<p>I recently went through something similar and it’s a tough call whether to change doctors or not.</p>
<p>If you like this doctor/if he’s the best in his field in your area you might cut him a little slack. The problem may be in his office/support staff not being as organized/not following up as quickly as you’d like. For a busy specialist, 3 days isn’t that long (even though it seems like an eternity to the patient). Unless it’s an emergency/your symptoms are getting worse as you wait, you might give him a little more time.</p>
<p>That said, when I was having a similar problem with a doctor’s office, I called every day until I got what I needed. I even got the Office Manager’s name and called her. (That worked!)</p>
<p>But in the end, I came to realization that although I liked the doctor a great deal, his office staff was too difficult to deal with. Because I was going to need on-going care (and major surgery!) I just couldn’t deal with the staff and the difficulty getting what I needed so I changed doctors. </p>
<p>My new doctor and her office staff are wonderful. Every time I’ve needed something I’ve gotten it VERY quickly. I feel well-cared for and that’s worth everything to me.</p>
<p>Good luck getting your results and treatment. If your current specialist isn’t treating you the way you need, call your PCP and get a referral to someone else.</p>
<p>My doctor can be easily replaced as far as skill level. He has good training, but in my area there are many doctors with credentials that are equal. This is not one of the reasons for me to put up with a waiting for a phone call. Also, I think that this doctor has a very good support staff, but I have only been in this office 3 times.</p>
<p>"What would you do? "
-I always researched a lot on internet before I go to the doctor (unless it is toothache or emergency). I have helped myself in a past with my own research and adjustments in lifestyle based on information that I found. I also had very good experience two times taking my daughter to alternative care physicians when no others (very many of them) could help her with serious conditions in both cases. Best wishes.</p>
<p>I do think there is a huge difference between the office staff culture. This year had been my first experience being involved in frequent medical interactions in about 20 years. The office I referenced above, which took weeks to call me with test results that caused a referral to an oncologist seems to have a less than efficient culture.</p>
<p>My surgeon was incredible, my PCP in a little dinky office in a podunk town has been incredibly efficient with referrals and tests and just being sharp and efficient. The doctor whose office annoys me seems like a good guy, but I am unimpressed with the office staff style, it’s not their attitude, it’s their style of doing things.</p>
<p>I am not sure if I want to pursue a new doc in s specialty or not, they are ‘fine’ and I have the resource of the PCP, but the lack of effectiveness and efficiency really bugs me. How much do you feel a rapport with the actual doctor and his treatments? Is it worth the office staff hassles?</p>
<p>This is what I am debating in mind, especially since I don’t know if my overall experience with a doctor will be a whole lot better. My DH called me to see if I had heard from the doctor yet and when I told him that I had not, he suggested that I consider going to a new doctor, which is really one more thing to push me to see someone else.</p>
<p>I think sometimes doctors are clueless about what goes on with staff, etc. They want to practice medicine, not manage a business. Sadly, many patients are unhappy and move on to other docs because of issues not related to the doc, but staff. It could very well be that staff, not doctor is the holdup–maybe they are being slow to deliver info to the doctor including messages. I would ask for another appt asap and hopefully you can speak face to face about your test results and then offer an aside about possible staff issues.</p>
<p>My little story: 2 years ago I was suffering from some type of intestinal problem. I went to my doctor, who ordered various tests here and there. Blood tests, sonograms, stool samples, etc… Each round took days or weeks for appointment, testing, results, etc. </p>
<p>After awhile they get around to “well let’s order a colonoscopy”. So there’s a whole round of getting in to the gastro, having to pay part of the bill in cash because she’s no longer in the same med plan, scheduling the test, prepping for and having the test, getting the results - this takes around 3 weeks. She finds nothing of concern. </p>
<p>So I call the gastro office to see if I can see her to discuss whether there is some OTHER cause she can look for. They tell me “no, sorry, she won’t see you any more for this issue”. I’m like, “but I’m still sick”. So I have to find a new gastro. Well, then he needs the records from the previous one. Will they send them? No. First they refuse to release them at all. Then I have to drive to the old doc to get the records, and then to the new doc to deliver them. </p>
<p>He has to study them before I can get an appointment. Weeks go by while the wrangling goes on. Eventually he sees me and tries a few things which don’t help much either. Fortunately, after ten months and considerable physical, mental, and financial indignities, the problem vanishes on it’s own as suddenly as it had begun.</p>
<p>northeastmom - I hope you have better luck getting a resolve to your problems, and I hope they are ultimately no more serious than mine apparently were.</p>
<p>sylvan thanks. It is now after 4:00 and still no fax with test results and no call from the nurse or the doctor. It is time for me to call AGAIN to remind them that I am still waiting.</p>
<p>Okay, just called the office again. Again, no nurse “is available” for my call. I now spoke with the person that I spoke to yesterday. I told her that I am still WAITING (still being polite because I am not quite ready to burn any bridges, but letting her know that I don’t want to wait forever either). She told me to please be patient (in a nice and friendly tone) and that the doctor has a lot of patients that he was seeing today and that they have later hours today and the doctor will get back to me sometime today/tonight. Still, no faxed results either.</p>
<p>Its quite possible that the doctor will want to talk to you before the office staff faxes any labs. They might also need you to sign a release (yes it sounds silly, but a release to yourself) for the records/lab results.</p>
<p>jym, they told me that my results are “normal” over the phone, which is what is so weird about not faxing the results. Anyway, the office staff just called back and they are NOW going to fax my lab results, and they promised that the doctor will call me this evening. Now I feel better already ;)</p>
<p>I think we tolerate a delay in call backs from doctors because we know that there are times that the doctor is unavailable (in surgery, with another patient, hospital rounds, travel to multiple offices, etc.) than we do from other professionals. However, that said, there are doctors who call back quickly and would never let 2 or 3 messages pile up on the chart with no attempt to call the patient back. If there are other available specialists in your area with similar training and experience, you might want to try out another doctor to see if your needs are met with more rapid service. I hope it works out for you.</p>
<p>Often there is verbiage about release of information embedded in the forms you fill out/sign at your initial appointment. This is often necessary not only to comply with HIPAA regulations but also billing, etc. But not all patients request copies of their records, so the personal requests may get handled as they occur, and may or may not require a separate release. </p>
<p>Glad you will hear back soon from the doctor and best wishes that all is fine. BTW, the fact that he fit you in the day you called is no small matter (athough again this varies with the type of professional you are seeing), so though he’s been hard to reach, he made himself available when you needed to get in. Thats a good thing.</p>
<p>A few years ago, we had Kaiser for our med insurance. What I really liked was that the results of lab tests (at least the blood tests I had) were online in 24 hours. It’s great getting the actual numbers, too, rather than, “it’s normal.” Although my results were in their ‘normal’ range, it took just minutes to discover that many experts considered the thyroid range to be much narrower. I’d still be passed out on the couch if I’d just trusted MD’s opinion.</p>
<p>northeastmom, unfortunately, this sort of inefficiency and things falling through the cracks seems to be the rule anymore. I’ve had to become very involved in my aging parents’ medical lives, and almost without exception, any contact with a doctor, pharmacist or insurance company requires multiple calls to get a response. Faxes don’t get sent, messages don’t get relayed, calls don’t get returned, etc etc – this is SOP today. Everyone just seems to be so understaffed but in any case, it’s we patients who have to proactively stay on top of everything, and the burden falls on US to follow up and pursue.</p>
<p>Sometimes when I really want an answer soon, I adopt the “squeaky wheel” technique. I ask the receptionist when I can expect a call back. Of course, she doesn’t know, so I tell her that I’ll call back in an hour if I haven’t heard anything. I call in an hour and ask the same question and tell her the same thing. I call again in an hour and so on. Eventually I think she goes to the doctor and begs him/her to call me so that I’ll get off HER back. I hate to do that, but it does work.</p>
<p>Find a different doctor!!! Go to many many of them until you find the one who is willing to spend time helping you. Most of them do not care, but there are few jems out there who truly do. I have had experiences in a past, and unfortunately it was not me, it was my precious child. It is very scary, but I was persistent, used all resources, finally I took my daughter to the doctor that I simply found in telephone book based on D’s symptom. Believe it or not, the last one was the one who has helped (after 5 weeks of torture watching my 10 years old in pain and not being able to do anythig). She was back to normal life in few days after couple of visits and pitching all grazy strong medicine that others prescribed that did not help her at all. I will never forget that she asked me why I did not take her to this doctor right away. I wish I knew him, but at least I found him. I hope that daughter herself will remember this experience for the rest of her life as she is going to Medical School. Be your own advocate, find the right doctor, search high and low.</p>
<p>Update: Doctor called last night after office hours. He was most pleasant and apologetic, so he knows that I was waiting longer than I should have for some medical feedback. He answered all of my questions so I will stick with him (for now anyway). Thanks everyone.
BTW, if he had not called by 10 this morning, he would have lost me as a patient.</p>