Question for women

S

Scuba

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Joined
Jun 15, 2016
Messages
4,665
Now that we have ER'd, I'm thinking more carefully about how to manage healthcare costs without risking care quality. Currently I have an OB/GYN as well as a PCP. I'm 56, post menopause. No GYN problems other than a benign ovarian cyst. Keeping both docs vs letting my PCP doc do the GYN stuff is probably a $300-$500/yr cost difference for me, which is very minor to us but I don't like to waste money.

Do you still keep a separate GYN? What are your reasons for doing so or not?
 
There's a long history in medicine of "women's issues" being minimized and us being told we just have to suck it up and deal with whatever crap hand our bodies are currently dealing us. Having a more enlightened attitude is the most important thing to me, so if one doc or the other was better with that, I'd lean towards the one that wasn't going to let me suffer "just because".

If you're thinking about dropping your Gyn, you may want to chat with your PCP about some of the evolving attitudes around menopause, to feel out where s/he is.
 
I used to do a lot of benign gyn care for older women although I was an internist. I don't go to a gyn myself. I also follow the most recent recommendations for fewer screenings.
 
I continue to have both, although my womens health provider is CNM/NP. I actually receive a more thorough yearly exam, lab work and overall health review , plus more time with her than my PCP.
 
Probably discount because she is herself an OBG (for a couple more months), but DW is post-menopausal 56 and goes to only PCP.

/mansplaining :)
 
Scuba said:
Now that we have ER'd, I'm thinking more carefully about how to manage healthcare costs without risking care quality. Currently I have an OB/GYN as well as a PCP. I'm 56, post menopause. No GYN problems other than a benign ovarian cyst. Keeping both docs vs letting my PCP doc do the GYN stuff is probably a $300-$500/yr cost difference for me, which is very minor to us but I don't like to waste money.

Do you still keep a separate GYN? What are your reasons for doing so or not?
Click to expand...
I keep both. I'm over 57 and not post menopause yet. I have a history of uterine fibroids, really beyond what a PCP can monitor. My GYN is more of a functional medicine guy and more aggressive about supplements, blood screening, monitoring hormones through transition into menopause, and thyroid issues. And the annual women's wellness exam and tests.

I rarely see my PCP - just for annual checkups/bloodwork and immunizations, but she's there for any little thing that might pop up, and if I need a referral to a specialist.

At the moment I don't mind spending several $100 a year for more comprehensive coverage. Maybe once my uterus shrinks enough and I'm well past the menopause changes I'll reconsider.
 
I only see a PCP. I think it's been years now since I moved from the Bay Area to SoCal. I was too lazy to find another OBGYN. So if I have any problem, my PCP will send me to an OBGYN for surgery. Like a minor water cyst that I had a few years back that needed to be popped. But my PCP is the kind of guy that like to push for more things to get done, not the other way around. He has done may things my previous OBGYN did, I mean no difference. And he is much more pleasant to deal with. But I also don't see him that often, once a year. It's not a cost concern.
EDIT to add, I've been seeing this guy pre-menopausal, now I'm post menopausal. I never had any problem with menopause, I know lucky me.
 
Last edited:
I only go to a PCP, but my PCP is female, which is my personal preference for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is being perhaps a bit more understanding/empathy about matters pertaining to menopause, which I'm currently in the midst of.
 
I'm the opposite. I'm 64 and go only to my GYN annually. She orders all the usual bloodwork so I'm not left totally in the dark about other parts of my body, and I get mammograms and colonoscopies on schedule. I'm darned healthy, though, so everything unrelated I've had to deal with over the last 20+ years has been something a Doc-in-the-Box can fix (typically poison ivy) or something where a consult with Dr. Google is all I need (muscle sprains/strains).
 
Scuba said:
Now that we have ER'd, I'm thinking more carefully about how to manage healthcare costs without risking care quality. Currently I have an OB/GYN as well as a PCP. I'm 56, post menopause. No GYN problems other than a benign ovarian cyst. Keeping both docs vs letting my PCP doc do the GYN stuff is probably a $300-$500/yr cost difference for me, which is very minor to us but I don't like to waste money.

Do you still keep a separate GYN? What are your reasons for doing so or not?
Click to expand...
I think you are doing just the right thing. Personally I'm not seeing an ob/gyn but I should. I just haven't had a pressing reason to do so. Still, maybe one reason for an older person like me to see an ob/gyn is that they do PAP smears and check for ovarian or uterine cancer and so on.
 
They do PAP smears and the same thing as OBGYN. How do you check for ovarian cancer, I thought that's the silent disease. By the time you find out you have a problem, it's too late.
 
I still have both, but my PCP suggested that I have my GYN take over monitoring my thyroid levels and doing my annual prescription for that to save me the cost of the PCP office visit which my insurance doesn't cover at all. (They are in the same large group practice.) I'm considering doing that this year.
 
I've always had just a PCP. I'm 55, post-menopausal, and not doing HRT. My PCP is a woman and seems to take female health concerns seriously.

For example, I dealt with tachycardia episodes for several years, thinking they were just palpitations due to hormone imbalances and would eventually go away. When I mentioned them to her, she thought they seemed unusual and sent me to a cardiologist. Turned out I had an extra electrical pathway in my heart and needed an ablation.

She also noticed a lump on my ovary and sent me in for an ultrasound. It was just a fibroid, but I'm glad she found it and I got it checked out.

She seems on the ball, does my regular pap smears and makes sure I get regular mammograms and such. So I don't have a reason to see a GYN.
 
Now that I am postmenopausal I no longer see a Ob-Gyn. Also the last pap smear you need is at age 65.
 
Yes they all do. I had a specialist during menopause because I had a bunch of issues.
 
DW (post menopausal retired RN) still keeps up with both the OB/GYN and her PCP. She feels (and rightly so) that the PCP has enough to look after,and a specialist should be consulted. We have always considered the PCP as the "overseer" of her care and the other Dr look over their specific area (GYN, neuro etc) with the PCP being on top of all meds each Dr is prescribing to make sure no conflicts. The additional $$ of the multi docs is minimal compared to the comfort she gets knowing everything is being watched.

Just a man's 2 cents.
 
I let my primary doc do the pap screening when I go in for a checkup. I'll admit to not going in for a checkup every year... more like when Kaiser nags me that I need a pap and mammogram... I do the one stop shopping since the mammogram/radiology clinic is downstairs from my primary care, right next to the lab that does the bloodwork. I also get an ultrasound every other checkup (about every 5 years) because of my family history of breast and ovarian cancer. (Yes - I tested for the BRCAA gene and I'm negative... but the family history is enough that they want to do imaging just to check since ovarian cancer is often asymptomatic till it's too late.)

I'm not averse to seeing doctors - just don't see the need to go in more frequently.

FWIW - I'm 55 and menopausal

Edited to add: My sister sees her GYN or GYN NP for her checkups. Her GYN NP was able to figure out some issues down there (thinning walls that started during perimenopause) and prescribed a topical cream that solved the issue. Her PCP was great about everything else - but couldn't figure it out... her PCP's wife is the GYN Nurse Practitioner who figured it out.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the replies. I think I will keep the GYN & PCP for now, but may go to just a PCP in the future. I love my PCP but he's a man and is 66. Says he doesn't plan to retire but at some point, he'll stop practicing or we will feel we want a younger doc. That could be a good time for transition.
 
W2R said:
I think you are doing just the right thing. Personally I'm not seeing an ob/gyn but I should. I just haven't had a pressing reason to do so. Still, maybe one reason for an older person like me to see an ob/gyn is that they do PAP smears and check for ovarian or uterine cancer and so on.
Click to expand...

And breast exams ! While we should be doing monthly breast exams I saw a stat that said that many first time diagnoses were as a result of the exam done by the Gyn. I do my annual Gyn checkup 6 months after my annual mammo.
 
Personal preference, and perhaps because my pcp us a woman, but I haven't seen an obgyn since a few years after my children were born. My longtime pcp (family practice) takes care of the pap test (which I'm done with now, having never had an abnormal one) and clinical breast exam, and she pushes me to get the annual mammogram. If I had any girl issues I would see an obgyn (my pcp would insist) just as I see specialists for other issues.
 
My PCP sends me to a gynecologist for hoo-hah/breast inspections and mammograms.

I don't like my guy-necologist - he is the one who pushed some kind of skin-heating procedure for "turkey neck" while I was there for an internal inspection. Well, gobble gobble!

The "woman's care" practices are all going in for that stuff, it seems. Me, I only want medical attention; if I need something done to the surface areas, I'll see a plastic surgeon! I am considering going to a new Dr., a female gyn who practices nearby and is part of my insurance network.
 
When I was younger, I used to think I need to see a woman doctor for Gyn. But after my kids birth, I figure, I want the best doctor for emergency situation, regardless of gender. My PCP is a male but he treats me with huge respect and never makes me wait too long. I'm inpatient. The female GYN he sent me to pop my water cyst was clinical, borderline cold and impersonal. I no longer feel that I have to see a woman doctor after her. Again, it depends on the person.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Last minute ACA paralysis
Replies
14
Views
1K
tmitchell
T
M
Basic Medicare Questions...
2
Replies
43
Views
4K
CardsFan
C
2
Family member w/bad diagnosis yet financially disinterested
2 3
Replies
72
Views
6K
Buckeye
B
B
Aiming for 2022 @ 56 YO
Replies
11
Views
2K
Bugeater
B
F
Oddball Inheritor hoping to retire in 2021
2
Replies
34
Views
5K
Beachcomber
B

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom