[rn1tv]

Originally Posted by gustavo

Same thing happened to me. But Rivers sent me a certified letter saying he could provide 3 months of "emergency" care then I was canned. I never looked back but the sad thing (for me) was my wife still goes to him. No solidarity.

I got 2 letters: one through regular mail and one certified. We were not home when they attempted to deliver the certified one and left a card in our mailbox for redelivery or pick-up. I ignored the notice...how many times do you need to tell me? I'm convinced that things like this happen for a reason....a very good reason! Hope you found a great primary doc!

[twinklesweep]

Originally Posted by rn1tv

Bonny, my fellow parrot head, believe me, as an RN,BSN at the hospital, I have the respect of most every one of the drs. that practice there; however, we all know that all of the docs in the area are not top notch as I thought mine was. It's not a question of liking me, I am very easy to get along with except when I do not get the health care I expect. It's a question of their competence. I am not a griper, I only expect excellent health care as all of us should. Maybe if you had made several calls to your doc over 7 days regarding a very serious new medication issue with no response, you would better understand.

This is a pretty strong statement [emphasis mine above], especially with the use of the word all. Might I ask how you've come to this conclusion?

I had ONE physician in the area (who has an excellent reputation, I might add...) who made a blatant mistake, which I would not have realized if it had not been pointed out to me by another physician in the area. So much for doctors who practice "CYA" not only for themselves but for each other, which I'm not implying doesn't happen, but again it's not all. I deal with some pretty serious (and potentially serious) conditions and have had the good fortune to have found some truly excellent doctors!

[rn1tv]

twinklesweep, I apologize as I did not mean to imply that all of the physicians in the area are not top notch. I agree that the majority of them are excellent, but not all of them. I believe in one of my earlier posts, I indicated that I now have an excellent doctor who has taken the problems that the 1st doctor over looked very seriously and I am getting the treatment I need. I will be careful with future posts as I don't want them to be misinterpreted. I appreciate your bringing this to my attention.

[Halibut]

Whoa. I had no idea doctors did this! As a person who is occasionally "noncompliant" (or, as I prefer to think of it, "ultimately making my own decisions about my own health"), I'm wondering when I'll be getting a certified letter. Ha!

As for rescheduling appointments, that's appallingly ridiculous, especially considering that many people are not here all year, or visit/travel extensively out of state.

I definitely agree that office staff can be a huge detriment, or a huge help. I left a primary doc I liked a lot because of his office staff.

On the other hand, we've never notified any health care providers when we've moved or chosen another practitioner, so they never knew they were fired.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Halibut

Whoa. I had no idea doctors did this! As a person who is occasionally "noncompliant" (or, as I prefer to think of it, "ultimately making my own decisions about my own health"), I'm wondering when I'll be getting a certified letter. Ha!

As for rescheduling appointments, that's appallingly ridiculous, especially considering that many people are not here all year, or visit/travel extensively out of state.

I definitely agree that office staff can be a huge detriment, or a huge help. I left a primary doc I liked a lot because of his office staff.

On the other hand, we've never notified any health care providers when we've moved or chosen another practitioner, so they never knew they were fired.

I have done this as well. Some offices in small towns up north still treat doctors as gods and patients as cattle. Their attitude is appalling. They fail to realize that we are the employers; they are the employees.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I have done this as well. Some offices in small towns up north still treat doctors as gods and patients as cattle. Their attitude is appalling. They fail to realize that we are the employers; they are the employees.

I too am very disappointed by the behavior of the doctors office staff that we are seeing...and very disappointed with the doctor too. We have interviewed one doctor recommended on here and then found out before we switched that he was in jail for awhile for failure to pay support.

I am used to doctors being more traditional in their life styles. Never had one in jail for anything. Very picky about our doctors.

PLEASE, if you have a doctor that you trust and has a good educational background share who he is with us by PM. The new Villages health care won't take our previously always accepted insurance.

[gatherer47]

My three doctors-Dr Howard,Dr Fine,and Dr Howard graduated with the highest temperatures in their class-By the way,I was "fired" by my homeowners insurance company for what they called "overexposure"

[Villages PL]

Basically, there are two kinds of cardiologists: "GOOD" and "BAD". The bad ones are the ones who have already made noticeable mistakes with your medical care or the care of someone your know. The good ones are the ones whos mistakes you are not yet aware of as they have yet to make a noticeable mistake with your care or the care of someone you know.

Ask your cardiologist if he/she ever gives patients a choice between bypass surgery and reversing heart disease through natural means (i.e., better lifestyle choices).

[Villages PL]

I told this story a long time ago but I think it's worth repeating:

My neighbor (about 10 years ago) had coronary artery disease and already had one stent. Then her doctor told her she needed another one. I gave her a ride to the hospital in Leesburg where she was to get the procedure. That morning the doctor tried but failed to get the stent to the location where he thought it was needed. That's because there was a sharp turn in her artery and the stent wouldn't go around the corner. (Imagine you're at a stop sign and about to make a sharp right turn. That's the way it was.

So, when she woke up from the failed procedure, the doctor told her he would like to try again in the afternoon. With no time to think it over she just agreed to it, figuring that he probably knew best. Well, he tried again and failed again. This is the part that's so unbelievable: After he told her that the second attempt failed, he said, "don't worry, you don't need it."

I picked her up from the hospital the following morning and she was feeling sick. What happened to the concept of "do no harm"? To make matters worse, she eventually received a bill for a little over 30,000 dollars. And medicare said they would only pay for one procedure so she was on the hook for $15,000 dollars.

Sorry, I don't remember the doctor's name. This was almost 10 years ago and I just never bothered to remember his name.

[jblum315]

Everyone should be aware that they simply won't pay for 2 identical procedures. I ran into this years ago when my daughter had to have surgery on her feet. It had to be carefully explained to the insurance idiots that a procedure on the right foot is not identical to a procedure on the left foot. Took months to straighten it out.

[rn1tv]

VillagesPL, I hope your friend did not pay the outstanding balance! Unfortunately, I think situations like your friends happen more often than we would like to believe. No wonder medicare is going broke! I do hope she reported this to the FL Board of Medicine.

[dog friendly]

I had a doctor that I fired and then he was fired, long story.....and please do not even ask who he is because it was some time ago.....

[GeoGeo]

I have heard of doctors doing this to patients who disagree with what the doctor had to say. The patients were not confrontational. They just disagreed with the medication that the doctor had prescribed. I'm not sure if they thought the doctor should use a different medication or if they didn't agree with the diagnosis. All I know it involved not wanting to take the particular medication the doctor had prescribed. Another time I heard of it, the patient didn't know why they were "fired" as you called it. But then shortly after that the doctor had left that practice and started a practice of his own. So perhaps if the doctor is leaving a practice, they are required to do that.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by GeoGeo

I have heard of doctors doing this to patients who disagree with what the doctor had to say. The patients were not confrontational. They just disagreed with the medication that the doctor had prescribed. I'm not sure if they thought the doctor should use a different medication or if they didn't agree with the diagnosis. All I know it involved not wanting to take the particular medication the doctor had prescribed. Another time I heard of it, the patient didn't know why they were "fired" as you called it. But then shortly after that the doctor had left that practice and started a practice of his own. So perhaps if the doctor is leaving a practice, they are required to do that.

I think that some doctors here are very high handed.

A doctor who we are seeing said that I had turned down a test he wanted to do on me and I "wasn't going to get away with it". He had done this test on Helene but not me and hadn't asked to do it. I had assuredly only turned down one test for fecal blood as I had recently had a clear colonoscopy. Turns out it was some test about circulation to your extremities performed in the doctors office and I am a bit unclear what the use of it is. Neither Helene nor I have ever had a problem with circulation to our extremities. Four blood pressure cuffs are placed on your ankles and wrists simultaneously and you are asked to stand up, sit down and lie down. Helene has had a variety of tests on her circulatory system performed by one of the fine heart hospitals in this country but never ran into this test. Perhaps I am too skeptical. I went along with it and then was called to come in that a technician was going to be in the office on Wednesday to do an ultra sound on my leg. I haven't had any problem with my leg. ???? I am losing faith here. I refused. I may be fired soon.

You just have to wonder.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I think that some doctors here are very high handed.

A doctor who we are seeing said that I had turned down a test he wanted to do on me and I "wasn't going to get away with it". He had done this test on Helene but not me and hadn't asked to do it. I had assuredly only turned down one test for fecal blood as I had recently had a clear colonoscopy. Turns out it was some test about circulation to your extremities performed in the doctors office and I am a bit unclear what the use of it is. Neither Helene nor I have ever had a problem with circulation to our extremities. Four blood pressure cuffs are placed on your ankles and wrists simultaneously and you are asked to stand up, sit down and lie down. Helene has had a variety of tests on her circulatory system performed by one of the fine heart hospitals in this country but never ran into this test. Perhaps I am too skeptical. I went along with it and then was called to come in that a technician was going to be in the office on Wednesday to do an ultra sound on my leg. I haven't had any problem with my leg. ???? I am losing faith here. I refused. I may be fired soon.

You just have to wonder.

That would do it for me. He would be my former doctor.

There's a couple of issues here, one of which I ran into in Muskegon, MI, causing me to switch all my health care over to U of M in Ann Arbor.

One is, don't talk to seniors as if they were children. Don't talk down to ANY patient.

The other is, we are the customers. Where's the customer service?

In Muskegon, the office staff's attitude was "The doctors are gods and you will follow the rules with no complaints, including sitting in the waiting room an hour+ past your appointment time. We may be rude and discourteous because you are lucky to have these doctors." Bye-bye to them!