Let's talk about our less than satisfactory encounters with the health profession.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

After seeing my dermatologist for 18 months I was told by the receptionist that I had to fill out the patient history form again (5 pages, small type, dingy/dark waiting room, me without my reading glasses). I already had problems with his staff because his assistant repeatedly messed up my prescription refills by refilling medication that the derm had stopped instead of the stuff he had me on at the time.

At lest 4 pages of it were questions about time, place, treatment doctor for hospital and major illness. I hadn’t had a major illness in two years so any info like that was already on the original form that I filled out when I was a new patient.

I told the receptionist that nothing has changed - same insurance, same meds, no major medical since last time.

She said I needed to fill it out anyway.

I said, “No.”

She got the office manager who told me that I was no different than any other patient and that I needed to fill out the form.

I said that I WAS different from other patients in that I had the common sense to fire the doctor and I walked out.

Two weeks later I got a letter from the dermatologist chewing me out for being rude to his staff. He said that he would no longer treat me or my daughter.

My daughter had never set foot in his office.

I would love to see the commotion when whoever he thought was my daughter was turned away.

22

My single (first/last) venture into dermatology occurred years ago when the backs of my hands suddenly began to exhibit pigment loss. I looked up “vitiligo” and was pretty sure that was what was going on, but I figured I should see an MD.

I made an appointment with my PCP, who said I had a skin problem, and referred me to a dermatologist. There was a 6 month wait for an appointment. When the big day arrived, I showed up early, as requested, and filled out my paperwork. Then I waited for 2 hours. I should have left, but after a six month wait?

Eventually I was put into an exam room to wait for another 30 minutes. The doctor and a nurse/assistant eventually walk in and she looked at my hands. “Vitiligo”, was all she said to me. She told her assistant to get me the vitiligo handout, and that was it.

23

Well yeah, I think that was a motivation for many who supported it.

But I’m still having trouble blaming the ACA for the OP’s situation, since it could easily have happened before the ACA came into existence.

24

To balance things out, I feel compelled to point out that I had an almost identical experience in a dermatologist’s office, but after identifying my condition (alopecia areata), the dermatologist proceeded to cure it effectively.

25

When I was going through menopause, I was alarmed because I was having very disconcerting heart palpitations and strange throbby sensations deep in my chest. My OB/GYN group included several doctors, so I chose one who specified that he was all about menopausal patients.

When I mentioned the pounding heart issue and asked if it was related to menopause, he literally waved it away and said that there was no connection. Now I was really scared; did I have some kind of heart condition?

He was on vacation for my next regular visit so I saw a different doctor. In her exam room was one of those patient information posters for menopause symptoms. At the very top of the list of common symptoms was “Heart Palpitations”.

Thanks “menopause doctor”. I was needlessly frightened for a year about nothing, and probably sounded daffy to my regular GP when I made him listen to my chest during one of the episodes (he heard nothing unusual).

26

One particularly incompetent/unethical neurosurgeon…

Mrs Gargoyle has a spinal/cervical malformation compressing her spinal cord. The neurosurgeon, despite blindingly obvious x-rays and MRI scans, claimed it was a result of improper diet and advised going on the Paleolithic Diet for treatment.

We suspect that the root cause of his idiocy is that we came in seeking a 2nd opinion to a different neurosurgeon that he was apparently at odds with professionally. Instead of simply refusing the visit, he gave a ridiculous diagnosis to spite his rival and wasted a whole trip for us and a pile of unnecessary wait and stress.

27

My doctor ordered an Upper GI (Barium swallow) xray series. The radiology department told me not to eat from midnight before the scheduled morning test. This test needed to be done on an empty stomach.

I took a long time to get the appointment which was early morning after I was to work an overnight shift. I show up at the hospital on the appointed day to check in and the clerk asks me “Did they call you yesterday?”

I replied, “Sure. They called to confirm my appointment.”

The clerk said, “Oh! The machine is broken. They were supposed to call to cancel.”

“Uh, no. They didn’t tell me that,” I said.

Disappointed, I walked out front, sat down on a bench, and proceeded to eat a granola bar and drink some juice for breakfast. Then my phone rang.

Male voice: “I’m calling from the hospital radiology department. You’re late for your appointment. Are you coming?”

I explained I did go for my appointment and I had been told the machine is broken.

“That’s not right. You can come in to get the test done.”

But because I had eaten I couldn’t just come in a do the test. So I rescheduled.

And when the date came around for my rescheduled test they cancelled. Machine was broken.

And when I saw my doctor a few weeks later she tried to call to re-schedule the test for me as a priority. Machine was still broken and they hadn’t ordered the part yet.

28

Although the thread title refers to the “health profession”, most of the anger in this thread is really directed at health insurance.

29

” Although the thread title refers to the “health profession”, most of the anger in this thread is really directed at health insurance.”

I’m not sure if you’re Canadian or not but I have a great, heartwarming story (sarcastic) that my wife and I experienced a few years ago. On Christmas eve my wife started experiencing severe mystery pains, to the extent that we went to emergency the following morning (3:00 am), but to no avail. The pains subsided but did continue to a lesser degree for the next several weeks. My wife pestered her GP for tests on numerous occasions but the damn doctor kept blowing her off. Finally she went to a private clinic for an MRI, for $1600 out of our pockets.

The clinic found numerous tumours, a visit with the GP the following day, and admission to the hospital for the next four months (stage 3 lymphoma), with thirty-some days of chemo over that period, followed by 20 days of radiation after.

Fours years later she’s still cancer free but the whole miserable experience could have been avoided if her bloody doctor had listened.

On a positive note, the nurses were stellar (I’m infatuated with them still), and the specialists in the hospital were fantastic. One of the oncologists, a few weeks after Ms Velo was admitted, said that if we had waited a week or two later, Ms Velo wouldn’t be with us.

I don’t begrudge having free medical care (I’m bloody glad we have the system we have (such as it is) but I know it’s not perfect) but for god’s sake, if I was a doctor, I would do the damnedest I could to cover my ass, and if that took 20 MRIs each week then I would be pushing it. I know our system has financial limits but for fuck’s sake.

30

How many of those 20 MRIs a week would you like to pay for?

31

Ugh, that’s awful!

My GYN is a lovely woman who explained to me that the flippity-flopping and heart-racy-feeling (without any change in my pulse rate!) was because of menopause. She gave me Ativan to help. Also to help with the insomnia and emotional swings. And other things. Let’s say that some people survived my trip through hormonal changes thanks to Ativan.

She’s also reassured me that, no, I don’t have some weird bladder disease; the problem is the lack of estrogen, and that’s why I have to pee 146 times a day.

Ain’t menopause grand?

32

But…SOCIALISM!!!

[/sarcasm]

33

How did he know for sure it was benign if he didn’t biopsy it?

34

Considering the long, convoluted saga of my husband’s medical needs over the past couple of years, it’s perhaps a little surprising that I/we don’t have pages and pages to add to this thread. His doctors have been fabulous, though, as have the hospital- and home-based nurses, the therapists, the nurse-practitioner/case manager, etc. The unsatisfactory is almost entirely from the insurance company (a county self-insurance program that covers workers compensation for the majority of the counties in my state.)

At exactly the 2-year mark after Tony’s wreck, the insurance company started denying everything. (Coincidentally, two years is the statute of limitations for filing suit against a government entity in Georgia. Funny how that works.*) A scheduled, medically necessary shoulder surgery was cancelled, Tony was sent for an “independent medical evaluation,” and (shocking!) the 77-year-old doctor who works primarily as a witness for insurance companies decided that Tony was just hunky dory. Tony requested a second IME (from a doctor of his choosing, as is his legal right.) The third doctor confirmed that Tony is not hunky dory, that he needs shoulder surgery, along with further work on his back/hip/groin injuries. Months later? Still being denied treatment. Not because of a problem with healthcare providers, but with insurance.

The only actual problem we’ve had with a health practitioner (other than Dr. Insurance Witness) was a week after the wreck that led to Tony being airlifted to the trauma center. Two residents? interns? don’t know, but neither was quite as old as the shoes I was wearing that day came to discharge Tony, straight home, that afternoon - no intermediate care, no in-home help, nothing. I argued, yelled, got on the phone with Tony’s orthopaedist and patient relations and the head of nursing. The surgical floor head nurse stood right there next to me, arguing with the MDs. Tony won the argument the easy way: he fainted. Twice. Bought himself another night in the trauma center, which was fortunate - the next day’s imaging showed the kidney bleed that had dropped his hemoglobin to 6.9, requiring two blood transfusions. He stayed in the hospital another six days, then went to hospital-based rehab for another week, and then came home, with in-home nursing assistance for several hours per week for a few more weeks. (Hell, half of Tony’s injuries weren’t diagnosed until at least a week after the wreck - the doctor would fix one thing, to the point where Tony noticed the next thing hurt pretty badly, more imaging, more treatment, lather, rinse, repeat.)

*Someone in the HR department apparently didn’t read the entire file. Our attorney actually filed notice about six months after the wreck, preserving our right to sue. Neener neener neener. However, convincing Tony to move forward with a suit? Problem. He’s afraid that, if he sues, he’ll be blackballed from the profession he loves. The people who love him, however, are trying to make him see that, if he isn’t able to sit up for more than an hour, or walk for more than a few minutes, and he’s getting worse, not better (thanks to degenerative changes in his spinal injuries, mostly)? His point is moot. He needs to look out for himself, for his family, and for his future.

35

Your point is a good one as tax money shouldn’t be wasted.

Notwithstanding my exaggeration, however, if my wife’s doctor had “allowed” or referred only one MRI a few weeks earlier, my wife probably would have cost the system much less.

As far as we are concerned, her doctor was negligent and arrogant. The specialists and nurses in the hospital were appalled when they heard how things had progressed.

36

There’s cosmetic, and there’s cosmetic.

A nose job (in the absence of an injury) would be cosmetic.

A cyst might or might not - I presume it’s something that’s developed over the past few years, and there’s a chance it would continue to progress to the point of becoming infected and requiring more invasive treatment (including, possibly, plastic surgery).

Try that argument, as Joey P suggests.

Anything reasonable is worth arguing. I have foot issues and our podiatrist was 100% certain that our plan did NOT cover orthotics (which I truly need). I looked on the web page and it claimed they were covered. Podiatrist was doubtful. But he filed anyway after the insurance company said they are indeed covered.

Then insurance turned it down. “Exceeds maximum number of services for this period”. Yeah, apparently they only wanted to pay for one orthotic.

I write a fairly scathing AND funny message to the insurer - pointing out that while I’ve been accused of having two left feet, even if so each foot would need its own orthotic.

They paid for the second one.

Kayaker, do you have a high-deductible plan, perhaps? 155 sounds like the allowed rate for such a brief visit, and if you hadn’t met your deductible, it makes sense. They probably list the rack rate for the visit at about 200 dollars or something, and take the 155 as their allowed fee.

37

Being unemployed at the time and in no position to take on medical debt, I proffered the services of a dental school hundreds of miles from where I live. The price of a local dentist would have been over $4000 since the local dentist has a monopoly on the procedure, but the dental school offered an alternative procedure for “just a few hundred dollars”. With additional fees and gas money, it wound up costing me nearly $1000, but then the procedure failed. It never should have been done in the first place due to its high risk of failure and my travel distance because dental schools require multiple visits for everything. After getting the procedure done there that should have been done in the first place because it has an over 90% success rate, my total cost including gas and bus fare during winter was over $4000, the same I would have paid a local dentist for maybe two office visits, and the total time spent was over two years of office visits.

38

I wasn’t there, so I can’t say if you were not being listened to. However, I know some excellent doctor’s offices who will write it down AND have each person ask you again. Too often, the conversation goes something like this:

Receptionist: What are you here for?
Patient: Oh, just a general physical.
Nurse’s assistant: Why did you come in today?
Patient: I just wanted to get checked over.
Doctor: What are you here for today?
Patient: I’ve been having trouble sleeping, and my urine is smelling funny, and I have intense pain in my lower abdomen, and, and, and…

This problem is even worse if the medical issue is in the least bit private or shameful - who wants to talk about their bowel problems with the receptionist? Or their sexual abuse? There’s a natural tendency to not want to tell the whole story until you get to the person who can do something about it.

This doesn’t mean that your dermatologist’s practice isn’t composed of forgetful twits who don’t read the information already provided to them. It just means that it’s actually good practice to ask this question more than once.

(However, there is no excuse for the stupid bank telephone trees where you have to enter your account number six times, and then when the representative finally comes on the line the first thing they ask you is your account number.)

39

I represent a number of law enforcement agencies on workers’ compensation claims and none of them seem to share much information on that sort of thing. He’s already in a state database anyway; filing suit won’t make his claim any more visible. Obviously, Georgia agencies might be different but really that would be the least of my concerns in his position.

40

Thanks. He’s not talking about filing suit on the worker’s comp thing, although we have retained an attorney who specializes in that. (We’re getting nowhere on our own. Perhaps a phone call or letter from Ms. M, Esquire, gets us further in receiving approval that the actual doctors say that Tony needs.) We’re discussing with the other attorney whether the actions of the county’s 911 dispatch rose to the level of negligence, and whether that is actionable.