[artic]

Hello all
Am I the only one who thinks its takes an inordinate amount of time to get anything done in the medical world? It takes me three weeks to get primary dr appointment, four weeks pain management, six weeks neurosurgeon and six weeks for esi doctor. When I call any of their respective offices, I am lucky if they call back in a timely manner, some never call back. I called one office three times about my medication and after no return calls I finally called their after hours pager. The dr then called me back. I told him that I had been trying to get my meds straight and would he please help me. His reply to why no one returned my call...."we have been extremely busy lately"

I know I am not their only patient and I try to wait until my following appointment If I possibly can. They absolutely make sure I have my appointments scheduled, they have to have that money generator! I almost never set appointments at the end of the day because if I do I will sit two hours waiting.

When I go to neurosurgeons office I alway talk to people who have had ACDF because that is what the dr wants me to have. He actually told me I was foolish to wait any longer to have it done. Its so scary, I feel like he has scalpel in hand at every appointment. I have much respect for dr's and I know they are highly educated. I am not dr bashing, just a little lite humor to pass the time. What do you all think, Is this a conspiracy or what? lol, ha ha!!!!
Artic

[Leesa]

Dear Artic ~ Those doctors aren't ANY BETTER than you are. They put their pants on just like YOU DO. They intimidate people on purpose. This is their way of gaining control. This is their way of scaring patients. If you go in there with the frame of mind that this guy is WORKING FOR YOU, you might just get better treatment --- of course there are SOME who will fire you on the spot too. LOL

But seriously, I've had to sit MY doctor down, and tell him -- "Look, doc I get the feeling you don't like me very well. What's the problem? You don't give me but 2-3 minutes of your time. I'm scheduled for at LEAST 15 minutes. Now what gives?" He was STARTLED!! Evidently he didn't realize what he was doing. He came over to me, gave me a BIG HUG and said, NO, it's NOT TRUE that I dont like you!!! Then he sat down, and said I could have all the time I wanted. Sure, that was true for THAT visit --- but the next one, we went back to the same old stuff. LOL At least I knew he didn't hate my guts. LOL

He IS a busy doctor -- I know that. But he's NOT going to walk all over me, and if I think he IS I'm going to let him know it. If I NEED more time, he's going to know it. I'm going to tell him to SIT DOWN -- I need to talk!

And with your problem, you've GOT to make him MORE AWARE of what's going on! It just not enough for him to tell you that they've been "extremely busy." BULL CRAP. How long does it take to make a phone call? He can do that between patients -- and if he's like any other doctor I've been to, they take BREAKS between patients. THEY ALL DO. So the stuff he's handing you is crap. Sorry, but I've been to hundreds (yes hundreds) of doctors, and they all take breaks!!!

Maybe they need more help in their stupid offices. I've also worked in doctors offices, and the phone had BETTER get answered in a timely manner, and the problems solved THAT DAY. That's the way my office was run, and it WAS a very busy office, believe me --- 2 doctors in that office, who were very busy.

Your doc is passing the buck in my opinion and a lot of docs do that. It's just not acceptable. Patients deserve better treatment and it's time they started DEMANDING IT. The docs get paid enough for it -- you don't see them living in bad neighborhoods, do ya? Or driving used cars? Hardly.

Just my opinion. Hugs, Lee

[sfink]

Hi! I'm back for 5 minutes..She's right about this. Got to make some noise. The long waits for anything medical are so tough- hey ******* , I'm on fire here, let's get it going! you need the patience of Job to tolerate these folks. I've made myself to be extremely annoying to them, adopt the junkyard dog mentality of I'm going to keep barking until you pay attention to me. The docs are almost all type a personalities, so unless you push back, they treat u like your an item moving along on a conveyor belt; you know-next-next-next-next-next. Don't misunderstand though, I respect them- I talk to them normally, I tell them facts of what's going on without whining and talk pro-active; like here's where I am and this is what I want and there is where I want to go. That's how I do it. As far as the money goes, the patient has so little control-it"s all relative to your insurance and on and on and on. No conspiracy here(doctor-patient relationship), but I'm certain there are many plots going on between drs.,hospitals,insurance companies,government ect.,that's where the money is going on!! I've seen so many eye-watering bills I can't stand it!!It's sooo expensive that it is stupid! $120,000 to purchase, install,tune up a spinal cord stimulator..***! And it doesn't work that well. I got to go now, I'm getting my BP up,, but hey- but u got to make some noise - otherwise just part of the herd. Take care, sfink

[JoeP148]

I truly believe there are 2 types of doctors in this world.

1. The Doctors that went to Med School for the motivation of earning money and gaining societal status.

2. Doctors that went to Med School to help heal and make the world a better place.

Sometimes it can be hard to judge, which type of doctor you are dealing with. I can tell you this. Good Doctors are busy people. If a doctor purposly runs late with other appointments to explain to you the inner workings of your body and your pain, I believe that is a good doctor. I was very skeptical of my surgeon who was very up front with me. He said "you need surgery". That was the most straight forward awnser I have ever been given. However, that was the truth, I did need surgery and I am glad I did it.

You need to be proactive when scheduling your appointments. Don't be reactive, schedule appointments early and if you don't need them, reschedule or cancel. If you stay ahead of the game you will control your recovery and avoid being drug around and at the back of the line at your doctors office.

[ginnie]

Patients need to speak up when their needs are not being met. Because doctors are in a position of power, they tend to intimidate. They are just like us as Leesa said. They work for us! I have gotten very stubborn over the years and I too have ran into this issue. Tell them what you need, and if they don't measure up, say goodbye. You want the A student with good personality, and they do exist!!!!!! ginnie

[Dr. Smith]

Originally Posted by artic

I called one office three times about my medication and after no return calls I finally called their after hours pager.

At times like these, make use of your pharmacist. They can't answer all questions, but they can help with many, and usually know more about meds than the doctors that prescribe them. There's also a lot of information available on the web, and sometimes folks here (Medications & Treatments) may be able to suggest/point you in a direction.

Doc

[artic]

Hi all
I see this site allows for questioning dr's treatment of patients. I've had good and bad office visits. Some dr's listen and others just use the same formula changing the patients name to fit their conclusions.
God bless
Artic