Appointments That Are Not Kept

Parent Cafe
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<p>jym, I as far as the doc’s office, I only requested after school or Saturdays. I got an after school appt. They are open late most eves. so this was not the problem. I was not demanding about appts., etc. They knew that they screwed up. Whatever their office policy, if they messed up, and they are going to call, they should have the office manager do it, but jmo. This is a big place btw. I do think that the office manager passed it off to her underling. Frankly, they did not have to call at all. I think that they did that so that their doc would not have to listen to it.</p>

<p>As for the tutor, this is one of those franchises. This is not a “one man show”. I feel that their manager should offer something to set it right. I should not need to ask, but I might do that. They have asked me to discuss this with their assistant manager next week.</p>

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<p>NEM-
I think it is a good idea to ask for a discount or a free session in lieu of their error. As they say, know ahead of time what it is that you want. Ask for a full, free session, but perhaps be willing to take a discount or a shorter freebie.</p>

<p>As for the Drs office, I don’t kow what kind of practice it is, but a practice that offeres extended afterschool hours and Saturdays is not too common. Hopefully you can get someting worked out to your satisfaction, as I’d stick with a practice that has such flexible hours. Thats pretty cool.</p>

<p>** as for our plumber-- thats great too-. I’ve found that the solo proprieters are flexible this way. The bigger co’s with “dispatch” people are more rigid.</p>

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<p>I can understand frustration with wasted time, believe me. But there are still several things here, OP, that are confusing. I don’t understand how an appointment can be made for “2 days too soon”. Unless the insurance company said exactly when the authorization would be back or exactly how long it will take, how can they know this? And besides, you said the insurance company did what they were supposed to do. Does this mean they processed the precert request? So exactly waht paperwork was not done? which “they” are you referring to in the quote below? The Drs office or the insurance co who has to approve the precert?

Please understand, I am trying to make sense out of what happened. You also said in your first post thet the office manager did call you. You later said that the office manager “didn’t have the guts to call you”. It is very confusing. I am not sure if you are mad at them for not letting you know the preauth wasnt complete (if that is what yo are saying) or if you are mad at yourself for not double checking before you made the trip. Did you really “storm out” or were you just frustrated when you left?</p>

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<p>I can’t help it, evertime I see the title of this thread [I&lt;/a&gt; am reminded of a well-loved book, by Arnold Lobel](<a href=“http://kr.geocities.com/wonwon68/sub1/sub2/tea.html]I”>http://kr.geocities.com/wonwon68/sub1/sub2/tea.html)</p>

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<p>

If the doctor was making house calls, like the plumber, I would be happy to give him a 9-12pm window, and do laundry, vacuuming, while I waited.</p>

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<p>But if the doctor is at the hospital making rounds, or has to fit in an emergency patient or two, or has to take a longer time to diagnose and fix a problem, then we get all huffy and storm out if they ar 1/2 hr or so behind schedule?</p>

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<p>chocoholic, now that was funny!</p>

<p>jym, sorry that I have confused you. The office is an orthopedic office that offers in house physical therapy. My son is there for some physical therapy. They scheduled an initial PT appt. on a Tuesday and scheduled a second visit on a Thursday. The therapist is responsible to fill out paperwork after her initial evaluation. The initial PT visit is done after a physician has prescribed the therapy. Whether I stormed out or left in frustration is a matter of semantics and does not matter. I did not behave a like some type of lunatic if that is what you might be asking, LOL. This was nothing more than an annoyance. I asked if the precert. was obtained prior to going in. I did not call in advance, but I was not expected to that. I should have done so, just to save myself the trip anyway. I am annoyed at them, and I am annoyed with myself. I was at least smart enough to ask about the precert. when we got there. Sure enough they did not have it. They told me that they could not see my son until they obtain it, so they are sorry. I told them that I made this long trip for nothing. I let them know that I was not pleased that I made this trip for nothing, and I left. </p>

<p>About the 2 days too soon- They told me this. I did not make this up. They did an eval. on a Tuesday. They scheduled treatment for a Thursday. They told me that it takes a bit longer than that to get the precert. after I made the trip. I feel if they know this, why schedule treatment on a Thursday?</p>

<p>jym, I have never stormed out of a doc’s office because they were running late. In fact, one time, sadly, my kid’s pediatrician had a dying patient. He was not leaving that child’s bedside until this child died. Yes, my kids had a one million doc. They explained this horrible situation to me. They gave the parents the choice of rescheduling or coming back a few hours later that day. We simply left and came back when they told us to. I understand that awful things happen. I understand that there are people that need care more than I do, or more than my kids do. What I don’t understand is a lack of respect of patient time, when it came to the precert., or the tutor who was given the day off, and nobody checked her schedule on the calendar. I really do not feel that I am unreasonable.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure who is being huffy here. I was making fun of the fact that doctors were being compared to plumbers. Well, plumbers and carpenters that have come to my home always call to let me know that they are running late, etc. And I appreciate anyone who knows that my time also has a value.</p>

<p>The new dentist that we found calls and tells me to come in 30 minutes later due to back-ups.</p>

<p>I think NEM is being quite reasonable in her annoyance about the situation. The doctors office should certainly be letting patients know that they cannot be seen, as their paperwork was not done in a timely manner. So also someone taking the day off should have everyone in their calendar contacted. Good business practice.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the clarification, NEM. Now it is making a bit more sense. I agree, it is unlikely that a PT approval can be gotten in 2 days, so scheduling the appointments that close together was probably unrealistic. It is probably not impossible, if the request was faxed in right after your initial Tuesday appt, put probably not likely, especially if the insu company takes their sweet time, or asks for more information, or claims they never got the request, all of which are equally likely.</p>

<p>But I have to disagree about the “matter of semantics”. Your first description of “storming out” and being “really angry” evokes a different image than your saying you were annoyed and left in frustration. To be honest, the first description does sound like the person might have made a bit of a scene, and I don’t know if I’d have my office manager call an irate person or not right after they “stormed out” (as you described). But you said he/she <em>did</em> call to apologize (to which you said “so what!”) and then you said he/she <em>didn’t call</em>, but had some flunky call. Frankly, I can understand if a person appeared to be irrational as your first description could have suggested, I might defer to someone esle to make the call if I had that opportunity, if I were in theat office manager’s shoes. </p>

<p>Please remember that as people here rail against the healthcare profession, it feels like you are attacking many of us here unjustly. People nowadays want it all–they want to be seen immediately, they get mad if they are seen for a brief appointment, or if they have to wait. The Drs. office is expected to handle a ton of excessive and often unnecessary paperwork, deal with increasingly difficult and unnecessary hassles from insurance companies and increasingly lower and lower reimbursement. In my field, there are some procedures that, frankly, cost the provider to do. Yes, the cost of the materials, the staff, the supplies, the transcriptionist to type the report, not to mention the other office overhead, the malpractice insurance, etc. costs more than the service reimburses. Yet patients then get upset if a provider is “out of network”, which frankly providers have to select to do in some cases in order to keep their doors open. There was a poster on CC who posted a phenomenal description of the incredible hassle she went through as an insruance verification manager, but unfortunately that post got removed with a bunch of others for some reason. It is a shame. It did an excellent job of explaining the insurance nightmare from the inside.</p>

<p>As for choloholic’s comment. It wasn’t funny, it was sad. And the plumber probably makes more per hour than the doctors, and has no outside company controlling his/her fees. When the cost of gas goes up, or the cost of rent, or secretary salaries, he just raises his hourly fee and passes it along to the customer. The doctors who accept insurance just have to write it off. Costs go up and up, reimbursement goes down and down. And insurance companies are making a fortune. And your office has extended hours and weekend hours? Wow! That is phenomenal. So they made a mistake. It is unfortunate, but it happens. This healthcare system is screwed up, but it isn’t always the fault of the poor provider trying to juggle it all. Cut us some slack. Please.</p>

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<p>I understand your insurance headaches (fees being controlled, malpracitice, etc.). I really don’t know what any of that has to do with my being put through the paces, and being questioned. Frankly, I was never out of line. I do feel that these places did not care about my time, or my child’s time, or my gas dollar. I don’t have a problem with letting them know that they did not manage things correctly. I am annoyed. I don’t apologize. I did absolutely nothing wrong. I don’t see a need to cut them some slack, but I am cutting them slack, because I have not dropped them. I will see my son’s therapy through without changing providers since we started there. They are still getting my dollar. They should not expect e to value their time, since they did not value mine. I would sleep well at night if I cancelled their appt. at the last minute. I have always been courteous by showing up either early or on time and not cancelling at the last minute. I do expect it to be reciprocated. All of the other issues that you list are serious issues in our healthcare system. They were not created by me, and I don’t see them as an excuse to be treated in a less courteous manner. My demeanor with them showed dissatisfaction, but I was not out of line.</p>

<p>Oh, and the semantic issue- Here is how it went down- I did not “make a scene”. I merely spoke loud enough to let the 2 other patients hear that they made my kid and I drive there for nothing. It was nothing more than that. We were all in the same room, so I just did not whisper, which is what they would have liked. I spoke to them from the waiting room window, rather than the private pay window.</p>

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<p>Thank you for continuing to clarify what happened at your appointment. No one likes their time wasted, that is for sure. Was the staff there discourteous to you, or do you mean that having to got to an appointment for nothing is what was discourteous. Please understand that some of this has been hard to follow. Not meaning to put you through paces-- just trying to understand.</p>

<p>Perhaps the OP might have been better placed inthe “vent” thread, but no matter, The point, I think, is that it gives an opportunity to discuss inconveniences and how to address them. The messed up insurance industry, hassles with the preauthorizations and overburdened front and back office staff IS the problem, IMO. Perhaps in your case, since it was their mistake, could you have asked to speak to someone to se what could be done with/for your son since you were there? The fronmd desk clerk may not have the authority to do anything, but of them under these circumstance,the PT might go aheand and see your son for a session (how long was the appt scheduled for?) and just eat the cost of the session. What might be helpful is to start a thread on successful experiences we’ve had problem-solving in situations like this, and others where companies or clerks have screwed up. That might be really helpful.</p>

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<p>I find this interesting. I work at a PT clinic. The patients have to have a prescription before the PT sees them the first time. But it doesn’t have to be cleared between every appointment. </p>

<p>As for those plumbers, the only ones we can get out to our house are from a “big” company a couple towns over. And their drivers call when they are on the way I believe.</p>

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<p>The staff was not discourteaous other than having me dragged there for nothing. I feel that the people at the front desk should know how to handle these matters, or should be able to politely say, “please wait a minute, and let me see what we can do”. They did not. Instead, they let me walk out, and said we are sorry but we don’t have the precert. They only offered their problem solving options about seeing him without the precert. after I was already home, so that was easy to offer when they no longer had that remedy available to them. I feel that they should know how to offer a helping hand to their customers. I don’t feel it was up to me to trouble shoot. I left so that I would not get hit with a bill from them. They were out the money for that slot of time, so they lost something too. I do hope that they invest a bit of time and energy in training their staff, so they have improved customer/patient satisfaction.</p>

<p>hop_scout, my son did have a prescription from the orthopedist before the initial visit. My son did not have the precertification that is required by our insurance. This PT office is in-network. They know how to do this. They must call our insurance company after the PT’s initial evaluation. Then a number of PT visits are approved based upon that initial PT evaluation and the doc’s prescription and the doc’s diagnosis.</p>

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<p>my H dr ( who used to be family dr) has a history of horrible front desk staff. I don’t expect they pay them much, but with the gossiping within earshot of patients, the lack of polite professionalism when answering a call or greeting a customer, and the inability to apparently take messages accurately- they don’t deserve much.
I transferred Drs- not every place is like that.</p>

<p>We also had a network that required a referral for other than primary, but that can also be backdated and hasn’t been a problem- which would have saved some aggravation.</p>

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<p>I have had at least one doctor who called me and said they were running really late that day, and to come in later. I wish more would do that. Personally I wish repair guys would give me a somewhat smaller window. Last Friday the 9 to 12 arrived a little after 12 and spent an hour not fixing my dishwasher. He’s coming back today with the part - supposedly between 12 and 3, needless to say he’s not here yet!</p>

<p>As for the OP, I’d write a nice letter sooner rather than later. I do think sometimes the people in the office really haven’t thought about how they are inconveniencing you.</p>

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<p>mathmom, thanks. BTW, our dentist has called us when running late. We never wait more than 15 minutes for him. Frankly, I don’t mind waiting for half an hour. Beyond that, I think it gets to be a bit much, unless there is a reason given to me, with some end to the wait in sight.</p>

<p>Oh, and we have an appt. with an A/C person for maintenance on a new unit. They were able to tell me that they will be there between 3-4:30pm, and were very easy to work with for an appointment. They installed the unit, and it has been a pleasure to work with them.</p>

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<p>I went for an annual mammography in February, paid a hefty bill because the doctor is out-of-network, and the doctor’s office submitted the paperwork to the insurance company electronically. Six weeks later, I was able to confirm with the insurance company that they had issued a reimbursement check to the doctor’s office. I waited, and waited, and waited for the doctor’s office to send me a reimbursement check. When I finally called them to ask where the check was I was told that they “only send out checks once a month.” My H suggested that the next time I go to their office I announce that I will not be paying that day since I only issue checks once a month. :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>momof3sons, My H and I have both heard that line before. My H has heard all kinds of lines. </p>

<p>My favorite was when the person needed to open a new checking account because of [some issue that I don’t recall], and it required waiting for some stamp to issue my husband payment. LOL! </p>

<p>Do you know how many people show up to medical offices stating that they don’t have their check books with them, or that they left their check book at home? This is why some doctors expect payment prior to going in for the appointment.</p>

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<p>“The absolute worse case was when we were waiting while the ob/gyn was delivering a baby. That day the doctor was running almost two hours late. (I did not use this same practice for baby number two.)”</p>

<p>I trust that when you were in the middle of having baby number two, you were duly admiring when your ob/gyn said “Whoops, gotta go! There are patients waiting in my office!”</p>

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<p>^^Wow! Must say that we did not have an experience like that one!</p>

<p>Update on my tutoring saga: I received an apology from the local manager and assistant manager of this tutoring company. They could not have been nicer when I called. I did not need to ask for a thing. Why? On top of what has already happened, the tutor that did not show up because she was given the day off, just gave her 2 weeks notice! My son had been with her once. They are crediting me with a couple of hours of tutoring time. I did not need to ask for that, they immediately offered it with apologies. They were the first to admit that since my kid began there a couple of things just went wrong. It has all been set straight, and I am feeling much better about it, because they treated us appropriately considering what had transpired.</p>