[karilann]

Went to my GP today for a bad back and I noticed the nurse was very cool and curt. Did her thing...no chit chat.....did not seem interested in mine. She said, "doc is with a patient and there is one ahead of you so you'll have to wait" I thought "geez, she must be really busy or something". Then the doc comes in and acts the same way. Keeping chit chat out, not asking about how I have been doing etc. She showed me some stretching exercises and gave me a pamphlet on exercises and started to get ready to leave. I asked if I could talk to her about a couple more things and she said, "No. Unfortunatley we are out of time and I have to set time limits per patient. Make another appointment for your second concern and then make a third appointment for the other concern". I said, "Well one is just a medication refill I need". And she said, "yes, that will need an appointment on its own". Then she left the room. Well, I waited patiently for my appointment, got about 10 minutes of service......and DING! times up.

Now........I am thinking......what the h*ll? My insurance does not pay for office calls so I have to come back 2 more times and pay $90 each to discuss each item alone???????? I asked the lady at the desk the same question and she said "excuse me?" sarcastically. Then she told me yes I would need a separate appointment for each concern, then stared at me with this "whatcha gonna do bout it" look.

I went home and got a new doctor....called the old office and faxed over a medical release statement to get my records (which I have to pay $1 per page) and told them I would not be needing those extra appointments.

[Debbie D]

Wow...what a way to make a person feel cared for, huh?
Glad you took action and got a new dr. As my trainer told me, "You need to be your own patient advocate." Good job!

[lady_express_44]

This is how all my appointments go with my GP:

Doc: "Hey, how are you doing?"

Me: "Good, and you?", or "Not so good , you?"

Doc: "I'm great". "What can I do for you today?"

Me: "I have three issues" (which I have listed on a paper); headaches, urinary hesitency, and I need a new LDN rx"

Doc: "Ok, I'll start with the rx" (which is the obvious priority)

... now we are 5 minutes into it . . .

Doc: "Ok, tell me about the headaches?"

Me: Blah, blah, blah

Doc: Blah, blah, blah

... now we are 10 minutes into it . . .

Doc: "Now, as for the the hesitancy . . . does it hurt when you urinate?"

Me: "A little burning, maybe"

Doc: "How long has this been going on?"

Me: "A week or so"

Doc: Do you have any MS symptoms acting up?

Me: "Just some new numbness in my feet."

... 15 minutes has passed and times up . . .

Doc: "Well, I am going to have the nurse do a UTI test, and will fill out a rx in case it comes back positive". "If it does, we will call back by tomorrow to tell you to fill it." "If it doesn't, I want to you back here next week to do some further testing, to see if you should be referred to a urologist".

Then there are other times when I bring my daughter in for something, and as long as I have told the receptionist before hand (she has pulled my chart), he will try to fit both of us into a 15 min consult.

Of course there are times that take longer then 15 min for one issue too . . . and he doesn't kick me out if he is not done on that one issue before the time is up.

I respect his schedule cause I hate to be the next patient who is waiting for someone who takes far longer then is scheduled for their visit.

Cherie

[lady_express_44]

... (oh, and sometimes we just sit and take about baseball for the last 12 min of my visit )

Cherie

[SandyC]

What the heck? That is unacceptable to say the least. I am glad you got a new doctor.

[Kitty]

Good grief.....I'd look for a new doctor, too. Even if they do have to stick to a schedule it doesn't take anymore time to smile and say hello than it does to be snippy.

I would have found it hard not to "voice" my concerns while I was there!!

[Erin524]

The last time that I saw my regular doctor...about 6 months ago, I think...we ended up chatting for the first 10 or 15 minutes about what I was knitting and crocheting, and what his wife was currently crocheting. He was asking me if it's hard to learn to crochet or knit, and I told him they were both easy, just needs practice.

Then we chatted about whatever the problem was at the time, he explained stuff to me and gave me a Rx. After that, I asked him about a few of the issues that I had saved up to ask him about. Turned out he was in the exam room for about 35 to 40 minutes. (I think it was a slow day for him)


My neuro's appointment yesterday was probably about 10 or 15 minutes long. Not too much chitchat, but he at least he's pleasant, and explained things to me fairly well. We chitchatted a bit when he was walking me down the hall to the secretary's desk so I could make an appointment for later this year.

At least my neuro doesnt make me feel like I'm being talked down to. Had a jerk of an infectious disease doctor do that to me when they were trying to figure out if it was MS or Lyme disease before I got diagnosed. Actually two infectious disease doctors...and they were both not originally from the United States, and they seriously needed to brush up on their English skills. It's a bit annoying to be talked down to in broken English.

[Junie]

I am so sorry that there are Dr's out there that make the entire medical community look bad! I once worked for a Dr (not long and it makes me choke to call him a Dr) that had us set a egg timer for 5 minutes for what he called his problem Pt's, and then we had to knock on the door and tell him he had a important phone call!! I am so ashamed that I did not have the guts to report the spineless SOB to the state medical board!! I was at the time too afraid he would somehow manage to blackball me in the medical field and that I would never find work! There are many out there like these 2 I have no doubt but Thank God there are also some wonderful Dr's out there and I am thankful to have one of them and I hope your new one is at least half as good as mine because that would still make them a great Dr! I really feel bad that you were treated so shabbily!

[Bets]

Originally Posted by karilann

I went home and got a new doctor....called the old office and faxed over a medical release statement to get my records (which I have to pay $1 per page) and told them I would not be needing those extra appointments.

You are a better person than I am. I would have made a bunch more appointments and no-showed them all.

[0357]

Find another doctor! I've had a few who treated me badly because I have MS. One family doctor told me with his back to me not to come back, I had MS and there was nothing anyone could do for me...then he walked of the room.

Another, was my neuro...I belonged to HMO's...he was bringing family over from another country I was told over the period I saw him by his receptionist; we had become friends. Anyway, when I left him I found out he kept No Records on me. He was getting a kick-back from the insurance companies.

I wrote 3 Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies; Community Blue, Security Blue and I forget the other and I was told that they decided to pay him less per patient for his present patients. During that 4 year period I had kept records on what drugs I took, attacks, w/c, etc.

I have great doctors now...keep looking. Go to a MS Clinic, etc. Seek out a good family doctor who will spend time with you and who listens, etc.

Hang in there and best of luck!