When little things start making me angry
 

Man I really need to get an attitude adjustment. A few weeks ago I noticed some lumpy bits on my temple so I had a dermatologist remove them. It didn't cost much at all. The tissue went out for biopsy and I was told they'd call me in 4 weeks with the result.

I get the call. "Please com in to discuss the result". Uh oh.

I make the app't , it's in the middle of the day so not entirely convenient but hey it may be cancer so fugit let's go.

In walks the PA who says "you're all clear sir, no issue, have a nice day" and she walks out.

I rearrange my day and pay a co-pay for that? :mad:

Man I need an attitude adjustment.

Frustrating but... It could have been a whole lot worse. :)

I disagree. I have been going through this the last two years or so...they always call with the results first.

The PA will do a VTC if I want.

So they can bill you for the follow-up in-office visit.......................always about $$

Nope, that's really fargin irritating. I'd pay double to have them tell me over the phone.

My doc posts test results to mychart.

See if they have something similar, or find a new doc.

I'd be more angry about having to see a PA instead of a MD.

Not a fan of them usually.

About 25 years ago I was having a pain right about where my right kidney is. I had lost a coworker and friend younger than I was, to kidney cancer. I went to my doc, and he poked around and sent me in for test. I drank some concoction that would make a scan of my kidneys show up. They said they would call the doc with the results the next day. I called the docs office twice to find out the results after they had not called me. It was almost 6:00 PM before he called me and said all was fine, the pain is likely just a muscle pull.

I was a bit mad , and told him I don't care how busy he was, he could take 10 seconds to tell one of the nurses or the office staff to call me and tell me everything is fine, and relax, I don't have kidney cancer, and the doctor will call me later.

I was rather concerned all day expecting a dire diagnosis. It was a huge relief to find I had just a muscle pull.

If your Doc is in a hospital network they will have an online portal to view your results. EPIC or mychart are 2 types

Leading up to my Balloon Kyphoplasty on my back in March....I had a reg x-ray, two different cat-scans, an MRI, and a bone density scan all done in the span of 2 weeks.

All the tests results came back the next day on MyChart. The people that read the tests all gave the results with them. One of the cat-scans gave the outlook for every
organ in my chest.

Didn't have to go in for any of the results.

Hey, hey, hey! My daughter is a PA!

No worries, just kidding. Well, she is a PA, but your statement doesn't bother me.

Sorry, no offense intended.

My DoD healthcare experience really jaded me. At one point I was having serious back trouble. Was sent to Walter Reed to see neuro surgeon. Took day off and went to appointment which wasn't right around the corner from my house or duty station.

Never saw the neuro surgeon, only saw a PA. All that was said: Sorry, not operative... go back to your PCM. Great, thanks a bunch.

Doctor calls you in for an inconvienent in-person visit and tells you that you DONT have cancer, and you focus on the time wasted?

trust me, if the new was awful, you wouldnt even be thinking about the drive in.

focus on the good stuff. even i know that, and i'm fairly negative.

They would be getting an earfull if they pulled that **** on me
needless scare
could have told you that over the phone just fine.
They just called you in to bill you a consult.

I feel your anger in this situation is justified. There are few things I hate more than people wasting my time. The medical field seems to be the worst for that particular situation. HATE having an appointment at say 3pm; them telling you to be 15 minutes early, and then not seeing you until 3:30.

I've gotten to the point lately, that I simply leave.

/\/\ this /\/\

He might be thinking about his insurance bill and why it's so much higher because many docs churn to increase billings.

MyChart is Epic.
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Cerner has HealtheLife.

There are very few homegrown EHRs left, so the chances your doc has an online chart view is pretty high. Just look for a link on their website.

We moved to SA about 18 months ago. So it necessitated a change in chiropractor. We've known this guy for 20+ years and he is really good. But he literally has no concept of time.
I've been twice since moving and both times waited an hour. If I hadn't been in so much pain I would have left.

So when I do leave after being treated and fixed for however brief that time may last, I forget about my anger at sitting there. But at this point I really don't want to go back because I know it will be the same all over again.

I can tell when my mind is very lucid and I have placed things into their proper perspective. I know this is the case when everything seems at least a little bit funny.

This story does not seem particularly funny. I would have been irritated too.

Seahawk's suggestion is a good one. Video Teleconference. very convenient. Every effective. In my professional world, we got more efficient starting in March 2020 by going remote. Meetings became more efficient. Agendas. Facilitator. One person talking at a time. Documents shown on the screen. Less travel time.

I tell my cardiologist my regular doc is going to do an A1C test. She says, Oh, we'll do that because I want to see how your kidneys are doing anyways. Cardiologist is Summa. My reqular Dr is Cleveland Clinic.

I get a phone text survey the next day about the visit. One of the questions was if the Dr scheduled lab tests. It's a metric.

If I had gotten a call like that I would have assumed the worst. I would think I am getting a cancer diagnosis. I would have been a nervous wreck. If I got there and they said everything was good, I would have lost it. There would not have been a single person in that office that would not hear my yelling.

That was cruel beyond words and then to charge you money is outrageous.

I think a complaint to the medical board is in order.

or 4 or 430

With my brother having had cancer and a subsequent surgery to remove a lobe of his lung, along with various other parts, I look at this a little differently than most.
Yeah, it sucks that they put you through that waiting and anxiety of not knowing for a bit. And that you had to pay a copay for the visit. But if you look at it from their standpoint, they'll probably never see you again. To me, it would be a small price to pay to get such a good outcome. In the long run, the copay won't break you, will it? The clean bill of health means you're not on a cancer time clock either. So cheer up, it could be a whole lot worse and cost you a whole lot more time. I figure my brother lost about 2 years of his life fighting his cancer. It was a tough battle but he won.

A few years ago same thing happened to me.

I learned now to ask for the agenda beforehand and "I'll get back to you if I need to."

Learned that today, thanks.

Same experience here a few years back, except they called on a friday at 4:59PM and by the time I called back, well, wait till monday sir !! Nice...
My new dermatologist changed that policy, they only call if you have an issue, "if you don't hear from us, you're good"

We experienced one of the few benefits of the pandemic last year. To limit the number of patients in their waiting rooms, Doctors ' offices had to be far more careful in scheduling appointments. Previously my wife might wait an hour to see her optometrist. Recently she has been in and out in less than 45 minutes.

Who dreamed that might be possible?

Best
Les

A few things:

If I stick a knife in anyone, I like to lay eyes on them after, but that is part of the compensation for the procedure.

It may be required by insurance you do in person follow up.

Video conference is nice, but a lot of insurances are not paying for them any more.

I know a lot of stories about sketchy behavior by doctors and third party payers

My PCP and Derm are pretty cool with how they report outcomes of tests/biopsies etc. to me...

I.E. Almost every time i see my DR... he harvests a bit of skin for biopsy.... if I don't hear from them, all is well... If I get a call from them, there is an issue, come back we're going to freeze something etc.. Most of my skin biopsies are Actinic Keratosis.. which can evolve into carcinoma.... so off they come

The way they handle the reporting of test results is fine by me... even routine blood work.. If I don't hear about the results all is good..

If that doc is part of a Health Network you can bet your ass I'd be on the phone lodging a complaint that he is milking patients.

If you pay your copay on the way out I would not have given them a penny and told them exactly why, let the Doc explain to you why you had to come rearrange your schedule for the courtesy of paying him for something virtually any other Doc would be able to convey in a more patient friendly manner.

My kids Dental practice tried that "Please sign this doc" which was an acknowledgement that if I show up 15 minutes or more past my appointment time that I a) forfeit my appointment and b) will be charged for it.

Fair enough, I get why they do it, late patients just back them up for everyone else and it sucks for the practice and patients.

So I asked her where the second page was.

"? the second page?"

Yes, the second page, you know, the one that says if I show up on time and have to wait 30 minutes to be seen that the appointment is free.

She kind of stared at me, then at her coworker, then back at me and said, "we don't have that form"

I said that's fine and handed the form back, unsigned.

She got the point, I aint signing that ****.

Yeah, me too. I love mychart.

To the OP, it's been said here but try to start to see the brighter side of life and not dwell in the darker side. No good can come of it. Glad you are OK. Maybe get mad at why health costs and health insurance is so high in this country. that would be healthy.

Well played.

That's easy. My (Gen Xer and below) health insurance costs are high so that the insurance company can pay for all your (Boomer and above) doc visits :p

I won't go into the politics of it all, for obvious reasons. SmileWavy

i'm genx

and mostly fix myself more than go to the doctors, like for broken toes. you're welcome.

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Haha, good job. Don't worry, we'll get our turn when "we" are the boomers and there's another generation keeping us afloat...

I see both sides, but I think I would’ve been peeved to find out everything was A-OK after changing my schedule, driving to the doctors office, waiting in the lobby for who knows how long, etc.

Very good post.

However it does contain a logical fallacy. The good outcome or a bad outcome is completely independent of 1) having been abused by being told to come in and ‘discuss your results’ and 2) paying a copay.

A copay is a small price to pay for a good outcome, true. But there is no way paying a copay could possibly have anything to do with the outcome, good or bad.

I would be livid. And I would be thankful. Two completely different and unrelated issues.

Ide be pissed. The office wasted your time just to bill you. My doc does the same thing re my prescriptions. I’ve posted before. Says no more meds until blood work. I get blood work every 3 months. I read it on mychart. I can read the results, I’m not an idiot. Then he says, no meds until you come in so doc can explain results. I go in and he reads me results. I say, “I know “. Please pay at window, $190. I don’t know if this is a liability issue or just a scam but I recently told him fine, no meds, I die but I’m not playing this game anymore.

Your attitude is just fine