This is a small example of the kind of bureaucracy that patients and doctors have to wade through.
My husband had a heart attack at 47. It was probably caused by the autoimmune disease he has. He was overweight and stressed at the time. Lost weight, exercised more, changed his job. Heart was doing great. He was seeing his cardiologist once a year but the cardiologist said, you are doing great. We don’t have to see each other every year but you are my patient and I will see you anytime.
Husband has surgery this year and they stopped one of his medications. He needs to see the cardiologist and reassess his medication. Call the office. Sorry, you haven’t seen the cardiologist in 3 years, you need to get a referral before we will schedule an appointment.
Call the referral line at husband’s PCP. It’s a black hole, who knows when the referral will be coming. No follow up. Now my husband has to track down a message service to see if they’ve done what he needs.
It would have been much easier to see the cardiologist once a year.