Yesterday was my first checkup with my new Cardiologist. It was a total nightmare! And if I do have heart problems I could have actually had a heart attack right there in his Office and been dead for at least an hour before anyone found me. The first clue that maybe I shouldn't be going to see this so called "Doctor" was probably when I couldn't find his Office with the directions the Receptionist gave me. The second clue was when I start to write my name down on the sign in sheet and the Receptionist tells me I don't need to do that. The third clue was when she hands me a clipboard with the questionaire sheets and the only questions they want answered is your name, address, and phone number, what insurance do you have and who is going to be responsible for the bill if the insurance doesn't pay. There's no questions about symtoms that brought you here, your medical history and your family's, etc. Clue 4 would be when I got there 20 minutes ahead of time to fill in those questions and my appointment is at 11am and it is now 12:20 and I am still in the waiting room. Then it is 1pm and I am still in the waiting room and I can see the Receptionist and an Assistance or two looking out their window opening but not even bothering to let me know why I have been kept waiting so long. At 1:15 I am finally let to an exam room. The Assistance has a small pad of post it notes and a pen. There is no "I'm sorry" you had to wait so long, etc. She asks me a couple of questions, jots something down on the post it note paper, checks my blood pressure which should have been "sky high" by this time...and leaves the room with: "The Doctor will be in shortly." Clue 5 It's 2:55pm and I am picking up my purse by the side of my chair getting ready to walk out of the place and tell the Receptionist that they better not have the nerve to bill me for this 3 hour "waiting" visit! In walk's the Doctor... Doctor So and So doesn't even introduce himself, he pulls out his stool, sits on it, opens his laptop, asks a few questions, then like an afterthought while I'm still sitting in the chair next to the examination table, he checks the pulses on either side of my neck for a second or two, then checks my heart rate for another couple of seconds. Then tells me he is going to schedule me for a Pet Scan so we can see the total picture. After a 3 hour wait and in less than 7 minutes with no physical exam, no heart monitoring, etc. this Cardiologist decides I need a Pet Scan! I may need a Pet Scan...but right now what I need more than that is a new Heart Doctor! Then I get home, look up what a Pet Scan involves and see that a substance is injected into you during this scan...a substance that can be dangerous to use if you have asthma (which I told I did have) and which if you are having irregular heart beats can make them worse (which is why I went to see him). So he's setting me up for a test that uses a substance that can basically make my problems worse...or even kill me. This was the last Clue I needed to know that on Monday morning I will be calling this Doctor's Office and ending this patient/Doctor relationship!
Don't blame you one bit ! It's the same over here and the last time I went I'd had enough of the 'attitude' so I turned big time I told him what I thought of him and for good measure put it in writing when I got home ! I feel for you Babs and truly hope that you can settle down now. See how it goes when you see your doctor you may be feeling much better and put everything on hold
You're doing the right thing Babs...immediately get yourself another Doctor.. I was just going to say welcome to the medical world in the UK ( but Patsy said it first) , because except for the insurance...this is totally been my experience here as well.. often after waiting months in the first place to even get to see a consultant..then you're dismissed after a 5 minute cursory check and sent off for some scan or X ray...
It sounds like a definitely nightmare day at the doctor, @Babs Hunt ! We have a Medicare Advantage plan, and with that you just choose your primary care doctor and then that doctor refers you to a specialist when needed, or to whatever one you are already seeing if you have one. Since I already had a cardiologist, I was able to keep seeing that doctor. I was thinking that you had said you would be seeing the same cardiologist that someone else in your family sees, so it is surprising that they re such a great doctor for the relative and yet such a poor one for your needs. Hopefully, you will find one that works with you better the next time, and won't keep you waiting so long. Even my cardiologist takes 2-3 months to get an appointment with and then over an hour wait, plus another half hour or more once they finally get you into the waiting room; so I think that is just how it goes with specialty doctors; but being there all day for a few minute appointment is just way too long ! !
Yes @Yvonne Smith My middle daughter who is a Registered Nurse saw this Cardiologist when she was pregnant with her last child and started having heart palpitations. She went to the ER and that's when he first saw her...maybe if I would have met him in the ER I would have thought he was a better Doctor too. Right now I don't hold a very high opinion of him or his staff. And I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I should put my "heart" in his hands after that "nightmare" first appointment. I'm going to call his Office on Monday, and ask some questions I need answered...and if they "blow off" my questions or show no concern for what happened, etc. then I am not going to put my heart in the hands of this Cardiologist. I'm willing to give just about anyone a "second chance" because I know there can be off "days" for everyone...but this off day seems almost a sign of a bad professional...and if that's the case...there can be no second chances with putting my health and heart cares in his hands.
Well, I've never had a doctor's office/doctor treat me that bad, but like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones. Just makes a person wonder how the bad ones stay in business/practice. Unfortunately, many people don't complain about their visit to the office and/or doctor. They only complain to friends and relatives. Many doctor offices won't say anything to the patients waiting, concerning any kind of computer problem that can hold up the appointment process. Last year I had two appointments with my Orthopedic Surgeon and had two separate problems happen. First, when I made the appointment, I could swear the Receptionist told me the appointment was for 9:30AM. This office doesn't call the patient to remind them of an appointment, like the VA does for mine with them. Anyway, I showed up at 9:15AM and signed in. Was given a little I-Pad type question thing to fill out. Got that done by 9:30AM, but didn't get called. At 10AM, I asked the receptionist about my appointment and she told me I was scheduled for 11AM. I said "what?" sort of loud. I told her I thought the appointment was for 9:30AM and she to me "I'm sorry, but you are mistaken, it is for 11AM". So, at 11AM, I was called. Second, same office. Did have an appointment for 9:30AM, but due to a computer problem, wasn't able to see the surgeon until 12:30PM..........but nobody said a word to anyone in the Waiting Area! At 11AM, I had to go up to the receptionist and ask what the problem was. I can't think of a time when I've ever had a problem with VA appointments.
@Babs Hunt Please consider that a PET Scan is by far the most expensive (and lucrative, therefore) to the place carrying it out. Used only after much less costly techniques fail. Your experience with this "practitioner" (clearly "practicing") on folks, is most similar to one of my own. Write him off. Friday Jan. 13, our friend Vonda's birthday! Best Wishes, Vonder! Frank
All weekend I was upset over my nightmare visit with the Cardiologist and thinking about how I was going to handle what happened. I knew I did not want to go back to this Doctor or have the Pet Scan. But since I have never been through anything like this before I wasn't sure where to begin with trying to solve the problems I experienced. A little while ago I was looking at the appointment card that was given me and I noticed he has Offices in 4 different locations. So I called one of the locations I hadn't seen him at, and pressed #6 to speak to the Office Manager. I told her that my Primary Care Physician wanted to refer me to a Cardiologist because I was having heart palpitations and I was thinking of asking her to refer me to Dr. So and So because my daughter had seen him a few years agoin the ER and thought highly of him. I told her that I was experiencing some anxiety at the thought of seeing a Heart Specialist and wondered if she could explain to me what I could expect to happen at my first visit with him. She was a Sweetheart and told me when Dr. So and So came into the Exam room he would introduce himself, ask me a few questions about my symtoms, then he would give me a physical exam pertaining to my heartbeat, etc. After that the next step would be hooking me up to an EKG, followed by an ultrasound of my heart. From there he might recommend a Holsten monitor vest to wear for 24-48 hours. She never said anything about a Pet Scan. I asked her since he was a Specialist could she give me an idea how long I might be in the waiting room before getting into the exam room....and she said about 20 minutes. (How about two and a half hours!) She said if the Doctor had an emergency where he had to go to the hospital to see about a patient, the staff would always let those with appointments know this in case they wanted to reschedule, etc. She said if he was running overtime with a patient they would also let the next appointment know this. So this was my Doctor she was telling me about....and he did none of this with me nor did his staff. Where do I go from here? Should I call my Primary Doctor and tell her what happened and ask her to refer me to another Specialist? Where can I go to to put a complaint against this Heart Specialist....I don't feel like my insurance should have to pay him after the nightmare I went through with him. Do I call my insurance company and tell them what happened. I want to type a letter to him and his staff and tell him what I think of their care of me...should I do this?
My Cigna Healthsprings insurance has a regular nurse for this area, and she is the person that I can call of there are any doctor issues like this. Perhaps your insurance plan has a local person like mine has , and if so; I think this would be a good place to start. There should also be a doctor's board that oversees all of the doctors in your state. I remember helping Ina find the one for her area, and all we did was google "medical review board" and it showed right up. They list the doctors and their ratings. Also, if you put this doctor's name in a google search, it will show up for several websites that rates doctors and has reviews from patients about the doctor. This is what we did before we changed over to the Elder Care Clinic where we go now, and read all of the reviews for Dr. Khan. You can also leave reviews on these websites so that other people will know how poorly this doctor treated you, @Babs Hunt . That won't help your situation, but it might help other people, and if there is a trend of people leaving this kind of a review, then the medical review board will probably check up on him. You can also call the Attorney General's office for Louisiana and file a complaint. It is free to do this, and might help it from going onto your insurance billing.
@Babs Hunt "I want to type a letter to him and his staff and tell him what I think of their care of me...should I do this?" IMO, Babs, there must be many other patients who have had bad experiences like you did. Thus, the doctor must be fully aware of their malcontent. A complaint might simply make him yet more defensive. But, I am in no way in a position to offer advice, though I have had bad similar experiences. The limitations placed on both my choice of Primary Care Physicians, as well as Specialists, are such that only one Insuror is available to me in our county, and numbers of PCPs are quite limited. Regardless of how licensing and registration of the medical facility involved, records must be kept of complaints filed. As locally-registered businesses, one direction might be to file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau. Just a thought. Hope you are able to secure both personal, and medical, satisfaction in this. Frank
This is what I have done: 1. Found out from his Office Manager what my first visit and exam should have been and the waiting time info too. 2. I called my Primary Care Physician, told the Receptionist what happened which she will pass on to my PCP and asked for a referral to another Heart Specialist. 3. Called my Humana Health Plan Complaint phone number and lodged a complaint against this Specialist against the Quality of medical care and the waiting time. 4. Tomorrow morning I will have my husband take the letter I will type to the Specialist and his staff and fax it from the Office and his job. I am also going to tell that Specialist I want my copay back. Numbers 1-3 are done deals. All I have left is the letter to type and I will do my best to show him grace but firmness in letting him know how unprofessional both he and his staff were. I will also let him know I will not be keeping the new appointment the receptionist set up for me...or doing the Pet Scan. It doesn't matter if anything I have done changes the Doctor or his staff. It matters to me that I am letting him and others know that I will not be a victim of his unprofessionlism. I am in charge of my health and I will not put my health or heart in the hands of someone who shows no care or concern for it or me as a person.
@Babs Hunt , You're doing what you should. I too had to go through testing last summer with a cardiologist. My first appointment was about meeting the doctor, telling him what was happening to me, and the regular preliminary physical. Then he set there and explained what each test was for, and how it would be performed. They did an EKG, ultrasound, and a 48 hour heart monitoring, and all this was before they did my pet scan. In those five appointments I never waited for more than 20 minutes. So no wonder it scared you.
I was told that I might feel flushed, might have a feeling of anxiety, or some racing feelings in my heart. I felt none of those things. Holding my arms above my head caused me discomfort, but that was caused by my arthritis. I was positioned in several ways, and told not to move. The length of the scan in so many uncomfortable positions was the worst of it. So it wasn't bad like I had been told. They even asked me my preference in music, and that's what I listened to.
The way that Doctor and his staff treated me as a patient did not scare @Ina I. Wonder It infuriated me!