see the FAQ:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#civil
or redirect a follow-up to Psycho-Babble Administration.
Posting something about your own issues and their possible role in your reaction might be an interesting exercise -- and might help others respond to you supportively.
Thanks,
Bob
Posted by Penny on April 20, 2004, at 12:29:57
In reply to Soooo frustrated..., posted by Penny on April 16, 2004, at 11:21:49
Okay - so I got an email from the clinic manager yesterday apologizing for the problems I had with the reception staff. We'll see if those words translate into change or not... :-)
Then I got a call from my GP last night at 6 p.m. - we talked a bit about my concerns, and I'm going in on Friday morning for a glucose tolerance test. She said I can either make an appointment to discuss the results with her or we can discuss them by phone. I'll probably make an appointment, since the timing can be more flexible now.
Anyway, thanks again for all the kind words.
((((Babblers))))
P
Posted by rainyday on April 21, 2004, at 13:45:37
In reply to Re: Update, posted by Penny on April 20, 2004, at 12:29:57
Posted by Karen_kay on April 21, 2004, at 18:18:29
In reply to Re: Update, posted by Penny on April 20, 2004, at 12:29:57
penny dear,
sorry i'm late with this. i've been reading, just not able to respond dear.
i'm glad that things are finally getting worked out darling. so very glad for you. i'll be thinking about you. if you let me know the day of the appointment (unless you have privacy concerns, which i completely understand too dear), i'll mark it in my calendar and think especially hard of you that day and send you very warm thoughts... you're in my thoughts (as always of course) dear.... kk
Posted by Dinah on April 21, 2004, at 20:28:20
In reply to Re: Update, posted by Penny on April 20, 2004, at 12:29:57
Penny, I'm really glad you're getting that taken care of. I realize more and more how some of my mood problems are blood sugar related.
But I'm hoping you'll test just fine. It's a b*tch to deal with.
Posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 10:05:04
In reply to Way to go! (nm) » Penny, posted by rainyday on April 21, 2004, at 13:45:37
Posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 10:07:26
In reply to Re: Update » Penny, posted by Karen_kay on April 21, 2004, at 18:18:29
KK,
Thanks for your sweet message! I completely understand about the reading but unable to respond stuff - I've been having a heck of a time keeping up with all that's going on with folks on the board as of late...
Can you give me your email again? Or you can email me at penny1076 via yahoo.
My appointment for the glucose tolerance testing is tomorrow morning. I'm not really concerned about it, as my last glucose test (about a year ago) was normal, but still...thanks for the positive thoughts.
(((KK)))
P
Posted by Penny on April 22, 2004, at 10:09:06
In reply to Re: Update, posted by Dinah on April 21, 2004, at 20:28:20
Thank you, Dinah.
My gp didn't sound overly concerned - if anything, I am just starting to develop glucose tolerance (pre-diabetes) - she said that my last test results were normal, but I believe that was just an A1C.
But I'm sure this will lead to a greater need to lose weight. Sigh...
Oh well.
(((Dinah)))
P
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