Posted on 11/17/2017 9:43:07 AM PST by floozy22
Earlier today I called to make an appointment (routine check-up), at one of the Family Medicine offices of Reading Hospital/Tower Health, in Reading, PA. I was a patient a few years ago, but because it's been that long, I'm considered a new patient.
I was just about floored when they said that ALL of their family medicine offices/doctors in all locations are booked out until JANUARY 2018, for new patients!
This happens often with specialists, where you have to wait weeks or even months for an appointment. In fact I'm in a 2-month wait to see a specialist in mid-December. But Reading/Tower Health is either the first or second largest employer in Berks County. They routinely advertise their size, scope and coverage. They compete for patients like all hospitals/providers do. How do they justify such poor service? How do they plan to get new patients, since family doctors are the first experience most patients have with a healthcare network?
I have a 7 month wait.
Google has made general practitioners pretty much obsolete for me. In fact, it’s proven, so far, to be MORE reliable.
Heard this story when I worked in Manitoba. Fortunately Rochester Minnesota wasn’t far and people would mortgage their home to be seen there at the Mayo clinic.
I didn't know Google could write prescriptions, LOL.
Tell them you are paying cash and no insurance and they will see you today..................
This time of year, folks who have maxed out their deductibles or have money left in their FSA get appointments. It may not be related to Obamacare, but the organization of employer provided insurance.
It use to be the reason you had a family doctor was so you would essentially have a medical professional "on retainer" that could see you at any time. Now they are little more than office workers you are required to see to check a box on an insurance form.
when the government runs things, this is what happens to us.
I just checked with my doc’s schedule before posting this note.....
my private doc is taking the weekend off but can see me anytime on Tuesday as I wish, or will consult with me on the phone today if i want. Or, I may consult with an RN advice nurse. Or, I may see his backup MD’s anytime any day i wish at the clinic either by appointment or drop-in, or other MD’s at the emergency room if the clinic is closed for the night (the backup service at emergency is of course, open 24/7/365). It has always been this way with my doc.
No problem seeing either my doc or other docs (who have always dealt with my problems competently, too).
Solution: let Zero=Care self-destruct .. or better yet, put it out of its misery....and let people get real medical care (in the regular private marketplace without involving government bureaucrappy with its extended delays and other sanfus)
Not my fault, even though I am one of those people who just maxed-out the deductible.
I had a very slow heart rate for a few days, and short of breath, so I went to see my doctor. He had an EKG taken, and sent me straight to the local ER. ER ran a few tests, confirmed my DR’s diagnosis of Symptomatic Bradycardia, or slow and irregular heartbeat (45 bpm).
The ER in the local hospital had me transported by ambulance to the nearest cardio center, PeaceHealth Hospital in Eugene, Oregon. I was seen by Oregon Cardiology in the Oregon Heart and Vascular Institute, located on two floors in the hospital. They installed a pacemaker Wednesday, and sent me home yesterday. I feel much better, now.
So, I was an add-on patient, but not a true emergency, being stable with a low heart rate. I’ve seen the first bill to my Insruance Co, $499, from the hospital admitting doctor, who I saw for ten minutes at 11:00pm Tuesday night. My deductible is now maxed out, and I hope I don’t see the insurance company disputing any bills, because this was an expensive three days.
“I have a 7 month wait.”
A lot of formerly solo practice doctors have been forced into large group practices for economic reasons. Hospitals are a major factor as is Obamacre. The electronic record keepig requirements alone are a disaster. Thus there are all these new mini-bureaucracies. Many medical offices resemble a beehive of clerical workers on computers and all matter of administrative tasks. As if the actual medical asoect is an afterthouh. Good luck to all of us and f you very much democrats....and repubicans fir not fixing the bloody thing.
You only want a checkup. Why should you jump ahead of everyone who needs immediate care?
It might be that you are just late to the party, due to scads of people getting in their free routine exams before the end of the year and end of the current health insurance cycle. That, and maybe a bunch of the doctors are going on cruises over the holidays.
Not surprising for new patients. I need to schedule routine physicals a few months out, too, and I have great insurance through my company and have been seeing my doctor for years.
Are you on Obamacare? If not, then why would you think it was Obamacare related?
Our family practice has a policy that you WILL be seen the day you call for an appointment. A routine physical,on the other hand, can be a few month’s wait. There’s always a doctor in the office on Saturday’s too. The primary physician is a family friend who will see us at his home. We’ve been friends and his patients for close to 40 years.
I've been to doctors offices with signs that read "Self-Pay patients will be subject to surcharges"
I consider this among the most asinine things I've ever seen. It costs LESS to have no insurance paperwork or write-offs and they get their money immediately...yet charge more? What genius thinks that's smart?
I think they are talking interest on charges carried month to month................
There was similar vanity a few weeks ago. Someone offered up the suggestion that it is hard to get in this time of year because people have to spend down the use it or lose it tax free spending accounts offered by their employers.
Doc in a box. They will see you that day. But it took my regular doc to order the x-ray that officially figured out what was wrong.
A routine check up appointment often requires a wait these days——and why does that even matter?
The important thing is the ability to see a doctor quickly if you are having a problem.
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