Wow! I gotta say from the outset here, the venom, towards this lady is beyond surprising, and it's disturbing. We come here to the forum to try to understand something that has happened to us that has been at best confusing, and at worst VERY hurtful and painful. The last thing that any anyone coming here needs is to get jumped on for trying to understand their circumstances and find a few answers, even if "we" think they didn't handle things as best as they could have. I mean, isn't that why this is here, beyond the advice of did some doc do me wrong, to also learn from our own mistakes? Honesty is one thing, brutal honesty is another. So, for those who got a little Itchy, I'm a little embarrassed for you...I hope you find yourselves just a tad bit embarrassed too??? I can hope....
...If that were the case, that he couldn't see me due to legal reasons, then they should have explained that to me.
Now!! Hi Jgirl1730!!,
I think the one thing that should have been said near the beginning that would have been helpful is that the "girls" up front at registration are simply given an algorithm to follow ie: If patient comes in and has this, do this...If patient comes in and has that, do that etc. Kind of like following a medical guideline for diagnosis, "does patient have XXXX, if yes go to next question, if no, skip to part b...." What I'm saying is they're just following instructions. Most, if not all, will not know the why's to what they're telling you. Even if they do, they've most likely been instructed not to go into it with you (the patient) for OTHER legal reasons. Basically, the why's are above their pay grade.
The other thing that would have been helpful would have been for someone to have explained that Medicaid is set up kind like an HMO in that all physicians have the right to "OPT OUT" if you will, meaning they can choose not to see patients covered by Medicaid. I too lost my primary doc of 10yrs. because he had opted out. I too didn't find out until I showed up for my appt. I too was DEVASTATED!!! Though, I must say, his office did a much better job of handling it, I still left in tears. Several years before, I had literally died in front of this man in his office one day. I had gone in VERY sick with bronchitis and they had only one room available to put me in when it was my turn to be seen because he was so busy. It just so happened it was his resuscitation room!! He had examined me and was talking to me and my husband about how he wanted to treat me and I was laying on the table because I didn't feel well. One minute I was talking and the next he was screaming for someone to call an ambulance while he did CPR. He got me back before the ambulance got there. When he got me back, he looked at me and said, "Girl! Don't you ever do that to me again! You scared the **** out me!! Oh! by the way...Welcome back!!" Needless to say he and I were very close, and it was just a financial decision that had to be made. He hated losing me, and others, almost as much as I hated losing him. The amount that these doctors lose by opting in and agreeing to see Medicaid patients is just unfathomable! I truly don't understand how the government expects these doctors to keep their doors open! I feel really bad for them and for us the patients too! It's just a bad situation all around, and truthfully, Obama has just magnified the problem exponentially with his new "health care plan" I'll refrain from saying what I'd like to tell him to do with his plan and a few other things!!!
I know that this was long winded, but I hope maybe it helps take the sting out of the experience. In the future, if you ever another problem, like this one or another one, that hits you in the face and leaves you thinking, "HUH?????", ask to speak with the office manager. That individual is there to, among other things, help answer patient questions that the registration/appt. makers can't.
Hope your new job is going well, but I also hope that the next time a patient has a problem where you work that you remember YOUR experience and that YOU will now go out of your way to either answer the question or make sure the patient gets to the right person who CAN answer their question.
Be blessed!
Shellyscorner