Bad doctors (1 Viewer)

[Bull Dozier]

The repeat the reason for the visit is an important part of the process.  Patients give different reasons to a receptionist than to a doctor.  The staff need to make certain they are dealing with the correct patient/issue.  Actual in-person verbal communication is necessary and desirable, rather than just staffing it out to a computer.

Again, you are the customer.  If the doctor is not paying attention to you or your case, go find a real doctor.

They do this by asking for your verification of your first and last name and birthdate at every stage while looking at their computer screen to make sure it matched.  After I verify to the nurse, I shouldn't have to further explain the medical reasons I'm there when she's not going to do anything to treat it.

 

[TheIronSheik]

My wife had a similar sized lump on the back of her head. She had it removed. In and out surgery. IIRC it was like 3 stitches. Ill ask her about it later. 

Some factors here are that it doesn't bother me.  Never has.  And because it's covered by hair, no one sees it or knows about it.  It's about the size of the tip of my finger.  So slightly less than a dime.  She did say if I wanted removed, they could, but it would probably leave a scar and that hair wouldn't grow there, leaving a weird bald spot back there.  

So if it's not bad, then just leave it.  It hasn't grown in 10+ years and it's not hurting anyone. 

 

[TheIronSheik]

My biggest pet peeve is waiting for my appointment. I get there early and expect to be seen on time - most of the time. 
 

I used to sit and wait and wait and fume. Now the max I will wait is 30-45 minutes after my appointment time. Then I leave. If it continues to happen I find another doctor. 

When I was in Texas, this was a huge problem.  I hated it.  But my doctor's up here in PA have all been great.  At the most, I might wait 10 minutes later than expected.  But that's rare.  

Only time I had an issue was when I went to that idiot to get my cast done after I broke my ankle.  Not sure what kind of doctor he was, but I hated that guy.

 

[WDIK2]

Ugh.

Had to go to a urologist for a consult to rule out any secondary issues to some sleep problems. So I go. Guy has never heard of one of the medications I'm on, which is maybe the second-most common prescribed medication for urology issues. It's been on the market for 20 years. Had to have his secretary google it for him. Fine, whatever. Decides the issue is my sex life. Gives me frankly insulting advice... "You shouldn't just have a girlfriend you see occasionally on the weekends. Get married and settle down." I ask if he has any medical advice, says "That is medical advice."

I get up to leave. He tells me his secretary is single and doesn't have a date for tonight. Gives me the medical directive to ask her out for dinner, tonight, and says if I 'treat her well', she'll 'solve all of my problems'. Remember, I've already told him I'm in a relationship. I walk out of his office. He follows me out and hovers by the desk while I settle up with the secretary, waiting to see if I make a move. I just want to get out of there.

There's a problem with the payment authorization. The secretary can see I'm visibly agitated, thinks I'm upset with her taking so long, and apologizes. I say "Oh, the problem isn't with you." 

The doctor hears this. Says he sees a lot of guys like me and we should all listen to him. I tell him my relationships aren't the problem and he doesn't know what he's talking about. So the doctor tells his secretary not to charge me, since I'm not going to listen to him and go see another urologist instead anyway. Fine with me. I let him know that would be fine with me since he's obviously just making assumptions about me based on stuff he didn't even ask about.

For whatever reason, that throws him into a rage. He rears up to throw a punch. His orderly nearly tackles him. Tries lunging at me again. He's an old guy and I think taking a weak punch would probably be worth it, after I sue him. Unfortunately his orderly is stronger and pins him against the wall. Tells his secretary to call the police on me. I have just enough time to wonder if the cops would believe he tried to pimp out his office staff before she jumps up and starts pushing me out the door. 

Turned out my sleep issue was caused by something else entirely. At least I didn't get charged. 

This is amazing.

I think he was trying to tell you to clean out your pipes more often, but not sure why he didn't just come out and say it.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I still use The Yellow Pages.

Only good for urologists.

 

[Terminalxylem]

My biggest pet peeve is waiting for my appointment. I get there early and expect to be seen on time - most of the time. 
 

I used to sit and wait and wait and fume. Now the max I will wait is 30-45 minutes after my appointment time. Then I leave. If it continues to happen I find another doctor. 

Ask for the first appointment of the day, or the first after lunch.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Ask for the first appointment of the day, or the first after lunch.

I've heard this before, but down in Texas it wouldn't help.  He'd be running late from the hospital or some made up excuse, I'm sure.  

I had to go see a psychiatrist every 4 months to get Ritalin refills.  His office would cancel your appointment if you were 15 minutes late, but at the same time, it was common to have an appointment at 3 and not get into his office until 5:30.  Hated that guy.

 

[Terminalxylem]

They do this by asking for your verification of your first and last name and birthdate at every stage while looking at their computer screen to make sure it matched.  After I verify to the nurse, I shouldn't have to further explain the medical reasons I'm there when she's not going to do anything to treat it.

You’re right that repetition is a big problem. Unfortunately, the initial information is often inadequate, for any number of reasons:

1. The question is misunderstood.

2. The initial answer isn’t detailed enough.

3. The answer isn’t recorded correctly for appropriate care.

4.  The answer isn’t recorded correctly for billing.

5. The electronic medical record promotes garbage-in, garbage-out forwarding of inaccurate information. The format can also make extracting useful info unnecessarily difficult.

6. Symptoms are dynamic, and can change rapidly.

All that being said, the OP’s dermatologist provided poor service.

 

[Kanil]

I'd have been livid and would have said something while her, and the other doctor, were both there.  That's absolute garbage and I would have refused to pay.

Coincidentally, the worst appointment I've ever had was with a dermatologist.  I had a spot on my face that worried my wife (her mother has had skin cancer removed 2x).  I called to schedule an appointment and they didn't have any for 6 weeks.  That's fine, I get they're specialists and busy.

The morning of my appointment, they call me and tell me that they need to reschedule.  No reason why, just "we need to reschedule your appointment".  Guess what?  They can't schedule me for 6 weeks out BUT they can keep my on the list to call if an appointment does open up.  I'm a little frustrated by having to wait 6 more weeks (mostly because my wife is still worried) but I understand, things happen.

3 weeks later I get the call while I'm at work that they have a slot that just opened but it's only 20 minutes from now.  I tell the admin that I'm 30 minutes away and there's no way I'd make it in 20.  She says that would be OK, she'll slot me in and if I'm 10 minutes late, no big deal.  Great!  I fly out the door, call my boss and one of the managers that reports to me from the car to tell them both where I'm going AND let them know I'm going to miss meetings we have scheduled.

I show up to the office 24 minutes after I hung up the phone with the admin.  She has me fill out some paperwork and then tells me to have a seat in the waiting room.  15 minutes later I'm brought to an exam room by a nurse, she asks me a few questions, why I'm there, yada yada, and eventually tells me to wait and the doctor will be in to see me in just a minute.

Another 10 minutes goes by and finally I hear the nurse and doctor outside the door.  I can hear the nurse talking to the doctor about my spot, and then I hear something that really pisses me off.  The doctor starts talking about me being "late", why I would even show up if I wasn't going to be here on time, and how she should just refuse to see me.  It was all said in a super condescending tone, like I was inconveniencing her by being there.  Once I heard that, I'm sure I had steam coming out of my ears.

Eventually, the doctor walks in and before she can say anything I tell her I heard everything that she said on the other side of the door.  I explain to her that after waiting 6 weeks they called to reschedule me for another 6 week wait, that I then waiting 3 weeks and thought I was doing both of us a favor by filling in for an appointment that someone cancelled last minute, that I told her admin that I wouldn't make it there in time for the slot and was told it would be fine, and then to top it all off, waited 25 minutes before she decided to grace me with her presence.

You could see the "I ####ed up" in her eyes as she tried to backpedal and tell me the reason they had to reschedule was because of a burst pipe, while I put my coat on.  I told her to cancel the appointment scheduled for 3 weeks from then and don't ever contact me about anything, ever, and then walked out.

I ended up scheduling an appointment at a place in Denver (about an hour drive from my house) and had a much better experience.  The doc told me the spot was nothing to worry about but they could freeze it off if I wanted.  I had it done just to please my wife and was in/out of the building in 45 minutes.

 

[nirad3]

Great if your kids have heart troubles, but less useful for everything else.

I tend to disagree.  I would trust his opinions/referrals/etc. of his peers more so than anyone else, or some website, etc.

 

[Terminalxylem]

I tend to disagree.  I would trust his opinions/referrals/etc. of his peers more so than anyone else, or some website, etc.

It’s always good to have an opinion you trust, but I can assure you pediatric cardiologists don’t generally have a lot of contact with those outside their specialty.

 

[TheIronSheik]

I'd have been livid and would have said something while her, and the other doctor, were both there.  That's absolute garbage and I would have refused to pay.

Coincidentally, the worst appointment I've ever had was with a dermatologist.  I had a spot on my face that worried my wife (her mother has had skin cancer removed 2x).  I called to schedule an appointment and they didn't have any for 6 weeks.  That's fine, I get they're specialists and busy.

The morning of my appointment, they call me and tell me that they need to reschedule.  No reason why, just "we need to reschedule your appointment".  Guess what?  They can't schedule me for 6 weeks out BUT they can keep my on the list to call if an appointment does open up.  I'm a little frustrated by having to wait 6 more weeks (mostly because my wife is still worried) but I understand, things happen.

3 weeks later I get the call while I'm at work that they have a slot that just opened but it's only 20 minutes from now.  I tell the admin that I'm 30 minutes away and there's no way I'd make it in 20.  She says that would be OK, she'll slot me in and if I'm 10 minutes late, no big deal.  Great!  I fly out the door, call my boss and one of the managers that reports to me from the car to tell them both where I'm going AND let them know I'm going to miss meetings we have scheduled.

I show up to the office 24 minutes after I hung up the phone with the admin.  She has me fill out some paperwork and then tells me to have a seat in the waiting room.  15 minutes later I'm brought to an exam room by a nurse, she asks me a few questions, why I'm there, yada yada, and eventually tells me to wait and the doctor will be in to see me in just a minute.

Another 10 minutes goes by and finally I hear the nurse and doctor outside the door.  I can hear the nurse talking to the doctor about my spot, and then I hear something that really pisses me off.  The doctor starts talking about me being "late", why I would even show up if I wasn't going to be here on time, and how she should just refuse to see me.  It was all said in a super condescending tone, like I was inconveniencing her by being there.  Once I heard that, I'm sure I had steam coming out of my ears.

Eventually, the doctor walks in and before she can say anything I tell her I heard everything that she said on the other side of the door.  I explain to her that after waiting 6 weeks they called to reschedule me for another 6 week wait, that I then waiting 3 weeks and thought I was doing both of us a favor by filling in for an appointment that someone cancelled last minute, that I told her admin that I wouldn't make it there in time for the slot and was told it would be fine, and then to top it all off, waited 25 minutes before she decided to grace me with her presence.

You could see the "I ####ed up" in her eyes as she tried to backpedal and tell me the reason they had to reschedule was because of a burst pipe, while I put my coat on.  I told her to cancel the appointment scheduled for 3 weeks from then and don't ever contact me about anything, ever, and then walked out.

I ended up scheduling an appointment at a place in Denver (about an hour drive from my house) and had a much better experience.  The doc told me the spot was nothing to worry about but they could freeze it off if I wanted.  I had it done just to please my wife and was in/out of the building in 45 minutes.

This is one thing that's always bothered me.  Not that they're talking about me, but that I can hear them outside.  Some places I've been, I can hear the doctor talking to another patient in the room next door while I'm waiting on her.  I don't feel good that walls are paper thin when you're supposed to be talking about your health and ailments.  

 

[nirad3]

It’s always good to have an opinion you trust, but I can assure you pediatric cardiologists don’t generally have a lot of contact with those outside their specialty.

ok