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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lonely on September 24, 2004, at 16:28:52
My husband will be seeing a new psychiatrist on Mon. Sept. 27th. I am the one who picked her out as my husband works in a situation without any privacy. We are in agreement on all that. Before I made the appt. I asked advice from about 3 different doctors and therapists and had literally called 3 or 4 psychiatrists but the ones who were recommended would not take our insurance.
How do I find anything out about her? I mean, REALLY about her? For instance, her personality and way she relates to patients? What other patients think of her and what her colleagues think of her?
Here's the "deal":
(a) I originally called about another psychiatrist in this group but he was not taking new patients.
(b) The staff suggested another psychiatrist but I explained that my husband has brain damage from stroke and has had some bad experiences/reactions to several psych medicines. I was looking for someone who had experience w/stroke patients which is a bit hard to find.(c) The staff suggested a woman psychiatrist in their group - in fact, I could tell they were talking to her in the background as I asked questions. I decided to try her out on behalf of my hubby.
(d) Here are my impressions:
(1) This woman psychiatrist is in practice with a psychologist I saw a couple years ago. I didn't care all that much for the psychologist but I remember seeing the psychiatrist in the hallway talking to her staff about a patient and thought she was sort've grandmotherly. (good)
(2) However, when my husband told his therapist (LMSW in the same group but a different geographic location) about it, she had a funny smile and said to be sure to tell her what he thought about this psychiatrist!
(3) Something tells me I might have made a mistake! I did a search on the internet but other than finding some ethnic/nationality associations with the name have come up with nothing.
Any insights into this? Thanks!
Posted by Annierose on September 25, 2004, at 15:27:32
In reply to How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit, posted by Lonely on September 24, 2004, at 16:28:52
You (or your husband) will be best to see if she is a good "fit" after you meet with her. During the initial interview, I think they will expect a lot of questions from you. And you'll be able to decide if her answers seem comfortable.
Posted by gardenergirl on September 25, 2004, at 17:16:29
In reply to How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit, posted by Lonely on September 24, 2004, at 16:28:52
Hi,
It's such a crapshoot, isn't it? Unless you have or someone tells you of personal experience with a provider, it's really hard to tell. I use things like how easy is it to talk to reception, etc. If I don't get a call back or can't get a question answered, I figure the place isn't "user-friendly" which is important to me.Also, you can check her credentials with the state board. Usually you can do this online. You might check that out, just to make sure that she is ethically and legally okay.
Good luck! And keep in mind, I really disliked my new pdoc after the first visit. But I had to call her twice in the month between that and the next visit due to side effect problems. On the second visit, I liked her much better. I think she either takes a bit to warm up, or she was just having a bad day the first time. But don't stick with what you KNOW isn't helpful, either.
Sigh, such a process.
gg
Posted by Lonely on September 27, 2004, at 21:19:35
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » Lonely, posted by gardenergirl on September 25, 2004, at 17:16:29
My thanks to you and Annierose! Here's how it turned out.
This afternoon we went to see this middle aged psychiatrist (for my husband) and it started off with the same nightmare I had experienced at this clinic a couple years ago when I myself saw a different therapist there. The insurance gave the wrong info and the clinic tried to over-bill me to which I became highly ascertive and was ready to take it to the wall. Some poor woman with two wild and out-of-control little boys came in and the kids literally screamed, threw toys across the room, jumped up and down and were bouncing all over the place.
The psychiatrist came out to get my husband about 20 minutes after his appt. time. I trailed along behind and followed him as he followed her. She was brusque and even abrupt. She had a speech made up and went through it quickly. She said she was a medical doctor, shoved a card at him, and said they had 4 therapists there. With a fairly strong accent she was a bit hard to understand. There was no time for questions or explanations from us.
NO MANNERS! She never acknowledged me, never introduced herself to me, never asked who I was, never smiled. Totally rude. I felt like drop-kicking her rear right out the window.
I started chiming in with comments when my hubby left out info so then she noticed me but it still was not nice. She told me I should ask the neurologist for a neuropsych exam. I said I already had and he had already had one. She demanded to know where it was. I said "It's right here" pointing to the folder of medical tests I brought with us just in case she wanted them. She never gave me a chance to say we had them. I pulled it out and handed it to her. She was impatient.
She didn't bothor my hubby as much as she did me. If I had been alone with her I would have told her she needed some training on customer service and interpersonal skills. And, yes, I have provided training to MDs and nurses on the above. They need it quite often. She was a classical case of what a doctor should not be.
She did diagnose him as bipolar which I tend to agree with. She indicated that bipolars tend to have trouble sleeping - he just jumps all over the place in his sleep and tries to move around. We fought over ADHD meds because of his high blood pressure. She did mention that his difficulty with word finding and memory are factors of his stroke and brain damage (I already had that pretty well figured out). She gave him a prescription for some sort of mood stabilizer but I can't quite make it out. It's Teleftal 150 or Trileptal 150 or something like that. Anyway, I don't want him to go back but he thought she was knowledgeable and probably didn't realize how rudely she comes across.
Whew! I'm not sure what I will do now! Anyway, really and truly I appreciate both of you for giving suggestions and insights. I didn't feel quite so alone.
> Hi,
> It's such a crapshoot, isn't it? Unless you have or someone tells you of personal experience with a provider, it's really hard to tell. I use things like how easy is it to talk to reception, etc. If I don't get a call back or can't get a question answered, I figure the place isn't "user-friendly" which is important to me.
>
> Also, you can check her credentials with the state board. Usually you can do this online. You might check that out, just to make sure that she is ethically and legally okay.
>
> Good luck! And keep in mind, I really disliked my new pdoc after the first visit. But I had to call her twice in the month between that and the next visit due to side effect problems. On the second visit, I liked her much better. I think she either takes a bit to warm up, or she was just having a bad day the first time. But don't stick with what you KNOW isn't helpful, either.
>
> Sigh, such a process.
>
> gg
Posted by gardenergirl on September 28, 2004, at 19:51:46
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » gardenergirl, posted by Lonely on September 27, 2004, at 21:19:35
Wow, I'm sorry you had such a trying experience. And overlooking you? How awful. I hate that invisible, helpless feeling. Your anger seems justified.
gg
Posted by Annierose on September 28, 2004, at 22:29:35
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » gardenergirl, posted by Lonely on September 27, 2004, at 21:19:35
Thank you for the kind words. I don't know how to respond to your visit. Not pleasant comes to mind. And here I thought she would be full of questions, wrong. Good Luck and let us know how your husband is doing. -Annie
Posted by Lonely on September 28, 2004, at 23:03:13
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » Lonely, posted by Annierose on September 28, 2004, at 22:29:35
Thank you both Annie and GG.
I've cooled off a little bit after getting in several minutes of righteous indignation as I described it all to my therapist this afternoon! I'm still amazed at the psychiatrist's terrible manners and insensitivity but then I'm the sensitive one in this household so I guess this type of stuff bothors me more. Or, at least I admit to it.
The one good thing that came out of it though is that he does have a firm diagnosis now of bipolar and vascular dementia (early stage). Of course those are not great things to have but there's some relief in being able to have a "known" issue with a name. Also, it's good to know that one of the reasons that many different antidepressants didn't work all that well is because he IS bipolar. It explains a lot and there's some mental relief with that. I also felt that this psychiatrist was much more knowlegeable than the other 4 or so he's seen. I'm hoping she warms up some on the next visit. It's a tough case with both disorders and I've had trouble finding someone with insight into both neurology and psychiatry, especially in network. I guess sometimes progress does come through yucky experiences!
> Thank you for the kind words. I don't know how to respond to your visit. Not pleasant comes to mind. And here I thought she would be full of questions, wrong. Good Luck and let us know how your husband is doing. -Annie
Posted by gardenergirl on September 29, 2004, at 11:11:48
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » Annierose, posted by Lonely on September 28, 2004, at 23:03:13
Hi Lonely.
I agree, having the dx is helpful, but I'm sorry that you and your husband are going thru this. Just FYI, when I was working with stroke patients in a nursing home, the psychiatrist who came in to see residents recommended Pamelor as an AD for people who had a stroke. Studies showed it was more effective than other AD's.However, I don't know about it's use with bipolor. Just something to ask about...
Good luck!
gg
Posted by terrics on October 1, 2004, at 20:31:32
In reply to Re: How To Check On New Psychiatrist Before Visit » Lonely, posted by gardenergirl on September 25, 2004, at 17:16:29
GO TO THE OFFICE OF THE PROFESSIONS IN YOUR STATE online. At least you can see if the Doc has any litigation or any disciplinary actions against him. I have done this. I also did a criminal background check on my T. That shows how much I trust her.lol terrics
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