Friday, November 21, 2008

I'm Changing Doctors

My Dr. irritated the hell out of me. I went to her a couple of months ago with a minor issue. No biggie, she prescribed something, it went away in like 2 seconds. While there I presented another ongoing minor issue that I normally don't care about but will make the effort to solve while I happen to be at the Dr's office. She prescribed something for that too and told me to wait until the first thing resolves first. Ok. First thing resolves. I drag my feet a little in getting the second thing done because it's minor and I forget about it. Eventually I go to the pharmacy to drop off prescription 2. Next day I get a call that the prescription is discontinued and they will need to contact the Dr to get another one filled. Next day I get a call from the Dr's office but I'm at work and let it go to voicemail. I forget about it for a couple weeks. Yeah, I know, repeatedly forgetting is not a good habit, but the forthcoming is quite irritating.

I try listening to the message that's been sitting on my voicemail for a couple weeks now. The Dr's secretary's accent is so thick that I don't have a clue what she's saying (gf had to listen and send me a transcript. I was very impressed.) They want to send me to a frickin' podiatrist (completely irrelevant). !? Ok. So, I call their office like 4 times before someone finally picks up. I give them my shpiel, eventually get the Dr. on the phone, and she says that she doesn't have a diagnosis so I have to either be referred to a specialist or come in to see her. !? Convo. goes something like this:

Me: Well, you prescribed me this medication in the first place, can you prescribe me a generic or something similar?
Her: I cannot prescribe you something without seeing you. Do you know what it is?
Me: Yes, it's __________.
Her: Ok, you need to see a specialist or come in to see me.
Me: I don't need all of that. I know what it is. It's a perennial thing and I've fixed it before. You saw it, gave me [a bum prescription]. Can you give me a new one?
Her: You need to make an appointment. I do not have a diagnosis written here in my chart.

We then go back an forth saying the same things. There's a lull in the conversation, she says goodbye and hangs up. I'm pissed. I call back, get her secretary on the phone (Dr's no longer available) and tell her that I should not be penalized and charged for another Dr's visit just because she didn't write the diagnosis down in the first place. F$^& that. I lay down my argument, she tells me the Dr won't be available until such and such a time, and I hang up. I call back at such and such a time, and the secretary tells me that the Dr has just called the pharmacy with a new prescription.

Huzzah.

1 comment:

chovak said...

Way to stick it to the doctor.