Mrs. Sequel: "This is Mrs. Sequel, I need to make a follow-up appointment with Dr. Grumpy."
Mary: "Okay... Wait... it looks like you sent us a release 3 months ago, saying you'd decided to see a different neurologist because Dr. Grumpy didn't help you at all."
Mrs. Sequel: "Well, the other neurologist didn't help me, either. So I thought I'd give Dr. Grumpy another try."
Mary: "I'm sorry, once someone leaves the practice we don't let them come back. That's just office policy."
Mrs. Sequel: "Well, I never said I was leaving the practice, I just wanted to change doctors."
Mary: "You'll have to stay with that doctor, or find another. You can't come back here."
Mrs. Sequel: "I never saw another doctor. After I sent the release I changed my mind."
Mary: "But you just said the other doctor hadn't helped you!"
Mrs. Sequel: "I never said any such thing. You're imaging that."
Mary: "I'm sorry, but you'll have to seek care elsewhere."
Mrs. Sequel "Why, you have some nerve!"
click
17 comments:
I really like that policy
In all truth, I don't see why that's the policy--why won't you let her come back? Have bad things happened in the past when someone went away and came back?
I love the drama of teen age angst, let us know the final outcome.
http://www.metrolyrics.com/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do-lyrics-neil-sedaka.html
Doctor shopping...
Poor Mary!
Having a conversation with Dr Grumpy before seeking a second opinion is one thing....but just going to see another neurologist/yak herder presumably for the same medical problem without having a conversation about why the patient feels the need to take this action is usually a patient who is doctor shopping, and will then come back and say...Dr Other Guy said the problem is X and the treatment should be Y.
The patient, of course, has no good explanation for why he did not continue his care with Dr Other Guy.....probably because that is not what Dr Other Guy said!
It's not a bad policy, generally. Exceptions can be made, if Mary feels appropriate.
Mrs. Sequel's Jedi mind tricks won't work on Mary. We all know the Force is strong with Mary.
Is this a common policy? Shouldn't it depend on why you leave? What if you move away then move back? What if you lose your health insurance and need to find a cheaper doctor and then get health insurance back and want to return? Or is this just a variation of "we have no openings for new patients" when you don't want to take someone back?
Office Policy should not have to be justified. It is what it is. The reason is no one else's business.
Are they told that when they ask for their records to be transferred?
And are they allowed to get a second opinion and still remain in the practice? And, if so, is that distinction (between getting a second opinion and leaving the practice) made clear to them by your office?
Anonymous: I understand the policy, and I am sure if needed, exceptions can be made. My own PCP has that policy. I had to leave because of insurance issues (hint: do not get sick, lose your employer insurance and go on Medicaid.) Getting back to my doctor took some doing (the office staff was well-versed in the policy.) But I did get back with the doctor I like and respect.
I imagine their policy is adaptable to different situations, such as a second opinion and insurance changes. However, this patient appeared to have left voluntarily after 'not being helped at all.' That doesn't sound like someone who just wanted to check out a second opinion or had to move due to location or insurance. I imagine there is much more to this story than the conversation written here. Quite frankly, this is why Dr. Grumpy has his own practice. If someone leaves in a huff after refusing to listen to his advice (and he's the expert here), why would he want to waste his time with her?
Doc's practice,he gets to set the rules. Most likely he doesn't want or have time for every patient in his market. This lady was not satisfied before and left. His time available was taken by another patient. There are only a finite number of hours he can work and properly take care of his patient load. God bless Mary for following the rules.
Am I the only one amused by someone saying "You have some NERVE." to a neurologist?
I think imagining is misspelled as imaging or am I imagining that?
OMG
Anon 1:55 - Yes, this is what we do as well. If someone has insurance changes, we take them back. If they move, we take them back (always assuming they left on good terms.) However, if they leave in a huff, "You haven't helped me at all! I'm going to see someone else who will!" and then want to come back - well, that relationship is pretty much doomed from the start. The patient has already expressed distrust of, and distain for, the doc. Which is why we don't waste the doc's time and the patient's (or insurance's) money on a second go round.
Thanks to everyone who explained this policy to me. It all makes sense now!
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