I've Been Sick Lately and Dealing With Doctors' St... - Page 2

Winkk · ‎03-15-2010

@fortune wrote:
And, another thing. . .the "patient portal." Some doctors are trying to go high tech. They provide a patient portal that you fill out before your doctor's visit. So far, those portals don't work. I filled out one three times, and lost all the info after reentering the info and trying to submit it three times. Plus, all your medical info is there for the hacking! They offer a way to contact the doctor's office, too. Unfortunately, the staff doesn't check this out and your e-mail goes unnoticed.

My doctor's office is nothing like you describe. I use a patient portal and it works great. You may want to consider a change.

kyreb · ‎03-27-2010

My daughter is PA and she works 8 am till 8 pm(sometimes longer), with a 20 minute lunch while she does paperwork------- 5 days a week!

ID2 · ‎06-25-2012

Wow what the OP describes sounds like a nightmare! My doctor and his staff is flawless. I can call and either get in that day or immediately talk to the on-call nurse. I LOVE the patient portal! When I get blood tests (which I get a lot of) I am able to see the results within hours! Most times I see my results before my doctor even sees them. Sorry you all have horrible doctor experiences but not all of us should be grouped into your category. I guess I should count my blessings (which I always do anyway).

"Pure Michigan"

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

One other thought, I have to remind my (sometimes impatient) husband, that we aren't the only ones that need/want to be seen. Waiting is a hard thing. I'm not the most patient person in the world either.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@qualitygal wrote:
One other thought, I have to remind my (sometimes impatient) husband, that we aren't the only ones that need/want to be seen. Waiting is a hard thing. I'm not the most patient person in the world either.

I think this is the OP's issue. She is ill and she feels she is THE ill person and the doctor should be putting her first. However, in reality, that doctor has many ill patients who need his attention. Esp. if the flu or a bad cold type illness is going through their community. And let's face it - unless your flu or cold has really advanced past the normal into broncitis or pneumonia- there is little a doctor can do for you except advise you to stay in bed , rest and drink plenty of fluids.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

I find the quality of staff varies wildly from office to office. My mother's cardiologist left private practice with his two person staff (Paul and Sue) back in December and joined a university group of doctors. Things that were easily handled in one call to Paul or Sue now takes forever, if you ever get it done. There are now about seven staffers in his new office and nothing gets done. I've been trying to get a prescription refilled since mid-September to no avail. Office visits used to be relaxed and casual, now they're rushed and frantic. Most of the staff spends most of their time huddled around the office Keurig machine chatting instead of dealing with patients.

When you call they reflexively ask if they can put you on hold. I'd assumed that meant they were busy, but when you're in the office you'll see that the phone calls only disrupt their personal conversations. They wait until there's a lull in the conversation to answer the phone. You're sitting on hold for five or ten minutes while they're talking about a show they saw the previous night. He doesn't even have any control over the staff as they're hired by the university.

He didn't want to join a group practice, but the new healthcare laws requiring digital records forced his hand. The cost to digitize all of his records was astronomical, but the group would eat the cost if he joined. It was either retire, or join a group and he wasn't ready to retire.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

fortune · ‎03-14-2010

@151949 wrote:
My doctor's office is also a walk in clinic and so we can go there anytime and be seen. Of course without an appt. you must wait. His staff is great and not at all as the OP describes.He does close down office hours from 11AM to 1 PM to allow for lunch breaks and everyone to catch up on paperwork, phone calls etc.They have rotating staff as they are open 7 AM to 7PM except for the braek in the middle.

If they are familiar with rotating staff, why can't they rotate staff members over the lunch hour so they don't have to close down the whole office for 2 hours during the day!

fortune · ‎03-14-2010

@gardenman wrote:
I find the quality of staff varies wildly from office to office. My mother's cardiologist left private practice with his two person staff (Paul and Sue) back in December and joined a university group of doctors. Things that were easily handled in one call to Paul or Sue now takes forever, if you ever get it done. There are now about seven staffers in his new office and nothing gets done. I've been trying to get a prescription refilled since mid-September to no avail. Office visits used to be relaxed and casual, now they're rushed and frantic. Most of the staff spends most of their time huddled around the office Keurig machine chatting instead of dealing with patients.

When you call they reflexively ask if they can put you on hold. I'd assumed that meant they were busy, but when you're in the office you'll see that the phone calls only disrupt their personal conversations. They wait until there's a lull in the conversation to answer the phone. You're sitting on hold for five or ten minutes while they're talking about a show they saw the previous night. He doesn't even have any control over the staff as they're hired by the university.

He didn't want to join a group practice, but the new healthcare laws requiring digital records forced his hand. The cost to digitize all of his records was astronomical, but the group would eat the cost if he joined. It was either retire, or join a group and he wasn't ready to retire.

Most people let doctors walk all over them, it seems. Doctors are scary to confront and don't waste time catering to the lowly patients. I bet if patients start treating the situation as a customer-seller situation, we could get our groove back!!! I recently told one doctor that my review of him would be on a popular Internet website. He really changed his behavior quickly!

fortune · ‎03-14-2010

@151949 wrote:
@qualitygal wrote:
One other thought, I have to remind my (sometimes impatient) husband, that we aren't the only ones that need/want to be seen. Waiting is a hard thing. I'm not the most patient person in the world either.

I think this is the OP's issue. She is ill and she feels she is THE ill person and the doctor should be putting her first. However, in reality, that doctor has many ill patients who need his attention. Esp. if the flu or a bad cold type illness is going through their community. And let's face it - unless your flu or cold has really advanced past the normal into broncitis or pneumonia- there is little a doctor can do for you except advise you to stay in bed , rest and drink plenty of fluids.

When I go to the doctor, I AM the ill person. Figure out what you are paying the doctor--per minute--to treat you. He or she spends less that 15 minutes per patient and charges around $200 per visit. If they are too busy to treat all their ill patients, they should book their day accordingly. Just saying.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@fortune wrote:
@151949 wrote:
@qualitygal wrote:
One other thought, I have to remind my (sometimes impatient) husband, that we aren't the only ones that need/want to be seen. Waiting is a hard thing. I'm not the most patient person in the world either.

I think this is the OP's issue. She is ill and she feels she is THE ill person and the doctor should be putting her first. However, in reality, that doctor has many ill patients who need his attention. Esp. if the flu or a bad cold type illness is going through their community. And let's face it - unless your flu or cold has really advanced past the normal into broncitis or pneumonia- there is little a doctor can do for you except advise you to stay in bed , rest and drink plenty of fluids.
When I go to the doctor, I AM the ill person. Figure out what you are paying the doctor--per minute--to treat you. He or she spends less that 15 minutes per patient and charges around $200 per visit. If they are too busy to treat all their ill patients, they should book their day accordingly. Just saying.

YOU may think you are THE ILL PERSON, but , guess what, that doctor has hundreds of patients and many of them are very seriously ill. You think your cold or flu is the end of the world but they know it isn't, and patients are triaged to be seen by seriousness of their illness, not by what they pay.