I have been battling vertigo for two weeks and today the vertigo is so bad and the pressure in my chest and back of my head warranted a trip to the doctor (or so says web md). My husband called the primary care doctor who said come on in. This is a cheaper (read 55.00 copay instead of 150.00 copay of the emergency room) option than going to the er or waiting days for a nero appointment. What today has been, is a waste of time at best, and a effort in frustration and incompetence at worst!
We left the house at one. There were a few people waiting in the waiting room. Two, twenty somethings were working the front desk. One was working the phone and the other was taking insurance cards and payments. Twenty minutes earlier the girl on the phone talked to my husband, now the girl at the desk was surprised to see me. Did I mention my head is on a tilt a world ride while I'm standing waiting for the girl to pull my "file", otherwise known as hitting the key on the computer while my vital information pulls up? I was expecting to only have to go to the window once, sign the forms, give my copay and then sit in an uncomfortable chair, while a new room spins! Yeah, not so much. One hour after arriving, I was called back up to the window to sign a privacy form and an agreement to pay. I had to remind the twenty something that she needed to take the copay, but at this point I think they should be paying me. Don't get me wrong, those two girls were having a great time at work, and I'm all for having fun at work, when you are indeed working. These two were definitely not working! They did manage to turn the tv from some lifetime movie to HGTV so, I guess they weren't completely incompetent?
I finally got past the waiting room (1:45 minutes after signing in). There were two cna's? Whose name tags said back office staff that took me to the examining room. One filled out another piece of paper while the other one took my blood pressure on top of my clothes. Wasn't too surprised that it came up at 120 over 70, 20 points higher than usual.our I'm not sure why it took two people to complete such a task, but it did. My husband was very impressed with my expansive paper file, which must have been the reason for the almost two hour wait to get to an exam room. The back office staff left and we waited another fifteen minutes for the nurse practitioner to come in and I started my watch. The nurse practitioner looked over the sheet and asked a few questions. She looked in my ears, down my throat and up my nose. Guess what? They all looked good, minus a little redness in my throat that wasn't bothering me. She didn't listen to my heart, despite asking about the pressure in my chest. She didn't check my glands. She spent exactly five minutes and 48 seconds in the exam room. The reason for my vertigo? I'm getting old and might have some uneven congestion in my ear. The treatment? A steroid shot and a prescription for Dramamine (which the insurance company refused to pay for at the pharmacy)!
Now, maybe I have been spoiled by my neurologist office that runs like a fine tuned machine, and the longest I have had to wait is 15 minutes; or maybe I've been spoiled by my dentist office that not only provides coffee, tea and water in the waiting area, but also gives patients updates on wait times. To say I'm disgusted with my primary care doctor, that I have been seeing for the last ten years, would be an understatement! I now understand why emergency rooms are packed. If medical care is going to be expensive, and you're going to have to wait, then at least your in a place where they will run some tests when you complain of chest pains and indicate that you have other medical conditions like heart issues, asthma etc. For a semi-control freak like my self, with a knack for research, and grew up in doctors' offices and hospitals, I just wish I could call the doctor and tell him what's wrong and he could email me a treatment plan with whatever prescriptions I need. Less exposure to germs, less frustration with incompetent office workers and a much better use of my time! Maybe I'll send my suggestions to Congress to include with their debates and funding for Obama Care!
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