<p>Okay… so I turned fifty a couple of months ago. Youngest D got her driver’s license, so I have a driver at home now (will not after she goes to college in the fall). And I thought I would get on this colonoscopy thing and get it done in the next couple months, because I figured if I procrastinate, I will have LOTS of reasons not to do it. And when I log onto the electronic medical record system for my insurance provider, they even have a reminder that I should schedule one!</p>
<p>But I am having a heck of a time getting an appointment. I called for one, and they said my doctor needs to put an order into the system. I called my doc, and her nurse called back (doc is out of the office). She said she talked to another doc, who said to tell me that I do have ‘other options’ (some kind of fecal test). I explained why I want to do it now (no symptoms, but some family history of polyps, and it is convenient for me now). Nurse said she would “see what the doctor says”. I assume this is a cost management issue. But they are making it darned hard to do something I know I should do.</p>
<p>Persist and I’m sure you’ll get it ordered. It is a squeaky wheel issue–be the squeaky wheel so you have a good baseline and they can remove any polyps they find so it won’t lead to possible cancer down the road. The blood in the stool testing is no where near the same and does now allow the detection or removal of polyps. Both H & I had polyps when we had our colonscopies. Glad you had your D to drive–I’d press the docs’ offices so you can have it done while she’s available to drive.</p>
<p>It sounds like you’re going to have to schedule a face to face appointment with your regular doctor to get this approval done. It’s much harder to say no to someone in person, and even more so if you have an established relationship with her.</p>
<p>I have never ever had success in dealing with office medical assistants (that’s what they are around here, not licensed nurses.)</p>
<p>Do not settle for the fecal test. I have a family history of colon cancer. The military Dr had me do the fecal test every year for 5 years. One year during my annual ob/gyn checkup, the nurse asked about fam history. I told her about the cancer history and she asked when my last colonoscopy was. When I informed her that I never had one, she was outraged and walked me over to the gi clinic. The next week I had my first scope and the doc found over 100 polyps…many of them very large. Luckily none of them cancerous.</p>
<p>That nurse saved my life. I had surgery that removed my colon and a jpouch was created so I live without a bag. Years later it was confirmed thru genetic test that I have the mutation. Had both kids tested and they do not. Yay!</p>
<p>Keep insisting, be the squeaky wheel. It’s worth it.</p>
<p>Thank you for the validation. I am pretty good at “squeaking”, I will continue to do so. They haven’t actually said “no” yet, they just are having a hard time saying “yes”. It just seems crazy to me that it would be an issue at all if I am over 50.</p>
<p>Get a referral to a good GI doctor. They will probably schedule you right away to come in for consult w nurse, then send you to scheduler who will work w same day surgery center and get you scheduled. Your internist does not do this procedure.</p>
<p>No, I know my internist does not do the procedure. But they are done in a specialty section of the same clinic I go to for all other care (a fairly large one in a good-sized city). I have been at this clinic for years, so am not a new patient. And when I called for the appointment, they said I had to have an order. When I asked how to get an order, they said they guessed from my regular physican at the clinic or my OB-gyn at the clinic. So that is why I am dealing with the regular physician’s nurse right now.</p>
<p>I guess they are not used to patients ASKING for this procedure. :)</p>
<p>Normally you do need to have a referral from your doctor. I’d be shocked if once you’ve spoken to your physician there will be a problem. My internist started bugging me to get it done as soon as I hit 50. </p>
<p>Bear in mind that it can take a few months to get an appointment scheduled with morning appointments having the longest waits.</p>
<p>Check your insurance. Mine did NOT require a referral for a colonoscopy from anyone. I just had to call and schedule. I would call your insurance…and check. If they say you do NOT need a referral, perhaps you should find a different GI doc to go to.</p>
<p>You can call your insurer (phone number should be on your insurance card) and double-check as to whether a referral is needed. You should also just ask the OB’s office whom they generally refer for colonscopies. If no referral is needed, just go ahead and calal the GI doc and schedule the colonoscopy. If a referral is needed, squeak LOUDLY.</p>
<p>By the way, I’d suggest you consider also getting a “regular” internist, who may be better at being sure you get all the screenings and other checks that you should be getting. Just a thought–that is what they are better at keeping track of–in general. I mostly see my internist & sometimes see the OB. The internist has a better “big picture” view than the OB, just by the nature of their respective training.</p>
<p>Both my regular doctor and my ob/gyn were insistent about the screening colonoscopy right at age 50. I received a referral to a GI doc in our plan, and after a consult with him in which he gave me the prep prescription, I was scheduled for the procedure. Keep insisting!</p>
<p>It’s possible that they are putting you off because your regular doctor is not in the office. He probably has to order it himself, so when she says she’ll talk to the doctor, that’s probably what she has to do. I doubt that this is a cost management issue, as I have never met a doctor who thinks this is something to let slide once you’re 50. The assistant probably just has no authority, so she’s passing along the message.
If you don’t hear back tomorrow, I’d call and ask the assistant to have the doc call you directly. He may want you to come in first, though, unless you’ve been in very recently.
(That’s how he gets paid.)</p>
<p>Call your doctor’s office back and ask to speak to the office manager re scheduling problem with the office. She/he will probably have to call you back. Leave a message with person you talk to that you are waiting for the call back. Explain politely to office manager and she should resolve this. If not to your satisfaction, say you want your doctor to call you back that day. If office manager/dr do not resolve this within a day or two, you need a new dr.</p>
<p>My sister used to manage her H’s surgical practice and told me you have to speak to the office manager or the dr. about issues like this, because often they don’t know about it.</p>
<p>We use a GI doctor for this, and we usually see the doctor before the procedure at his office, and then schedule at the surgery center. All the GI doctors that we know (we are in the medical field) require a recent EKG and some screening blood work before the procedure, and that can be done at the office visit. A couple of years back, I had my internist do the screening, and I never got to the GI at all, so now I go right to the GI doc.</p>
<p>Do you have to see your “primary” doctor before seeing specialists in the clinic you go to? They all work on a different model, but the one I am familiar with in my area also lets you go directly to a specialist if you have insurance that does not have a “gatekeeper”. </p>
<p>I think my insurance recommends this test for over 50 as well. If your polyps are not bleeding, the fecal test won’t show that they are there.</p>
I am pretty good at “squeaking”, I will continue to do so. They haven’t actually said “no” yet, they just are having a hard time saying “yes”. It just seems crazy to me that it would be an issue at all if I am over 50.</p>