Welcome to my blog, or should I say to the ramblings of an old man. I doubt that my ramblings are of much value, but at least I have an opportunity to share them.  So, please be kind and humor me. If nothing else of value stands out in these thoughts, I hope that you at least sense the value I place on a daily walk with the Lord.  That walk is what has provided me with motivation and a sense of purpose throughout my lifetime.  My prayer is that you, too, are experiencing this direction and joy in daily living which is available to everyone who puts his trust in Christ.  So, thanks again for joining me.  Please don't go without leaving some comments here so I can get to know you better as our paths intersect today in this blog.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Medical Visits

We don't qualify as experts on very much, but I do claim to be somewhat an authority on doctor visits. So far this year we have made 40 different visits to 13 different doctors, medical technicians, and dentists. I think that might be enough to claim that one is an authority. Doctor visits have changed. Today all records are being changed to computer records. Some of our doctors are now learning to type - they didn't take that course in high school or even medical school. But, concerning those records, we have learned to request all copies of tests and reports from specialists and we carry them in a folder to all our visits. With so many specialists who spend so little time with you, we are learning to take care of ourselves and our records. And that is an essential lesson for all to learn. But that isn't the main concern of this blog. When I was a child we went to Dr. Griswold. There weren't appointments. You just showed up and signed a list and they took you in the order of your name on the list. That meant you probably would sit and wait at least an hour and sometimes two or three hours to see the doctor. That was tough anytime, but especially when you had a fever or upset belly or worse yet, when you had a sick child. Of course he still did some home visits so if you were really ill you could wait at home until he could visit. Good old Dr. Heinbach in Selinsgrove was no different except that he probably didn't do home visits. But he did speed up notifications - he told my father-in-law that Dianne was pregnant before he told either of us. I guess that was pre-HIPA. Then came Dr. Bryson in Landisville. He was the first of our doctors who made and actually kept appointments. What a great change. Very short waiting times there. And since then all doctors that we know now use appointments. But there are often two major problems with appointments, waiting and waiting. The first "waiting" is waiting to get an appointment. Sometimes it is the same day, but if it is a specialist it might be a week, or a month, or two months or even in one case for me, six months. The second "waiting" is the waiting for the doctor to keep the appointment and actually see you. A few are very prompt. We have one who I like who is almost always on time. But he is on time because he doesn't spend much time with you. I don't mind that as long as he is able to help me. We have some where the wait is a little longer and then there are a few where you can still expect to wait an hour or more. Now that is where I have a major problem. I can only see three reasons that should happen - an emergency, a slow doctor, and poor scheduling procedures. This week I read on the website of a local practice that if you are 15 minutes late for your appointment it will need to be rescheduled and you may be charged for the missed appointment. We actually saw that happen in this practice when a lady was about 30 minutes late. Rather than try to work her in they suggested that she go to an urgent care facility. Now I understand that policy but I think the consumers should also have some protection. A few weeks ago we sat in that same practice for almost an hour past our appointment time just waiting to be seen. That should not happen. I think doctor's should have a policy that if a doctor is delayed more than 15 minutes by an emergency, waiting patients should be informed and given the opportunity to either reschedule or wait. Waiting patients deserve to know if this is happening. Second, if the doctor is more than 30 minutes late, without an emergency interruption, the waiting patient should not be billed for the visit. The practice should absorb the cost. After all, patients have responsibilities too and their time should be valued. If a doctor can't schedule properly and maintain his schedule properly, it should be at a cost to him. That should be a professional courtesy and practice. So another key lesson that I have learned is, since the doctor will probably be late, and maybe very late, carry something along to read. This is important because the Ladies Home Journal in the waiting room will probably be at least eight months old.

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