Annie: "Dr. Grumpy's office, this is Annie."
Mrs. Haddock: "Hi, I need a refill on my medication. It also has to be authorized through my insurance, because the last auth has expired."
Annie: "Okay, I can get started on that... you know, it looks like we haven't seen you since 2010."
Mrs. Haddock: "Wow. Time flies. Anyway, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so can you please get this taken care of?"
Annie: "We can't refill meds on someone we haven't seen in 7 years, let alone get an insurance authorization. Who's been filling it?"
Mrs. Haddock: "My internist."
Annie: "Then you'll have to call him to get this refill, and make an appointment to re-establish with Dr. Grumpy if you want us to prescribe it."
Mrs. Haddock: "I haven't seen him in 6 months. He doesn't take my insurance anymore. It's National Illness, Inc."
Annie: "We don't take that, either, so we can't get an authorization for you."
Mrs. Haddock: "But I'm leaving TOMORROW! You need to call this in and get it authorized RIGHT NOW!"
Annie: "We can't do that, like I said, we haven't seen you in 7 years, and we're not contracted with your insurance."
Mrs. Haddock: "YOU'RE RUINING MY VACATION!"
click
I think the good doctor is onto something here. Seven years is a bit too long to consider a satisfactory patient-physician relationship. My optician wouldn't even refill a 2-year old eyeglass prescription for an extra pair of glasses to take with me when I visited out of the country a few years ago. Visions of walking off a cliff in Tibet with a pair picked up haggling in a fish market kinda put a damper on the lhasa beer, momo and yak wraps I'd been looking forward on a climbing expedition. (Just joking, Dr G. I couldn't imagine myself on a mountain unless plunked by helicopter.)
ReplyDeleteFailure to plan on your fault, does not constitute an emergency on my part. Hope you have this saying posted somewhere in your office Doc.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, I learn more about the viscisitudes of practicing medicine in the US from following Dr Grumpy than I do from reading NEJM...
ReplyDeleteIt's everyone else's fault but mine!
ReplyDeleteOkay, okay I'll be the nit picker. 2010 was 8 years ago, not 7. 😉
ReplyDelete