4/15/08

236) The Medical Runaround

April 14, 2008
Monday

Warning:
This is a non-kidney, non-dialysis post! However, writing it is helping me to calm down and somehow feel better about documenting my frustrations.

TNOYS:
So, I happened on my referral from Dr. Race to Dr. Lown and thought, "Ah yes... today is a good day to call for this appointment." so first I call my primary care doc, Krienke's office and talk to the "referral office". According to Rosemary I don't need another referral besides the referral to Race, cause that referral is good enough for my insurance. So I call Lown's office and explain that I went to see Dr. Race about this atrophied little finger and he wants to refer me to Dr. Lown for the surgery. The lady asks me if I have a referral
and I say "No, but..." and describe the little consulting introduction form I have and she says they must receive a referral from my doctor of record. I replay the story of talking to Krienke's office and the lady replies that then they have to receive a referral from Dr. Race's office. So, I call Dr. Race's office and talk to a nice person who says with my insurance I can just call Lown and set an appointment. I explain what Lown's office told me and the Race woman goes off to check my record and comes back in a few minutes and says, "We can fax the doctor's notes over there and call that a referral". I ask her to call them and explain that to them and then call me back, and she agrees... nice person that she is.

So, then, about 20 minutes later she calls me back and says that she did FAX the stuff to Lown's office and did call them and they tell her they must have a referral form so she has also FAX'd the material to Krienke and asked his office to refer me to Lown. I thank her for her work and end up sitting at my desk shaking my head. I have just spent 30 minutes trying to get an appointment and don't yet have one!

Arrrrrgh...

Note --> 4/23:
When I got my snail mail referral, yesterday, I called Lown's office ready to tell the lady I got the damn referral; and a guy, Ken I think, answered. "I have a referral from my primary doc." "What's your insurance?" says he. "Blue, select from UT" says me. "You don't need a referral." he says. "
Arrrrrgh..." says I. "Sir?" say he. I grumble, "The lady at this phone last time said I did even though I told her I thought I didn't" "Oh. Sorry." say he. So, I have an appt for Thursday, April 24th.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

my mum is on dialysis in the uk was hemo now apd, is interesting to read how it is for person going through it as she doesnt talk much about it.

thanks