Considering changing doctors for surgery

[KarenLR75 515]

I haven't said much about this unless you aw my posts on struggle with my dr's office staff in trying to get them to push paperwork through to Cigna. It was such an awful experience and it wasn't the insurance company! I had talked to Cigna 15 months ago about their requirements then before I ever found a surgeon.

When I asked for recommendations on here and in personal life, several docs recommended but out of 2 recommended, I knew 1 took Cigna and he had good reviews. I didn't call the other doc as he was in Frisco (30 min drive) and doc I chose was 10 mins away. My knee is messed up & driving aggravates it.

He is sharing digs with another doc (OB/GYN) as his private new office ais being built. His 1 med tech/office person (he also has office mgr) is one of the most difficult people I have EVER encountered at a dr's office and that is saying A LOT! Especially since I helped care for both parents and have a kid that had an immune system issue growing up.

I've had her be hateful to me, be rude, dismissive. The doc; however, was so nice that I've shrugged off med tech's behavior as I have no idea if maybe she is maybe related and was afraid of losing him if I said something. I felt dr & I were a good match though. I had planned to talk to him after surgery about how rough it was to deal with his tech. Flash forward to this week & she called to tell me to come to hospital at a diff time for my Mon. surgery to check in (origcheck in time was 12:30, new check in time is 1:30. I was a bit surprised and as I'm curious..I blurted "what happened?".then said, "sorry, never mind...so when will actual operation take place as I have some people planning to come". Well, I obviously had 'exceeded my question quota' as she sighed & quickly said "2:30" (orig surgery time was 2). Then she basically ended call. Now call me crazy, but changing hospital check in time to be an hr later and NOT changing surgery time seemed odd, but ok. Oh, she did say that "the hospital changed things around".

Well, since I got to know a nice lady at the hospital when I called to schedule my appt for surgery and found out she didn't even have my orders/show I was on list for surgery - this was a WEEK after my dr. had told me my surgery date and grouchy tech said to be sure to call hospital ASAP if I didn't hear in a day. When they told me they had no info about my surgery, I sighed as this has been story of my life anytime this person is involved.

I've had to deal with her icy attitude anytime I'm in the office as I ended up pushing the 'put things through to insurance' with the doctor as she absolutely REFUSED to and said that I needed to quit calling my insurance as I was getting them confused. CIGNA themselves was frustrated with her& called the Office Mgr to ASSURE them they were ready to APPROVE me. I took a copy of the policy and showed him wording that she kept misinterpreting (did not point it out, told him Cigna was waiting..and asked what his 'take' on "within the past 6 months" meant. He agreed easily that I had indeed met all requirements based on wording of policy and he'd have them push papers through.

Next visit, she would not make eye contact. Her face was in a scowl and she only spoke the bare minimum. I've kept telling myself - the only person I care about is the doctor and I like him, he gets my 'clotting issues'...and he understood immediately that my info on CIGNA was correct.

AFTER all this, when I call hospital back about surgery/check in time change, the nice lady there said "you are not scheduled for 2:30 (sad thing is I knew med tech lied), the doc made some changes and you are now on list for 3:30. That is all I wanted to know, what time the SURGERY is. And no, the hospital changed nothing. The changes came from dr's office. Why be dishonest about that? Makes no sense. So all this "history" is simmering in the back of my head/heart obviously & past few days all I can think of (well, I do think of good things too, but this is the 'really getting to me stuff')..is how awful and hard she has made the process.

Who knew an office staff person could be more difficult than insurance? Cigna was a dream! Now to top it off, my husband is unhappy that my coumadin to lovenox bridging plan was given to me by dr on a sticky note. Maybe he intended office staff to type it up (I showed it to them though & they just handed back), but when I pulled it out yesterday, my husband expressed BIG concerns that something that is so critical to my health (my last, MINOR surgery - I ended up throwing more clots even with a filter in because lovenox bridging was dosed wrong).. Hubby uncomfortable that info just on a 'sticky note'. No dr signature, no official paperwork, etc.

When I was at hospital for pre-op...all I kept hearing was about the"some dr" up in Frisco..in glowing terms - they weren't talking to me, the hospital staff was talking to ea other. I said at one point "he must be a really good dr" and the woman said "he is incredible". NOTE: All docs @ this hospital are either contractors or part owners if they wish. Both my current dr & the one ppl were talking about are both contractors so there was no 'reason' for them to 'wax poetic' about the other dr. My dr is new to this part of DFW area.

All of this to say....I'm so torn - turns out this other dr is the one I decided not to see as he was in Frisco. I've been willing to put up with abusive/rude behavior from my drs staff that I like as I don't want to 'upset apple cart'. I've ignored my misgivings &husband's misgivings about getting my critical coumadin and Lovenox schedule handed to me on a sticky. I still feel he is a really good dr. Now though, I have found out that this other dr has much more extensive reviews..and they are just as good if not better...and ppl rave about him and his staff. What is more, they are willing to meet with me and have a discussion (I called to ask if they had ever had anyone switch at last minute) to see what would be best for me and even likely my surgery date will not change.

Do you think this is all part of jitters - I'm not SEEKING to postpone my surgery at all. Have I been ignoring what my gut has been trying to tell me all along? I KNOW my husband is not thrilled with the dr I've chosen. Am I nuts for taking another look at this???

Edited June 26, 2019 by KarenLR75

[Frustr8 7,886]

Trust your Gut, had a motivational memo to that effect, That your Gut knows things your Brain has not yet processed . The old wise person advice " If something seems too good to be true, it usually is'" And your hubs may know instictively there's something rotten there! No it's your very Life, you deserve the Best!

[justmetj 421]

I'm sorry you're going through this. With Coumadin it is so important to have the numbers right, that to have them written on a sticky note would be a very big red flag to me. To me that's an "attention to detail" type of medication and if he's so nonchalant about that, how's he going to be about your operation? Also I'm sure if the office tech has treated you like she did she's probably treated others the same and has had some complaints filed against her. If that's the case it doesn't seem like he's handling that situation very well either.

[KarenLR75 515]

7 hours ago, justmetj said:

With Coumadin it is so important to have the numbers right, that to have them written on a sticky note would be a very big red flag to me. To me that's an "attention to detail" type of medication and if he's so nonchalant about that, how's he going to be about your operation? Also I'm sure if the office tech has treated you like she did she's probably treated others the same and has had some complaints filed against her. If that's the case it doesn't seem like he's handling that situation very well either.

You are SO right on both counts!!