Doctor's office staff??????

CinnamonSugar said:
@Marian : I have a slightly different take on this, may I share?

some states allow FNP to operate pretty independently (write prescriptions without MD oversight, etc) and other states they still have to run everything by an MD. You don't just go from being Joe-on-the-street to nurse practitioner. You have to be an RN first and then do schooling for NP and pass a separate set of boards to be certified to practice. Many NPs do advanced degrees as well to work in more specialized fields, like cardiology.

The FNP's I've worked with or seen in an office are competent, knowledgeable and caring. Many of them (more so PA's) come from a military/medic background or at least have experience "in the trenches" of the hospital/practice before coming to decide to be a NP. So they have practical experience and also understand medical care from the patient's POV. Also, I've found that NPs and PA's are generally more approachable and available than your average MD; they are willing to take the time listen and are not all up in their egos.

NPs know the limits of their scope of practice; they will refer to an MD when needed.

As one sign I saw put it, NP's "have the mind of a doctor and the heart of a nurse." I don't mind using their services.
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I wouldn’t mind using her service once in awhile but like I’ve said, I haven’t seen my doctor for 2 years! I am always given an appointment with the NP. I signed on with him as my primary care doctor, not her. I did research on his education and his reputation before signing on with him.
I really don’t like the fact that she got her education from Walden University online. What kind of clinical experience can you get from an online degree?
The fact that another one of my doctor’s brought it up to me also alarmed me.
 

Our GP has a lovely receptionist, they all have been. My husband has to go through a strict system to pass a message to the doctor. Granted, he‘s a specialist and has over 2500 patients. Pretty sure she is the one who failed to pass on urgent info to him.
 
Years ago I was waiting for the receptionist to receive my paperwork from the doctor. It seemed to be taking a while, but I figured the office was busy so I waited. Suddenly, the receptionist yelled at me in front of a full waiting room.

"Oh my God", she yelled. "Why are you just sitting there? You should have come over here and checked on your paperwork!"

Stupid woman went on and on. They have signs everywhere saying to have a seat after your appointment and wait for the receptionist to call your name. I was too shocked to say anything.

This was my regular doc's office at the time. I never went back there. I really hate people who do that. I don't care what kind of day you're having, you have no right to take it out on someone else.
 
CinnamonSugar said:
@Marian : I have a slightly different take on this, may I share?

some states allow FNP to operate pretty independently (write prescriptions without MD oversight, etc) and other states they still have to run everything by an MD. You don't just go from being Joe-on-the-street to nurse practitioner. You have to be an RN first and then do schooling for NP and pass a separate set of boards to be certified to practice. Many NPs do advanced degrees as well to work in more specialized fields, like cardiology.
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My experience with NPs has been very good.

A few years back, after a tick bite I got an awful case of some kind of tick fever, not lyme disease or any of the more common ones, testing never did identify it. After trying several antibiotics without success my doctor referred me to an NP who he said was the local expert on Florida tick fevers. The doctor was right the NP really seemed to know what he was talking about. He told me that in Florida there were many different tick fevers and not all had been identified. He said the best thing was to try some different antibiotics, he soon found the right combination and I recovered. Never been so sick in my life... The NP had made it his career study to learn all he could about tick fevers and he did nothing but tick fever treatment.

More recently in my knee surgery the orthopedist had an NP who assisted in surgery and had been working with the doctor for 20 years. I think the NP understood my knees as well or better than the doctor, and was easier to see and talk to.
 
My doctor's staff changes fairly frequently. I like my doctor because he is close to my age and understands what one needs to do to stay healthy in their 60's. His staff seems to always be chatting and laughing behind the glass while people are in the waiting room, but he sees me promptly and when my pharmacy contacts them to refill a prescription it happens almost immediately. No complaints here.
 
Nathan said:
My dental office always wants to give me a late afternoon appointment, no...I don't live next door, I have to drive 50 miles though a mountain pass that's choked to death with going home from work traffic .
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I'm sorry to hear that. They should be much more flexible considering your commute.

I received a flyer from my dentist when we first moved to Dallas 17 years ago. He's not in a great part of town, but I visited him as a result of his advertisement and have been going to him ever since. One of his office staff and my hygienist have been there for many years, so that tells me that he treats them well. I forgot an appointment one day and one of his staff called me to say they were concerned about me. She immediately made another appointment.

He has driven Lexuses, Land Rovers and now a BMW 8 Series and deals with primarily low income clients. I think he makes most of his money from financing expensive procedures, but he has done all of my cleanings, root canals and porcelain implants and I couldn't be more satisfied.
 
@CinnamonSugar I agree. When I went to the local walk in clinic associated with the local hospital (which I don't have a lot of respect for) I got good care from a FNP. She got me on the right antibiotics, Rocephin shot and then oral antibiotics and made sure I had an appointment to be seen the next day. This was for the accidental cat bite my tabby gave me that got very infected.
 
The problem I had with this MD, was with her office staff. Somebody was always "new", and by the time, they were efficient, they were gone. And a "new" person took over. There was a time when it was "temp of the week". Some were there just to get a paycheck till the next payday.
Most MDs are forming groups to hire more trained staff, which seem to stay.
 
Marian said:
I just googled nurse practioner and fiound this! :
NPs can prescribe, diagnose, and treat patients without physician oversight. Nurse practitioners who operate in full-practice states are also allowed to establish and operate their own independent practices in the same way physicians do.
I also googled the nurse practitioner that I have been seeing at my primary care physicians office and she got her degree at Walden University ONLINE !😳
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Wow, that is scary! If you don't mind can you share with us what state you live in?
 
A NP is actually quite well educated. Much, of course, depends on experience. I would never be afraid to go to one. If you feel your problem is complex and needs eye’s on for a physician…then schedule such.
 
Muskrat said:
A NP is actually quite well educated. Much, of course, depends on experience. I would never be afraid to go to one. If you feel your problem is complex and needs eye’s on for a physician…then schedule such.
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I tried to schedule with my physician but was told that he was booked up for 6 months. I had to see someone because I was having a problem. In fact, I’ve just realized that the only time I’ve seen my primary care doctor is for my yearly physical. Whenever I’ve been sick, I’ve had to see either a physician’s assistant or a nurse practitioner.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Have you met staff. like Trish, at your doctor's office??????????
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My doctor's assistant who does all his appointments has been with him many years. She has only worked for my doctor.

She's unfriendly, gruff, and old (almost as old as I am). However, she does he job quite efficiently, always answers or calls back quickly, and does her best to get you the appointment you want/need. Never wastes time with small talk. It took a while but I have come to appreciate her, even if she's not real likeable. Both she and my doctor will be retiring soon, I'll miss both of them.
 
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I am lucky to have excellent doctors and their staffs are as well. I always make it a point to let them know how happy I am with their service. I also do online surveys and emails to Mayo HQ. Now every once in a while we get someone new who is not up to snuff. I never hesitate to tell the doctor and file an online complaint. I pay a lot for insurance and for my care. I know good people are hard to find these days but for what we pay the hospitals and clinics need to pay more and hire the best. This is one place the consumer doesn't need to settle for less.
 
In my area osteopathics are being imported from foreign countries as doctors to fast track them to citizenship. :oops: But, each country has different training:
https://osteopathic.fandom.com/wiki/International_practice_rights

Since referring a patient to a MD from an NP results in a loss of income, they will attempt to keep you in their practice, regardless of an issue being outside their area of training. I had a great experience with an NP diagnosing pink eye and uti once, as well as taking my bp but missed a major issues which she apparently didn't recognize.

As far as the clerical staff goes, in the S.F. Bay Area, some seem to know they are the gatekeepers and you just better take the least they can do for you. Sometimes, it helps to discuss their treatment with your doctor but many don't want to deal with high maintenance problems and close their eyes. Know when to speak up and when to just roll with it because there could be retaliation.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I've just got off the phone, making a DR.'s appointment. I asked for an afternoon appt., because I don't move well in the morning. Trish said, "the 18th at 8 AM". I've been going to this doctor for over twenty years, and I've been through Trish, Bonnie, Bev, Lainy, Elaine, Carly, and many more. Apparently, there's slim pickings when it comes to Dr's office staff. I've had to call the office at least three time to get a refill. I take my appt. card with me, because the date or time may not be what's on the dr.'s schedule. Have you met staff. like Trish, at your doctor's office??????????
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I’ll trade you! I have a 2:40 appt on the 18th (my birthday) and I prefer mornings. Traffic will suck on way home.
 
Marian said:
I have similar problems plus I haven’t seen my primary care doctor for a couple of years now. I always have to see a nurse practitioner.
Recently, I had an appointment with an Ophthalmologist who told me in confidence that she was very dismayed at the current use of nurse practitioners and physicians assistants as doctors. She said emphatically, “They are NOT doctors and have not been to medical school.” She told me that especially at my age I should be seeing my primary care doctor and not a nurse practitioner.
Good luck with that!
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The Patient Bill of Rights says YOU chose who treats you so insist on seeing who you want. They will deny any knowledge of it but stand your ground for your health.

Sometime, the clerical staff will just slam you with someone you don't want to be in a room with let alone treating you!
 
George1959 said:
"'MyChart' can be a good alternative if it is really secured. On their website, they write that it "uses the same encryption as banks do for online banking".
In Germany our health minister Karl Lauterbach wants to push us into the 'Elektronische Patientenakte' (electronic patient file - EPF) which collects all diagnoses by all physicians, all x-rays, all results of blood tests, all medication and other relevant data. The problem is, that these data can be delivered to 'Big Pharma'. "It allows anonymized data to be shared for research purposes" is the official statement. But who knows how anonimized these data are? The next problem: Until now the patients must ask their health insurance and doctor to install this electronic file (opt-in-system). But our health minister (years ago he was involved in the 'lipobay scandal': "Lauterbach was involved in the study of the drug and gladly accepted the money from the pharmaceutical industry, ignoring warnings and indications of possible dangerous side effects of the drug. Incidentally, he received around €800,000 in third-party funding for the studies in 2000 alone. What are a few human lives worth when your own wallet is ringing?") wants to install the 'opt-out-system', which means that the patient has to object to the electronic patient file.
I'll never use this EPF.
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On the surface, My Chart seems like a good idea, but when you electronically sign agreements at the front desk which you cannot see, you may be giving them permission to share, sell, your data to anyone in the world. If you don't sign it, no treatment. It is often disguised as some sort of research program but that program doesn't have any privacy restrictions on it and you may not like who is using your data.
My experience when asking for copies of the electronic documents is that many will pretend not to hear you and one girl started yelling at me for intruding on her time. No "opt in" here, just sign it!
 
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For primary care every 6 months assures us of time of day & day desired. For yearly lab work the staff sets up an appointment with the lab one week ahead of the doctors next year appointment Pre check in form is filled out online. This setup has worked since we began with our Medicare Advantage plans. For specialist if needed the staff submits referal, we get the approval & have never had a problem with getting the time & day of our choice.

Life is good.
 
Happy Heart said:
The Patient Bill of Rights says YOU chose who treats you so insist on seeing who you want. They will deny any knowledge of it but stand your ground for your health.

Sometime, the clerical staff will just slam you with someone you don't want to be in a room with let alone treating you!
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I appreciate your reply. They have never refused to allow me to see my PCP. It‘s just that he always seems to be booked up for long periods. When you have a problem, you need to see someone in a timely manner. I talked to my PCP about it once and he just made me feel guilty telling me how busy he is and that his staff are more than qualified to see me. I also don’t like that his staff is always changing. I‘d like to build a history with someone who knows me and my particular health problems.
Maybe he doesn’t like me. I‘m beginning to feel that way. I am really thinking about finding someone else. I just hate to start over with someone. His office is close and convienent.
 

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