PSA: When to fire your doctor.

[Midpack]

I am sure reasonable people can disagree all day on this, so only posted as a PSA. However making good decisions as a layperson-patient seems unreasonably challenging as it is IMO, so if it sparks helpful suggestions, great...

Definitely YMMV.

1. You have lost confidence in your doctor’s ability.
2. Your doctor isn’t on staff at a hospital.
3. Your doctor isn’t board certified in his or her specialty.
4. The doctor doesn’t value your input.
5. The doctor keeps you in the dark about prescriptions.
6. The doctor doesn’t coordinate well with other physicians.
7. The office is disorganized.
8. There are too many gatekeepers.
9. Your doctor is behind the times.
10. The doctor doesn’t offer the amenities you need.

10 Signs It May Be Time To Fire Your Doctor - Forbes

 

[Meadbh]

11. Your doctor has been disciplined by his/her licensing body.
12. Your doctor doesn't listen to your concerns.
13. Your doctor has a substance abuse problem.

 

[TeeRuh]

14. Your doctor has fat fingers. (The guys will understand this.)

 

[rodi]

14. Your doctor has fat fingers. (The guys will understand this.)

So will the women. Trust me. Women get multiple indignities at their annual pap. Including the oh-so-fun RE.

 

[ERhoosier]

15. Your doctor is no longer "in-network" with your health insurance.
(Just reality of HI these days)

 

[W2R]

16. Your doctor, who has only told you that you are pre-diabetic and put you on blood sugar medication for that, looks at your file with a puzzled expression and says, "Let's see, are you diabetic?"

No, I haven't fired him yet, but if I knew of a better doctor who was taking new patients, I would. My answer, BTW, was "You tell me!"

 

[coolowl]

17. The first words out of their mouth are, "Why are you here? "

When they say that I am so tempted to fire back, "wtf...you are the one who told me to come back in a month. You tell me!!! "

 

[braumeister]

18. When you get a letter saying basically "I'm working too hard, so I want fewer patients. From now on I'll only see those who ante up my $1,500 annual boutique practice fee. Others should find a new doctor and have their records transferred."

 

[Bestwifeever]

19. When she hears you coughing during your physical and says, "You really should get that looked at."

 

[Midpack]

18. When you get a letter saying basically "I'm working too hard, so I want fewer patients. From now on I'll only see those who ante up my $1,500 annual boutique practice fee. Others should find a new doctor and have their records transferred."

That actually happened to me, posted earlier...though I understand they are in business.

 

[MBAustin]

20. When he/she orders a (painful and expensive) test that you already had two years earlier with negative results and no change in symptoms, and when you get a second opinion that says the test is unnecessary, you get a letter from the doctor that says basically "get the test or don't come back to see me again". (I guess in this case the doctor fired me, but same result.)

 

[braumeister]

That actually happened to me, posted earlier...though I understand they are in business.

In all fairness, I should comment that the $1,500/year was something I've read about more than once in the paper.

In my case, my doc was far more reasonable, and his annual ante was only $350 (currently up to $400 after four years). I'm happy to pay it because:
1. I really like the guy and he's an ace diagnostician.
2. I can get a same day appointment whenever I want one.
3. He spends as much time with me as I want whenever I see him.

So there are various levels of this concept, and some are more reasonable than others.

 

[target2019]

16. Your doctor, who has only told you that you are pre-diabetic and put you on blood sugar medication for that, looks at your file with a puzzled expression and says, "Let's see, are you diabetic?"

No, I haven't fired him yet, but if I knew of a better doctor who was taking new patients, I would. My answer, BTW, was "You tell me!"

true, oh so true...

 

[ls99]

21. When he says I am closing my office here, but you are welcome to come to my other office 30 miles away.

 

[obgyn65]

This one is the top one IMHO.

11. Your doctor has been disciplined by his/her licensing body.
.

 

[palomalou]

When for 6 months she can't find one of your ovaries, but suggests looking again next month.

 

[ls99]

When for 6 months she can't find one of your ovaries, but suggests looking again next month.

And you are a guy.

 

[frayne]

When your doctor thinks the donut hole is a hole in the middle of a donut.

 

[Walt34]

18. When you get a letter saying basically "I'm working too hard, so I want fewer patients. From now on I'll only see those who ante up my $1,500 annual boutique practice fee. Others should find a new doctor and have their records transferred."

That did happen to DW. She found another doc, pronto.

While I understand that a physician is also running a business with high overhead and it has to turn a profit, and considering what it takes to get through medical school I have no problem with physicians being well compensated, I've also never heard of a physician qualifying for food stamps. So it just rubs the wrong way.

 

[eytonxav]

22. When you are left waiting in the examination room for 2 hrs.
23. When the billing department keeps sending invoices for bills you have already paid.

 

[Katsmeow]

11. Your doctor has been disciplined by his/her licensing body.
.

A year ago we moved to our current house which is about 55-60 miles away from our existing physicians. DH and I have debated whether to keep our regular family practice physician. We really, really like him but it is an hour and a half drive to his office. I haven't needed to see him since we moved so I am still on the fence.

Anyway, DH called the existing physician's office and asked for a referral to a physician in this area. We got a name and I looked him up and found a news article from a couple of years prior. He had been disciplined from having a personal relationship with a patient and prescribing medication without writing in the patient's record.

The article quoted the physician as saying he had a personal relationship with her and prescribed medication and that you can't treat people you are personally involved with.

He was required to take an exam and do some continuing education and pay a penalty.

I really had mixed feelings about whether this would be a physician to go see. Reading between the lines it certainly looked like this was a girlfriend (I don't know if he was married to someone else or not) and that he prescribed medication to her without keeping proper records and that he shouldn't have been prescribing for her anyway. It seems like poor judgment, but not really something showing lack of competence.

On the one hand, I would rather have someone who didn't have this issue at all. On the other hand, I would prefer to go to someone where I have a referral than just have to find someone totally blindly....

 

[Meadbh]

Interesting dilemma, Katsmeow. The issue is whether this tells you anything about this physician that makes you uncomfortable becoming his patient. You might be very liberal personally about mixing business with personal relationships, or not.

But....(1) What do you think this says about this physician's integrity? How is he likely to deal with situations in which a great deal of trust is required? (2) He prescribed medications to a patient without documenting them. What does this tell you about his attention to detail? What if the patient had been in an accident and the medications were not known about when she reached the ER? This could have affected the quality of care she received. It's just not good practice.

Those are the questions I would be asking myself. Given that you have choices, I would request another name.

 

[Nemo2]

 

[obgyn65]

This behavior is inexcusable. This is medical ethics 101. When it comes to medical ethics I am ruthless. Don't see him.

The article quoted the physician as saying he had a personal relationship with her and prescribed medication and that you can't treat people you are personally involved with.

.

 

[obgyn65]

I just saw Meadbh's answer after I posted mine. I am beginning to believe we agree about everything.

Those are the questions I would be asking myself. Given that you have choices, I would request another name.