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Doctor vent...kinda long
I don't do these very often but this was ridiculous.
I made an appt for my annual Pap last week with a new (to me) doc. I had seen her partner before but didn't really like her bedside manner and had heard great things about this doc.
So i get to the appt and after her nurse introduced herself proceeds to tell me that my insurance may not cover my pap since its been less than a year since my last one. The doctor just wanted me "to be aware" and do I still want to get it done even though I may end up having to pay for the whole thing?
I didn't really have an answer for her and I didn't really care if I had a pap smear or not. I just wanted to find the right doctor since we're planning to get pregnant this year.
So they put me in the little room and have me sit there without changing for 20 minutes until the doctor comes in and also says to me my insurance isn't covering my pap.
Hello? Is that really a good way to give a first impression? I have been trained not to bring up insurance issues. Its not my job as a physician. I am there to treat someone's medical problems and not discriminate against people who do or don't have insurance. I would have at least introduced myself and tried to establish familiarity with someone before jumping straight to the money. And guess what? I was only 2 days short of getting coverage for the pap smear.
So she ended up giving me a schpeal about getting pregnant, taking vitamins, blah blah blah. She also said I could email her when I am next available and come back for the pap. I guess that was nice of her but I'm obviously still pissed I wasted my time and went to that appointment when nothing was accomplished.
Has this happened to anyone? Would you return to that doctor?
Re: Doctor vent...kinda long
If you liked her otherwise, I'd give her a second chance. I wouldn't take that as discriminating, more as just wanting you to be aware so that you didn't pay more than you had to. Did you tell them beforehand that you were only coming in for a consultation, not a pap?
When I had my last annual, I talked to my doc briefly about possibly starting TTC in the coming year and she gave me the quick schpiel too. I had come in late and they were behind, so it was sort of disappointing that she didn't take all the time in the world to talk to me, but at that point I guess there isn't much to say if you're otherwise healthy until you've been trying for a few months. I've heard from other people on the boards that pre-conception appts are kind of useless most of the time anyway unless you have a concerning medical history.
But as a doctor going to another doctor, I can totally see how that could be a strange or disappointing experience if they don't do things like you would do them.
BFP 12.20.2010 :: missed m/c 1/2011 around 8 weeks
BFP @ 9dpo 5.24.2011 :: missed m/c 6/2011 around 7 weeks
positive for ANAs (1:40) with a speckled pattern
MTHFR c677t mutation (heterozygous)
*folic acid, baby asprin, Prometrium, acupuncture, Lovenox*
BFP @ 9dpo 2.1.2012 || HCG = 8 : Progesterone = 19.2
2nd HCG @ 11dpo = 40 || 3rd HCG @ 21dpo = over 5000!
Stick, little one, stick! EDD October 15, 2012
I'd be annoyed and look into a different practice. The fact that you previously had seen another doctor in the same practice and hated their bedside manner would annoy me. You tried to give the practice another chance to keep you as a patient but they still need to work on their approach to handling patients. So I'd look into another doctor if I were you. GL TTC!
I think it's strange that the nurse and doctor mentioned insurance.
Maybe it's just my dr's office, but when I call to make my appointment, they tell me the appropriate timing before we even look for possible dates. I generally book my appt in January, but don't really keep track of the exact date from year to year, so when I called to make this year's appt, they looked up my stuff to tell me when I was in the clear, insurance-wise.
My thought is that if I'm having issues/weirdness with a doc/nurse/office staff as just a regular, once-yearly patient, I don't want to even know what it might be like when I'm pg and seeing them regularly. In your situation, I'd pick someone else.
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this is a good point - the office has that info, especially if it's your 2nd visit for your annual.
I don't know how large or small this practice is so that may be why your appointment person or the patient care rep didn't tell you before your appt. about the insurance thing. That would have been the most appropriate action.
However, I'm going to disagree with the other responses and say that while I may have been a tad irritated.
I would have been far more upset if the test was performed anyway and the doctor didn't give me the option of coming back at a later date when it was covered by insurance. I would not have considered your experience as discrimination because insurance wouldn't cover the procedure, rather a courtesy (though you found it annoying) to you, the patient. I would appreciate a billing head's up as would most patients.
I've changed doctors a couple of times recently and have had something similar happen -- the GP thought I was there to have my annual pap smear, but I was really just there to have a general physical (without the woman's exam) and meet the doctor. The awkwardness was because the person doing the scheduling had written down the wrong thing when making the appointment. After that, I learned that the way to get an appointment the first time just to meet the doctor and have a general exam was to ask for an appointment to "establish care."
On the insurance front, I probably wouldn't have minded the doctor bringing it up very much -- on preventative care, I'd much rather them err on the side of consideration for my pocketbook than to just do something and stick me with the bill. I can see how that can also come across as being a bit tacky, though. If you liked the doctor other than that, I'd probably go back to them.
this- mine has always checked when I schedule.
you all made great points....the practice is fairly large and the scheduling people apparently do not have a way to look into the charts to see when the last preventative care appt was.
i agree that it was a nice courtesy that they gave me a heads up instead of just performing the pap and sticking me with the bill. i think the reason why i felt like things were "off" was because the nurse acted irritated that i still wanted to see the doctor eventhough i wasn't getting a pap. i probably would have left if it wasn't for the fact that she gets booked 3 months in advance and i wanted to at least have my foot in the door seeing that I had booked the appointment back in October.
All in all, the doc was pretty thorough with pregnancy advice and supplement recommendations. I think I'm going to give it another shot...I feel like things would have gone well if it hadn't been for this mixup. Insurance totally sucks for everybody involved...I hope something good comes from the new insurance legislation.