Update on Physicals

So Big Handsome and I went in this past week for our Free Yearly Physicals.

Our appointment was at 3:30pm. I called the office at 3pm to see if they were running on time. Of course the receptionist’s response was, “Yes.” We set out for our appointment.

Mind you, the last time I was there, they requested I pay $100 even though I told them that my deductible was met. They informed me that it wasn’t met, so I ended up paying the $100. A week later, I get my EOB in the mail that says “You owe: $13.78, proving that I had in fact paid my deductible already. I took the paper in and the receipt of my $100 payment and explained the situation to the receptionist. She took it to someone else then came back and told/asked me, “Yes, we owe you $88 (and some change), would you like me to put this toward today’s visit?” I was trying so hard to put on a smile and be nice. I so wanted to say to her, “What part of Free Yearly Physical do you NOT understand?” But, I refrained as usual. I simply told her no, we are here for our Free Yearly Physical (again, because she had already asked why we were there when I signed in) and asked her to credit my account because I would be making another appt. to come in at a later time.

We waited an hour in the waiting room, and then were called in only to wait another 30 minutes in the exam room before the doctor came in. I’m SO glad I called ahead of time to find out if they were running on time!! Seriously, pray tell, what is so damn hard about being on time?! I am on time, EVERY TIME! What part of “Are you running on time?”, do they NOT understand? Running on time to me means that when I make an appointment for 3:30pm, I, in fact ought to be called in a 3:30 pm. It really doesn’t seem all that difficult to me. I just don’t get it. I mean, yes, I understand that the dr. might be running late (I do appreciate the time they spend with me and Big Handsome), but don’t LIE to me and tell me the doctor is running on time when it is all too common for him not to be running on time. Just give me the courtesy of honesty for crying out loud!

Let’s just do some simple math, shall we? The office has about 6 exam rooms. There are three people (two doctors and a PA) to take care of patients. I would think that a normal person could do some simple math and figure out that 3 patients can be seen at one time. If the doctor spends approximately 30 minutes with each patient and we are looking at a 9am-5pm schedule, one doctor can see 2 patients an hour. Multiply that by 3 doctors/PA’s and you get 6 patients an hour.  Multiply that by an 8 hour day and the maximum is 48 patients a day. It would be fun to call and see how many patients they see in a day, I would hazard to guess that it is more than 48. I only say this because I’ve asked patients before what their appointment time was and have been told by many, the same appointment time as me. What they seem to do is to schedule multiple people at the same time to fill all 6 exam rooms and they seem to schedule appointments in 15 minute increments (even though they know that the doctor will spend at least 20-30 minutes with you). Again, just by doing some simple math, they are probably scheduling at least 96 patients per day. No wonder they are running behind all the time and that’s provided one of the doctors doesn’t get called for an emergency.

Anywho, long story short (well, kinda), we were in and out in two hours. No complaints about that. I will complain however about how they refused to take our blood in office (which didn’t really make a difference because I knew they would refuse and we hadn’t fasted besides, but as you all know, I love to complain and argue!) They blamed it on the insurance, I told them I had just spoken with the insurance and they had said that our blood could be drawn in office; they insisted my insurance wouldn’t allow it. I did call the insurance the next day and they assured me that my blood could be drawn in office. UGH! I asked for something in writing so I could shove it in their face next time, but unfortunately the insurance company said no, they have no such paper.

Again, people want to know why I hate doctor’s offices, dealing with appointments, lab work and insurance. It’s enough to drive a sane person crazy, and in my case, a crazy person, crazier!!

Big Handsome would never do this, ok, maybe he would. Funny thing though is when the nurse asked him if he was experiencing any pain, I piped up with “Yes, me, does that count?!”