My doctor's office is driving me nuts!

[skygazer]

Back when I lived in Vermont, I went to the same doc for years and years and they knew me there. I loved that. Since I moved to California, I've had 2 docs. The first I left because I always felt like they were trying to rush me out of there and I hate that. The doc made me feel like he thought I was a hypochondriac. I'm not.

I do have a few medical issues that my former doc in VT was aware of because they showed up gradually over the years - seems if you're in your 40's and you go to a new doc with a list of problems, they think you're a hypochondriac.

Anyway, today I call to make an appointment because I've had a lousy chest cold with major congestion and shortness of breath for over 2 weeks now. I'm not stupid and I've had bouts of pneumonia in the past so I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to lung infections.

The receptionist tells me to leave a voicemail with my symptoms and the doc will "prescribe you something". I said, "What, without seeing me? How the hell do you differentiate between a bad cold and an actual infection without listening to the lungs?"

I told her I was not calling to see if the doc wanted to see me, I was calling because I want to see the doc. I told her that if they were prescribing anti biotics for people they're not even seeing, they ought to be reported because that's irresponsible. This is the same doc, by the way, who failed for 8 months to notify me of a possible brain aneurism that showed up in an MRI (which was ordered specifically to look for an aneurism).

~sigh~ I guess it's time to find yet another doctor but I hate shopping for them. Unless someone knows one and can recommend them, it's like Russian roulette. You have no real way of knowing if they're competent and if they run an organized office.

[el_gato]

1. my faith in the medical industry is just about dead

[Deja Q]

4. the American industry. Last I read, only 36 countries had better systems.

And only the repuke whores would dare say there isn't a problem. Especially as they use the problem to cut federal budgets. Regulation is too sensible, amongst other things that would put things to rights...

[sir_captain]

5. I know how much DU loves docs

but from personal experience, including my current situation trying to manage my grandfather's care while he's in China, I think you're dead wrong. There's a reason why American medical degrees are valid pretty much anywhere, and non-American degrees are pretty much worthless in this country, and it isn't some sort of jingoism.

This is not to say that there are not massive problems with the American medical system, but doctors get such a bad rap on DU that it just sickens me. Walk in someone else's shoes, I say...

[sui generis]

8. doctors come in all shapes and sizes

A good doctor in private practice will manage his time and staff well enough to pull an existing patient's file. If patient has a history of bronchial or other respiratory problems they'll probably recommend some standard antibiotics regardless of whether the patient actually comes in or not.

It sounds more like a case of early bronchitis than pneumonia, and chemical causes aside, most bronchitis is bacterial and not viral. Antibiotics aren't likely to hurt anything, and if you're taking a standard instead of azithromycin it's probably a good idea to get started early.

the kind of docs that DU doesn't like -- that's easy; the ones who vote for Bush on their single issue of tax breaks and/or the bogeyman specter of a national healthcare system that could impact their incomes. The only reason anybody with a brain would have voted for Bush was for purely selfish reasons.

[sir_captain]

10. I have to disagree

every time the medical profession gets brought up on DU, docs get shit all over, regardless of their political affiliations. As for not being for a "national healthcare system that could impact their incomes" I believe that is far too cynical. Many doctors (and non-doctors) support national healthcare, though do not support any of the current proposals, not because of financial reasons, but for medical ones. And I think it would do a lot of people a lot of good to realize that doctors begin their careers hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt having put in more hard work than most people could ever imagine, and that if anyone deserves to make enough money to pay off that debt and provide a comfortable life for their families, it's them. Or teachers--I'd be all for teachers making lots of money.

[sui generis]

17. doctor in training, eh?

I think we are actually saying the same thing - and I understand what you are saying specifically.

However, my social circle is predominantly a group of extraordinarily successful and arrogant doctors; everything from gas passers to neurosurgeons. I'm not saying I'm not equally arrogant or successful, but I will say that I worked just as hard for my education as any doctor (finished pre-med and qualified for Johns Hopkins at 17), and then some, but I don't use that as justification to vote for a president who is against my interests in all other regards.

I wasn't painting with a broad brush - but I also know that not every doctor votes with a clear rationale, or rationally. Some of the guys I know are queer but also thought that Kerry was the anti-Christ, so they voted for more tax cuts in spite of the rabid gay hating majority extreme right wing faction of the republican party.

Paradoxicaly (Pair'o'docs-ically?) I know a married couple who makes more money than anyone else in the group who voted FOR Kerry in spite of their fears of healthcare reform gone amock, and I never once heard discussion of tax cuts from them.

I just don't think that doctors are "special" people with special economic rights that are different from any other small business - sorry, no awe here.

[sui generis]

18. you are right about something though

there is a tendency to doctor bash here - hysterical!

Oh well, everybody has an opinion.

[skygazer]

15. To clarify

I have not suffered pneumonia or any other severe respiratory problem for well over 7 years, which is all prior to my seeing this doctor. I mention it only to explain why I feel a need to have it checked to ensure that it is NOT such a thing. She has never treated me for it.

When I had recurrent bouts, it was common for my prior doctor to prescribe over the phone. However, IMO, it would be irresponsible for a doctor who has never treated me for such a thing in the 4 years that I've been seeing her to do so.

As it turns out, I do not have either bronchitis nor pneumonia but simply a stubborn cold exacerbated by some seasonal allergies. Which means that I was right to refuse anti biotics over the phone.

I'm not talking out my ass here - I'm well aware of the ins and outs of treating respiratory ailments. I've had pneumonia at least ten times - no exagerration. For that very reason, I do not like to take anti biotics unless I really need them.

This is not an isolated incident of problems with this doctor.

[MsAnthropy]

2. Good grief! Keep looking for a good doctor, they're out there

That one you've got is DEFINITELY not it. He should be reported. No doctor is that freaking busy that they can't see you before prescribing something.

[Deja Q]

3. Sweet Jesus. Report that bastard and that clinic NOW.

I've made my mistakes by not reporting utter quacks to the authorities. But that's going to change.

I suggest everybody does the moment they feel mistreated. Given the high cost those second-rate-god wannabes demand, there needs to be some responsibility on their part. Especially if they're "pro-life" and all the other jingoistic jello.

[skygazer]

6. I probably should have with the aneurism fiasco

I kept all the paperwork and stuff from it for evidence, then went in for the CAT scan they'd ordered and neglected to tell me about. Since it was negative, I was so releived that I didn't follow up but I was so pissed since their only excuse was, "Well, this is a very busy office and things somehow got missed." :wtf:

[sir_captain]

7. Yeah, that's no excuse

try to get recommendations from friends, or see if your VT doc would be willing to make inquiries for you...

[liberalhistorian]

9. God almighty, that was their

only excuse? And they have the nerve to pitch conniption fits in politician's offices over malpractice suits? What would they have said if the aneurysm had burst, either killing you or causing incredible neurological damage? And they have the nerve to complain and campaign against malpractive suits! Let me guess. You either didn't have insurance, your insurance didn't cover that, or you owed them money. Because it's been my experience that doctors don't give a damn about you unless you have good insurance or a lot of money.

A friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was a young wife and mother of four small children. They could only afford insurance for the kids, however. The doc and the hospital pretty much washed their hands of her and any treatment, since she wasn't eligible for Medicaid. Another friend was diagnosed with a malignant breast tumor, but since she didn't have insurance (she worked hard, she just couldn't afford it), the doc just patted her on the head, gave her some pain medicine samples and sent her on her way. She, too, was ineligible for Medicaid.

And when I lost my job four years ago, I also lost the insurance that went with it and couldn't afford the COBRA (who the hell can anymore)? It was nearly a year before I found another job. During that time, I had no insurance. My son was covered under his father's policy, thank God. I went to see my doctor, where I'd been going for TEN YEARS, for a throat infection. Keep in mind, I'd been going there for TEN YEARS. During that TEN YEARS I had NEVER owed them money. Well, when I arrived for my appointment, they immediately whisked me back to the billing/accounting department to discuss payment. There I was, a bad fever, barely able to talk or even stand up, and they refused to even consider letting me see the doctor until I gave them some money up front and made arrangements for payment of the rest. I had no income at the time, wasn't even getting child support since his father had also lost his job. I had to call my mother and have her bring some money. And I couldn't make payment arrangements because I had no idea of when I'd have any income and there were about five hundred other bills that had to be paid also.

They were incredibly rude and dismissive, you'd have thought I was just a walk-in from the street, and not someone who'd been a patient there for TEN YEARS. And that happens all the time, every day, everywhere. Doctors don't give a shit anymore. All they care about is money. That's ALL they care about. That's why most of them are repukes now.

[sir_captain]

11. I know we've had this argument before

and I'm sorry you had such a horrible experience, but it's hard to take you seriously when you make claims like "that's why most of them are repukes now" without any evidence. If I had to put money on it, I'd bet that the majority of doctors, just like the majority of most highly educated people, voted for John Kerry just like the rest of us.

[liberalhistorian]

13. I'm sorry, I have to disagree.

Every single doctor I know of voted for the Boy King Impostor, including the doctors in my clinic. And I'm in Ohio, where the majority of doctors have formed PACs to lobby for tort reform and to make it much harder to even file lawsuits. You can't get them interested in the fact that Cleveland is the poorest city in the country and the majority of its citizens cannot afford, and do not have access to, even basic health care. I have never, ever heard anything from them about that or any proposals to solve it. They're not interested. You'd think they would be, since it would actually mean more money for them.

The Cleveland Clinic is world-renowned, but go four blocks from it and you'll be among people who will never, ever see the inside of the clinic unless they're cleaning or maintaining it. Ohio has a much higher percentage of uninsured and underinsured individuals and families who can't get access to decent health care. We also have the highest percentage of foreclosures and people behind in mortgages in the country; half of which are due to medical bills they can't pay or the hospital/doctor have filed liens against their property which they then proceed to foreclose on. This was documented in the Wall Street Journal earlier this year.

I'm sorry, docs don't get any sympathy at all from me. I feel the same way about them that I feel about lawyers who work for foreclosure and collection law firms, or for corporations, and I'm a paralegal.

Remember that doctors were the main obstacle against Medicaid and Medicare for over thirty years, until they finally realized that they'd actually make more money if such programs were implemented. THAT is when they were finally signed into law, more than thirty years after they were initially proposed.

[sir_captain]

14. I'm sorry, but your word is not good enough

I respect your opinion, though. But as I'm sure you know, anecdotal evidence doesn't mean a whole lot, and I can tell you that 90% of the docs I know here in NY (working on salary in a clinic inside one of the best hospitals in the world, Columbia Presbyterian, for people with no health insurance, mind you, despite the fact that apparently, they're monsters) voted for Kerry. And guess what? That evidence is worthless too! The point is that there are good doctors and there are bad doctors, just like there are in every other profession. Very little in this world is black and white, and this situation is no different. I've met some pretty shitty paralegals too.

Look, you'll get no argument from me about the state of the American healthcare system... But the degree of your animosity toward doctors themselves, seems to me, anyway, to be unjustified. It's terrible that people suffer financially because of medical bills--believe me, I understand, as the current care that my uninsured grandfather is receiving could end up ruining my family. On the other hand, it seems like you want doctors not to charge patients under certain circumstances--you do realize that doctors come out of medical school with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, right? And that they get paid way under minimum wage for a hundred odd hours a week of work for the next six or seven years? Frankly, considering the skill and the unbelievable stress of being responsible for peoples' lives, I think that doctors ought to be well compensated. And then, of course, just like other well-compensated people, they ought to pay higher taxes. It's just not as simple as you make it out to be.

[skygazer]

16. Actually, I have excellent insurance

No, it was sheer neglect on their part. The reason I was being checked in the first place was because there is a history of aneurism in my family (my sister nearly died of one - fortunately, it leaked rather than burst and she recovered with no complications) and I suffer headaches. Because I have such great insurance that would pay for an MRI, the doc ordered one, telling me she would call me if anything appeared on it.

Because I did not hear from her, I assumed it was clear. Mind you, we did not really expect to see anything so I was not worried. Eight months later, I was conferring with my chiropractor about some chronic neck pain - she suggested I ask if any abnormalities in my neck showed up on that MRI. When I called the doctor's office, they looked in my file and saw an order for a CAT scan.

Now I had been in for visits at least two or three times since the MRI and no one seems to have seen this in my file. The nurse asked when I called if I'd gone for the CAT scan. Confused, I said no and drove to the office to pick up the order, thinking it was a recent thing (though not knowing why).

It was dated 8 months previous and the reason given for the test was "possible 1mm aneurism on cerebral artery." I nearly died of a heart attack when I saw that. Eight months. And the only excuse I got was a cavalier, "well, we're a very busy office."

Even with good insurance, one can fall through the cracks. Moral for me - always call to follow up on ANY test, regardless of what they say.

[Minimus]

12. I have found that going to a practice that has either a Nurse Practitioner

or Physician's Assistant has always worked best for me. They can write prescriptions and apparently can do everything a GP does, just under the supervision of a GP.

At the doctor's office I use now I always ask for an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner. She never rushes me, is very attentive, spends way more time with me than the doctor ever has. She always calls me back when I leave messages and she even calls after appointments to ask how I am doing.

Good luck and Take care of yourself! I know how you feel, I've had doctors thinking I was a hypochondriac too. After years and years of all kinds of problems a Nurse Practitioner finally headed me in the right direction and it was finally figured out that I have some autoimmune disorders that were causing my problems.