Doctors office doesn't return phone calls. What do

[The motor guy]

I'm seriously ready to just switch doctors and start completely over with my little doctors visit. Not sure if you can do that. Also I'm not sure why I can't just talk to the doctor directly. He kind of cut the visit a little short before I had all my questions answered, not to mention that I forgot to have him look at 5 or 6 other things that I've been meaning to have looked at for years. Even the receptionist lady is kind of baffled and is like I don't know why she isn't returning your calls. I called like four times and three of the four she was unavailable for whatever reason, each time she would say i'll have her call you back, the fourth time she's taking her 3 o clock lunch. This isn't even the doctor it's someone assigned to handle my file or something. I guess I should have listed it all on the paperwork I filled out obviously, i'm such an idiot sometimes. Now that I think about it I guess I was kind of flustered that he wasn't listening to me at all and he pulls out some diagram and I'm trying to say what's on that diagram is not what's on my body. I'll have to draw you a picture since I wasn't able to find it at that point in time.

Yet people think I'm nuts for avoiding going to the doctor, gee I wonder why.....

I'm about ready to just pay out of my own pocket just to see a good doctor that I know.

I suppose there is a question in here somewhere, this is just me venting my frustration.

 

[ammolab]

Am I right you refer to your Dr. As "she Isnt returning my calls", and "he pulls out a diagram"? Perhaps your Dr was confused by your diatribe and felt all that confusion was a waste of time.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: ammolab
Am I right you refer to your Dr. As "she Isnt returning my calls", and "he pulls out a diagram"? Perhaps your Dr was confused by your diatribe and felt all that confusion was a waste of time.


Ok when I said she I was referring to his assistant I guess and by he I meant the doctor. Sorry.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
Originally Posted By: ammolab
Am I right you refer to your Dr. As "she Isnt returning my calls", and "he pulls out a diagram"? Perhaps your Dr was confused by your diatribe and felt all that confusion was a waste of time.


Ok when I said she I was referring to his assistant I guess and by he I meant the doctor. Sorry.


You are correct there was some mis communication/ confusion which is what started this whole mess. I cleared up all the confusion yesterday when I did finally get ahold of the lady handling my chart. She said she would contact the doctor and get back to me, but why don't they ever get back to me?

 

[Wolf359]

The usual reasons, too busy. They basically just have 15-20 minutes per patient and that includes writing things up in the chart and other back office functions so you don't actually even get that much face time. The real tip off was when you mentioned that you had 5-6 other things. You should just go on a regular basis so they can spend time on just one or two things at a time instead of trying to tackle 10 items in 15 minutes. It just doesn't happen.

 

[Wolf359]

Also when you go, write down all the items you want to talk about and hand the list to the doctor.

 

[bioburner]

Does Progresso Mexico have general doctors? I know they have lot of good dentists. I should be close end of next week. I can save enough on one visit for the minor work to pay for the trips gas From Minnesota. Then theres the real work. Since ACA the dentists up here have tripled the rates plus in three years.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Also when you go, write down all the items you want to talk about and hand the list to the doctor.


That's a good idea. I tend to get sidetracked easily.

 

[AirgunSavant]

All the docs I go to only allow one item per visit. Most even post signs saying so.

 

[Leo99]

I bring a pad with me and a pen. Also good to bring a spouse or friend or son/daughter to help take in everything and make sure all is clear. Some doctors are chattier than others. Some doctors will call you often to see how you're feeling and others won't call at all. Some doctors feel they can treat almost anything and some will punt and refer you to a specialist for almost anything.

What questions do you have for the doctor? Doctor diagnosed hernias and referred you to another doctor, right? What more do you want to know? Maybe the doctor feels he's told you all he needed to.

 

[Nick1994]

Make another appointment

 

[Tdbo]

Go in with a list of things you want to see the doctor about.
Also, prepare a list of any meds that you need refills on and give to the nurse. Having lists for both saves quite a bit of time.
Also, if the purpose of your visit is for a physical, doctors generally budget more time.

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Go in with a list of things you want to see the doctor about.
Also, prepare a list of any meds that you need refills on and give to the nurse. Having lists for both saves quite a bit of time.
Also, if the purpose of your visit is for a physical, doctors generally budget more time.


That doctors office I went to is a complete joke, so I'm just going to setup an appointment with another doctor. I need my asthma medicine refilled pretty soon anyways. All I had was a simple question and it turned into a complete mess.

 

[The_Eric]

If you don't tell them what is troubling you when you call to make the appointment, they won't allow enough time. They may figure on a one issue visit and you have 6. If you have 6, then tell them so they can allot enough time. If the doc seemed rushed, it's because he/she is!

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
I bring a pad with me and a pen. Also good to bring a spouse or friend or son/daughter to help take in everything and make sure all is clear. Some doctors are chattier than others. Some doctors will call you often to see how you're feeling and others won't call at all. Some doctors feel they can treat almost anything and some will punt and refer you to a specialist for almost anything.

What questions do you have for the doctor? Doctor diagnosed hernias and referred you to another doctor, right? What more do you want to know? Maybe the doctor feels he's told you all he needed to.


This is what happened. I still haven't had my very simple question answered by the doctor.

I think he felt I was concerned about testicular cancer and he was like well everything is fine here, but if you want me to I can have a CT scan done. So IIRC he wasn't concerned about anything at all, but did say I was in the age range for testicular cancer so why not check just as a basic preventive measure is what I believe he was trying to get at. I get out of the doctors office and they told me I could go across the street and see if they have time to schedule you and we checked already and they take your insurance, so I go over there and they're like we have an appointment at 2:30 and I said I couldn't make that plus they for some reason wanted to check to see if my insurance covers it. They said they would check and give me a call back later on that day. Of course nobody calls back, so then the next day after repeated calls throughout the day I finally get ahold of the only person they will let me talk to and they say well the insurance won't cover it and they have been trying to get ahold of me and somehow somebody got the idea that I thought it was too expensive and didn't want the test done. So this was when I asked does he want the test done for my hernia or the testicular cancer that he checked for because it sounded like he just wanted it done as a preventive measure for testicular cancer and wasn't worried about the hernia.

This is what's so irritating to me that my simple question can't be answered.

 

[splinter]

Retain the services of a concierge primary care physician and his/her network of medical professionals.

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Also when you go, write down all the items you want to talk about and hand the list to the doctor.

Ah yes, "la maladie du petit papier" (the illness of the little paper). Not a good idea. If it isn't important enough to remember, it's better forgotten.

I was a GP for a number of years. I was paid very little per visit (payment for an office visit got as high as $15) and I simply didn't have the time to deal with multiple problems on the same visit. I could see 6 patients an hour and do them all justice. Out of that $90 I had to pay my office overhead and other expenses. Telephone calls paid nothing, though I made a dozen or more a day. Perhaps you see why I don't do that kind of medicine any more.

I had one patient ask about a chest infection, talk about his daughter's new and worrisome condition, and then as I was leaving (a so called "door-knob consultation") tell me why he was really there - which lead to a new cancer diagnosis.

And in case you think I couldn't be bothered to take the time to talk to patients, I had an elderly lady who liked to chat. But there was just never enough time. So I asked my staff to book her in for the first half hour (yes a half hour with full overhead for $15). At the end of a half hour as I was leaving she said, "But doctor I haven't told you why I'm here yet."

So give the doctor a break. Tell him/her your main complaint right off and let him or her get on with it.

Over investigation is a curse. A joke in the medical fraternity is "there are no normal patients, only people who haven't had enough tests yet". Most test results have a "normal distribution" [if you've never studied statistics look up what that means] with a cut off for what is considered abnormal. If each test has a 5% chance of being abnormal, with 20 tests you're likely to find something "abnormal". And then the fun begins. That non specific little spot on the MRI needs a follow up in 3 months, and a different view shows it has increased in size by at least 1 mm (about 1/32 of an inch). "Out of an abundance of caution" a surgeon is consulted "just in case" and ... well you know where this is going.

To get technical about it, the usefullness of a test depends on the pre-test probability of the condition. If the condition is unlikely, doing a test is not that helpful. On the other hand if the situation is suspicious (either by history or physical finding) a test could be very useful.

There, rant off. I feel much better now.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Your Health Care is your responsibility, and if you leave it to chance you can't expect proper care. A good doctor whom you are comfortable with is critical to your care; you don't want to find out your doctor is substandard in some regard when you get sick; it's too late at that point and you will be stuck with him or her. Get a good doctor now when you don't need one critically.

Find a good doctor, ask friends and family, co-workers, and anyone you know in the industry (an administrative level nurse working in a hospital is ideal; she will be familiar with all the doctors with hospital privileges at that hospital). "Hospital Privileges" means the specific doctor can perform operations at that Hospital.

There may be help available from the College of Surgeons (or whatever state licensing entity exists where you are) as far as finding Doctors who are accepting new patients.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Also when you go, write down all the items you want to talk about and hand the list to the doctor.

Ah yes, "la maladie du petit papier" (the illness of the little paper). Not a good idea. If it isn't important enough to remember, it's better forgotten.

I was a GP for a number of years. I was paid very little per visit (payment for an office visit got as high as $15) and I simply didn't have the time to deal with multiple problems on the same visit. I could see 6 patients an hour and do them all justice. Out of that $90 I had to pay my office overhead and other expenses. Telephone calls paid nothing, though I made a dozen or more a day. Perhaps you see why I don't do that kind of medicine any more.
... (snip) ...


That must have been quite some time ago, no? I know that here in Sask for doctors whom accept Medicare patients it's currently about $150 per visit for a General Practitioner.

One huge contrast between here an BC was evident when i travelled there in 2013, I could not find a doctor that would accept a walk-in patient. The only place I could find care was either by going to Emergency at the Hospital (which I won't do for a non-Emergency problem) or at the Clinic in the Chilliwack Wall-Mart. Here in Saskatoon there are probably 100 walk-in clinics, the larger ones will have 30 or 40 doctors on staff. It was a reminder how everything changes from Province to Province (and to American readers ... there is no national Health Care system in Canada, despite what you've been told).

 

[Timo325]

I don't want to make this long. If your not satisfied or getting what you want let your provider know. Then if the provider still isn't satisfying you, call your insurance and let them know how dissatisfied you are. Your insurance can get you a new provider and potentially drop them from the network if they receive multiple complaints. My .02..