Cute!
I as a Canadian from BC has not much to complain about ??!!
After reading through your post and others responses it makes me glad I have an endo like I do. Mine only does labs every 3 months unless I'm sick. I only have to see him every 3 months unless I'm sick. Other than that I keep in contact by emailing him every two weeks with my blood sugars since I've been on the pump since October 2011 and we are working some kinks out in it. He understands our financial situation. Though my endo is also a Type 1 diabetic himself.
I lucked out there. Must have been the incredulous, irrate tone of voice:)
Am flabbergasted at charging for an Rx because a patient needs another! What's the fee? Disgraceful as it is to charge for parking. So sorry, Emmy. Really frustrating. Very few endos where I live & one is worst then the next. I go to an internist.
I had a doctor cancel my prescriptions when I told his office I wouldn't be back. Went to refill insulin & was told it was cancelled. His office never told me in advance. Nice to cut off insulin. I had none.
Ouch Gerri, Canceling your scripts is the meanest thing I have ever heard of a doctor doing. Especially without giving you a notice. This doctor must have known the situation he/she was putting you in. He endangered your life by his actions and that to me was more than malpractice it was malicious.
Gary S
Sounds to me like your doctor's office is doing this due to insurance billing. Raise hell and threaten to switch. Places like this are one of the many reasons why our healthcare system costs are spiraling out of control. She is just doing her job as receptionist by sticking to office policy. Ask to speak to her supervisor. I'm sure this is all costing you more money too-- each visit is an extra co-pay and time away from work, school, or whatever you do.
Oh, btw, great job taking care of yourself! Those numbers (A1C and cholesterol) are something you should be proud of!
Thanks, I am proud of those numbers. I have never had such good lab reports. That's why it was so devastating to have my good mood ruined.
Gary S
My mouth was hanging open in utter disbelief. Not that it did any good, but I called his office outraged. Malicious--yes!
Whatever happened to "do no harm"?
Really, what happened to the first rule? Insurance companies & Big Pharma have effectively eliminated that.
There should be a way to report him to the doctor's board that over sees them. I can't think of the technical term. I had to do it with a past doctor that I had.
That incident happened several years ago. Wonder if that matters? Did you get any feedback after filing your complaint?
A lot of this has to do with insurance rules. The work-around that I have found is to make an appointment for one thing (i.e., a physical) and then while I'm there in front of the doctor, just work in the other issues. The receptionist making the appointment really doesn't need to know the exact reasons that I'm coming in and a "physical" is general enough that it should be a good opportunity to address any issues I'm having.
The insurance industry has made receiving medical care a game; I am just playing right along with them. And, believe it or not, doctors actually get quite the short end of the stick when it comes to earnings and such. Primary care physicians (or general docs) are a dying breed and they actually don't earn that much; not when you take into account malpractice insurance, student loans to get through medical school, administrative overhead, etc. I have a couple of friends who are PCPs and I was shocked to find out that I earn as much as they do --- and I have a far less-stressful job!
Yeah. Last I knew the doctor was being watched. The issue is this was in another state that I lived in so I don't know if the doctor is still in practice or not. As far as I know she still was.
Have a new GP from south Africa. He actually listened to 8 different problems during one visit definitely "un-american".
The whole situation sounds ridiculous. I'm in Alberta, Canada and I face similar obstacles. Doctors here will only deal with 2 problems per appointment. So if you have a sore back, require a physical for work, and want to discuss your irregular blood sugars, you cannot do so in one visit.
I think it's for the money, and no other reason. The doc gets paid for each visit.
It's a shame that greed trumps common sense. I am lucky to have a non-north american doctor.
Ok everyone I ended my original post by saying that I'm was trying to decide if I will go back to this doctor. Well I made another appointment today. It took me a month to decide that I wouldn't be any better off by switching doctors.
As most of you have probably guessed I haven't always been the ideal patient. I have spent the majority of my life trying to avoid the medical profession but had decided to try harder with this doctor to be a good patient. I have spent so much of my time trying to avoid the system that I didn't know how the system works.
So I'm going to try again. I'm going to use the knowledge gained from this experience and hopefully will know what to expect from now on. Wish me luck.
Gary S
Maybe it would help to step away from the doctor, I mean still go see him, but give yourself a "promotion" and think of running your own show? We sort of do that anyway and, once you are just telling the doctor "I need this refilled" and not anticipating a lot, perhaps you'll find it more fun to go see them?