I get weekly allergy shots, and every six months, I see my doc. Six months ago I went had my appointment with the doc the same day as my shots. So I went in to see the doc first, then got my shots. The nurse at the time told me, “Next time, get your shots first, then go in to see the doc. They can check your shots. They are the doctor, after all! Just tell us you’ll be in with the doctor.”
Elated, I scheduled my next appointment on the same day as I get my shots. I went in and got my shots and mentioned to the nurse that I would be in with the doc. She exclaimed, “Oh, no, you can’t do that. The doctors don’t like to check the shots. They get very mad and they’ll send you back.”
So I got checked by the nurses when I came back - but what gives? Is it just ego? “I didn’t go to six years of allergy medical school just to check shots.” Or is there anything possibly that the nurses could do the docs can’t? My mom was a nurse, so I know how roughly the docs often treat the nurses; is it just laziness? I like my allergy doctor OK but I think this is silly.
I’m guessing it’s because your MD cannot bill your insurance for the time he spends doing that, therefore it’s done by someone whose time per minute is worth less.
Either that, or the whole billing gets screwed up. It may take only 5 minutes to check the shots, but he may have to bill in 15 minute increments, so his choices are to check the shots for free, check them, then leave and do something else for ten minutes, and come back, or check them, and immediately begin the next things he needs to do, at the shot-check rate, when he’d rather bill at [shot-check rate]+x.
It really depends on how your insurance works. Because one nurse told you one thing, and another nurse told you the exact opposite, it might just be this. Some insurances are really picky with the billing, and others accept whatever the doctor submits, while others just have a flat appointment rate.
My husband and I have different insurance, and we get treated differently by the doctor sometimes. She always double checks my blood pressure, but never does that for him. If she wants his double-checked, she sends him back to a nurse. Apparently if she checks his vitals, she has to bill the whole appointment at a lower rate. When I have a physical, it must take a certain amount of time, but his can be rushed if he shows up a little bit late. I was once six minutes late, because a bus broke down, and traffic was slow, and I had to reschedule a two-hour appointment. DH is chronically late for things, and has been 15 minutes late, and never had to reschedule. And yes, I was told specifically it was insurance. I know when I have physicals, she spends a lot of time talking to me, and essentially killing time to make sure we fill the entire two hours, and sometimes I still end up sitting in the room alone at the end of the appointment, because she really doesn’t need that much time. I understand there was a previous problem with drive-through physicals, and lots of stuff being missed, but they’ve gone too far to compensate.
My allergist is not a doctor. My ENT doctor (in the same office) is not an allergist. My ENT checks my sinuses (coming up on a year since my surgery!). My allergist gives me shots and 20 minutes later verifies the reaction is not severe.
I don’t know what an allergy doctor is, but I imagine it comes down to “not my job, not my pay grade” even if they have the training and knowledge to do it.
If two workers at the same office are telling you opposite things, it’s time to talk to the office manager. You don’t really care which is right, but one is definitely giving bad info. And that’s a problem the head nurse or practice manager, or doctor if it’s a small enough practice, ought to know about and ought to want to correct.
If not, at least now you know you’re dealing with a haphazard organization. Which may influence your decision to keep using them.
I really like my allergist otherwise, so I don’t have any reason to switch. The nurses are super efficient and I literally never have had a long wait. Plus I’ve been going there three years!!
My allergist is an ENT. He’s a real doctor.
What I’m guessing happened is that the first nurse thought it would make sense, and then was rapidly corrected, and the second time around, all of the nurses were told DOCTORS DON’T CHECK SHOTS!
Anyway the shots are really working which is all that matters anyway.
