Quote:
Originally Posted by glenntaj
--I try to avoid primary care physicians as much as possible. It's nto thtat there aren't some good ones out there, but many of us here are such unusual cases by their standards that they are in over their heads with us with little idea how to handle our symptoms. (Not that specialists are necessarily more knowledgable either. I think the best way for most of us to go, if we can, is with clinical practices in tertiary centers or teaching hosptials that also do research and have more possibility of being on the cutting edge.)
I do feel for people who have insurance plans that REQUIRE them to go to primary care physicians first in order to even get a referral to a specialist--in our cases, rather than saving money in itsr gatekeeping, the practice tends to cost all of us money in the long run--doctors, patients, and insurance companies.
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My PCP has turned out to be a life saver for me. He tracks all of my symptoms and he has quite a bit of knowledge about neuropathies. He has sent me to a teaching hospital for treatment and I need to go back due to changing symptoms. Luckily, my insurance doesn't require that I see him first, but he is here and he deals with my issues first hand so for me it makes sense. I've gone the route of the local neurologists and I haven't had any luck. They have their own in-house policies that prevent you from seeing someone else within their group and when you try to see a different one in the area, the Doctor politics kick-in and the patient suffers(speaking from my own experience here). Glenntaj, I agree that those who do require PCP visits for referrals really do cost a lot more in the long run both in terms of treatment and patient suffering.