ššš
Jul. 24th, 2024 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flamingswordI just got done crying with frustration and despairing of the medical system in this country. I just need to see a rheumatologist! This should not be this hard!
Last month, on the 24th I dutifully showed up at UTSWās rheumatology clinic for the appointment time that was told to me over the phone in January. The secretary told me that my appointment was not until this month, that no doctor could see me, and gave me a half-hearted āsorry for the inconvenienceā as though I had not had to take time off of work, and drive to downtown Dallas besides. I am missing out on money for their āmistakeā.
Then, last week, the UTSouthwest billing department called me and told me that the new date of my appointment was four days after the insurance referral timed out, and that I would need to contact my doctors office or pay out of pocket. *tears hair out* So I try to call Innovista/formerly Sanitas and can not reach a human being or even leave a message, so I go in the next morning(Friday or Saturday) and talk to a human being at the front desk, tell her that it is an emergency and when the appointment is, and leave her the information from the UTSW billing department. She says it will get straightened out.
[Spoiler: It does not get straightened out.]
I have been calling since Monday morning to check on the status of the referral, unable to reach a person, unable to leave a message, getting no calls back from the automated system, and when I called the billing department this morning they said their information showed no change. So I call the rheumatologists office to cancel so they can get a standby appointment, right? And they tell me there are no appointments available in the next six months, so even if I wanted to reschedule, I canāt.
This is the point at which I started crying.
I have now looked up new doctors on my insurance that are not on the same accursed phone system, transferred my primary care to one of them, and in a minute Iām going to call and set up an appointment to make a referral to a rheumatologist of MY choosing, who will have actual appointments available.
I am so ā¦ AARGH, you know? I need to know what this intermittent bullshit with my eyes is, whether the bullshit with my joints is mechanical or rheumatologic. I need medical care, dammit! If Capitalism needs me to work, I have to fucking survive to do that!
Last month, on the 24th I dutifully showed up at UTSWās rheumatology clinic for the appointment time that was told to me over the phone in January. The secretary told me that my appointment was not until this month, that no doctor could see me, and gave me a half-hearted āsorry for the inconvenienceā as though I had not had to take time off of work, and drive to downtown Dallas besides. I am missing out on money for their āmistakeā.
Then, last week, the UTSouthwest billing department called me and told me that the new date of my appointment was four days after the insurance referral timed out, and that I would need to contact my doctors office or pay out of pocket. *tears hair out* So I try to call Innovista/formerly Sanitas and can not reach a human being or even leave a message, so I go in the next morning(Friday or Saturday) and talk to a human being at the front desk, tell her that it is an emergency and when the appointment is, and leave her the information from the UTSW billing department. She says it will get straightened out.
[Spoiler: It does not get straightened out.]
I have been calling since Monday morning to check on the status of the referral, unable to reach a person, unable to leave a message, getting no calls back from the automated system, and when I called the billing department this morning they said their information showed no change. So I call the rheumatologists office to cancel so they can get a standby appointment, right? And they tell me there are no appointments available in the next six months, so even if I wanted to reschedule, I canāt.
This is the point at which I started crying.
I have now looked up new doctors on my insurance that are not on the same accursed phone system, transferred my primary care to one of them, and in a minute Iām going to call and set up an appointment to make a referral to a rheumatologist of MY choosing, who will have actual appointments available.
I am so ā¦ AARGH, you know? I need to know what this intermittent bullshit with my eyes is, whether the bullshit with my joints is mechanical or rheumatologic. I need medical care, dammit! If Capitalism needs me to work, I have to fucking survive to do that!
no subject
Date: 2024-07-24 04:26 pm (UTC)THIS!
Date: 2024-07-25 12:24 am (UTC)ā Dor
Re: THIS!
Date: 2024-07-26 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-26 11:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-25 04:18 am (UTC)I'm also a Rheumatology patient and it scares me to have my care interrupted. So far I've been able to get what I need in that department. Cardiology, though, is a different story. Can't even make an appointment for my annual visit. The clinic I go to has been short staffed ever since the pandemic began.
Commiserations!
no subject
Date: 2024-07-26 11:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-27 04:02 am (UTC)I have been told that there are just very few rheumatologists compared to other specialists, but I think the understaffing problem is in every department and at every clinic and hospital.
Hang in there!
no subject
Date: 2024-07-25 04:30 am (UTC)This is so horrendously frustrating. I'm sorry.
no subject
Date: 2024-07-26 11:37 pm (UTC)Yeah, it sucks and not in the fun way. š *shakes my fist at malfunctioning phone systems and incompetent medical care systems*
no subject
Date: 2024-07-27 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-07-27 06:34 pm (UTC)