# Does Anyone Else Have a Doctor's Who's Done This? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 27, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054 "2010-11-27T05:15:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/21 "2010-11-29T07:10:39Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > If you hadn’t spoken to them personally and they had just left a message on your answering machine, and you just didn’t show up, would they have tried to charge you a penalty for not keeping the appointment? That’s another thing. My doctor, due to HIPAA, can’t leave a message on my phone. Or, at least, he couldn’t until I gave him authorization. The best he could do was say that he called and ask me to call back. I can’t imagine being able to divulge that they’d scheduled a specific procedure for you, as that would be divulging health information to anyone who has access to the messaging service/answering machine. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/22 "2010-11-29T08:58:16Z")
In Spain that’s how it’s done once you’re Above A Certain Age or in the list for other reasons (socialized medicine, you know), but the letter telling you where to get the squishabobber also has a phone number and email to contact if the time is inconvenient. You can also call the usual medical appointments number or go to the nearest health center in person to reschedule. They do the same thing for anything for which you’re In The List, but of course you do know you’re in it. For example, my mother doesn’t need to request regular appointments for Rehab, Trauma, Internal, Oto or the podologist: she’s In The List for all of them, so she only needs to call in advance if she’s got a trip coming at about the time she expects to be getting scheduled or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/23 "2010-11-29T10:41:27Z")
Why is it that I keep expecting this thread to be bigger on the inside than on the outside? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/24 "2010-11-29T13:26:49Z")
Why don’t your return the favor? “Why, thank you for the referral! By the way, I’ve noticed that you use HP printers. My friend sells toner, so I’ve gone ahead and scheduled an appointment for the two of you to meet. It’s Friday at 10am.” Seriously, the whole things smells of a kickback. If you’re going to keep the appointment, at least make sure that they are in the network of your insurance provider. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/25 "2010-11-29T15:58:07Z")
Only my ophthalmologist does this. Even then they screw up and don’t schedule me correctly. My insurance only covers one exam a year, yet they try and schedule an exam 6 months after the last one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/26 "2010-11-29T16:35:13Z")
I would switch doctors if mine became intrusive. Sorry, don’t want/need. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/27 "2010-11-29T17:51:20Z")
My doctor used to do that every time he needed to make a referral for me. As he explained if I call to try and make an appointment I need to fax over the referral letter and deal with other questions that are easier for him to answer. However if I have an appointment and call to change the time it’s a simple matter of arranging a date and time - all the other details are already in the file. Seemed a reasonable explaination to me. He’s my former (and much missed) doctor due to a move ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/28 "2010-11-30T06:16:52Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Why don’t your return the favor? > > “Why, thank you for the referral! By the way, I’ve noticed that you use HP printers. My friend sells toner, so I’ve gone ahead and scheduled an appointment for the two of you to meet. It’s Friday at 10am.” > > Seriously, the whole things smells of a kickback. If you’re going to keep the appointment, at least make sure that they are in the network of your insurance provider. Oooooh, fiendish! I love it! I dunno about kickbacks, but I’ve had mammograms at this hospital before so no insurance problems there. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/29 "2010-11-30T15:04:48Z")
Well, intrusive for one person is brain-saving help for another. Seriously, I would love this service. I have enough health problems as it is, and breast cancer runs in my family. If I got a message from my regular doc saying “your mammogram is scheduled for such date and time,” I’d be delighted! One less thing to worry about. One less thing to schedule. One less thing to look up! Of course, half the time, my brain is running around outside my skull, drinking Dr. Pepper and buying balloon animals without permission, so it’s just as well. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/30 "2010-11-30T16:24:02Z")
The thing I objected to was just getting a call saying that I’d been scheduled for this or that test. This was when I still had a phone in my bedroom. I’d get a call at 9 AM, telling me something. Since I’d gotten to bed two hours earlier, I wasn’t awake…and I had informed the doctor’s office that I shouldn’t be told anything of importance in the morning, to call me in the afternoon. Nor would I be able to make morning appointments. However, they went on calling me in the AM, and scheduling me for morning appointments. Then the doc would get pissed at me for missing appointments. As I said, I changed doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/31 "2010-11-30T22:04:12Z")
Swedish hospitals schedule pap smear appointments every couple of years for all women over a certain age. You get a time window for when to show up and you don’t have to call in to cancel the appointment. It’s sort of like being invited to a gallery opening, except you have to take your clothes off. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054/32 "2010-11-30T22:51:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Doctor Who is referring mammograms? Not since Donna left, no. Amy’s too young to need them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-have-a-doctors-whos-done-this/562054.md?page=1)