Topic: What is the deal with not hiring enough office staff?
Vanilla
Unregistered
posted
Some say we should not complain about LLMDs because we are lucky to have them. I agree we are lucky to have them but they could still improve. They charge enough money yet can not seem to hire enough office staff which too me is not fair to their patients.
More then one LLMD has this problem and has let me run out of meds even after being faxed more then once from the pharmacist and numerous phone calls from me. I worked in a doctors office and at least we were able to answer the phone which would seem basic. Sometimes voice mail does not cut the mustard nor does one office return calls in 24 hours like they pretend they will.
Perhaps there are some better run LLMD offices out there but this fighting for your meds gets old especially when you are recovering from a herx. Dealing with LD is chaos enough with out dealing with un-together offices.
I was promised before I made the 50 to 60 minute drive to Costco yesterday because I was out of an antibiotic that my script would be there. It was not and 3 phone calls later no apology no return phone call nothing.
Now I have to drive back today and sorry to whine but I strongly dislike dealing with the pharmacy staff at Costco and 2 days in a row with the long drive is a bit much and I was not given any thing from Costco either to hold me over.
I think if enough office staff was hired and trained it would make the doctors job a bit easier as well and our lab work that we pay dearly for would perhaps make it into our charts in time for our office visits.
posted
welcome to the board. majority of us here are neuro lymies and can not read long, solid blocks of text like you posted.
would you kindly edit your post by clicking on PENCIL ICON and then break it up in 3-4 sentences unless you are a wordy person, then less ok.
hit the enter key twice after EACH paragraph as we neuro lymies need this to comprehend and read what you/others post. do this until you are all done ok.
click edit send; done. THANKS. please do this on all posts/replies. otherwise, we will SCROLL ON BY, SOB, without reading/replying. it's your choice. ***********************************
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Vanilla,
It is just not with LLMD's offices. This is something I have noticed since I started looking for why my health went south.
I have been impressed with my LLMD's office in CA.
They went through a rough time there for a while but recently things have been very efficient.
Now, that they are moving..I am assuming a new staff will need to be trained and weeded out, etc.
Since I did not know what was going on with the neuro stuff...I started recording things to help me.
I had decided I would take it with me to the docs next time to try and figure out what needed to be changed or done differently.
As it turned out, things were fixed before I saw the doc and were running much smoother.
I think I need to do this with the primary doc I am seeing now. The doc says one thing, but then it is passed on to the nurse to follow through on.
It seems the ball gets dropped at this point until I go in and meet with the doc again.
Then it gets done.
I am probably rambling here. I need to have some down time.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
I found that sometimes it helps to fax things, sometimes write, some times meet with the doc...in this case..paying for an office visit is not the solution..but when insurance is paying it helps...
My biggest problem at times was trying to figure out where the ball got dropped and who needed to pick it up again.
Kind of tough for a person who has to talk herself through getting dressed in the morning.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Bottom line...been there done that.
Was really uncomfortable feeling as I always needed to ask someone to drive me the hour and half to the pharmacy...
...had called pharmacy to make sure it was ready
...got there..
...not ready
..wasn't LLMD's office but primary working with LLMD's suggestions which needed to be ordered by primary who in order for insurance to cover.
..Bottom line...lets just get well and not have to deal with all of this Otay!
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
sorry that you have had to deal with this too.
I think it is an accountability issue. It seems these days no one is held accountable for anything they do. People in general hate their jobs (and i often find myself thinking,i would give my right arm for your job right now and my health back)
I now track down all my lab work, calling labcorp or sending form to quest. I had to track down my MRI results,
i called the hospital 3 times and requested it, and even then when i went to pick it up, it wasnt ready, they said it was never done. My dr never got it and he wasnt calling the hospital told me to do it.
I worked in corporate accounting for ten years, so im used to having to babysit and followup, but now that im sick it is rough.
Its tough when the dr has a very poor office environment, the patient suffers.
is there a time when your LLMD does not use voicemail, maybe you could reach someone direct, or try sending faxes every few hours.
would the llmd be willing to give you more refills per script, to avoid the calling when you run out.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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Vanilla
Unregistered
posted
Last time I saw my LLMD he checked all my meds for refills so I was hoping this would not happen again but obviously he did not check the refills well enough.
I guess I need to check them better before I go to his office and then ask for refills for a longer enough period of time.
I wish some doctors could take one less vacation and hire a receptionist.
This kind of situation turns me off to Western medicine and I am on the fence already about do I want to continue to take ABX or not as is. I much prefer my natural health care providers and how they run their offices and treat you.
Kam I think I have the same doc as you and sometimes they come through but sometimes they don't and they do need to get it together better in my opinion especially before they expand their practice.
That is just my opinion because yesterday sucked for me and they have since faxed Costco this a.m. but did not return my calls to let me know or apologize.
I had to call Costco again and now I am getting ready to get in my car and drive once again to Costco for 50 minutes.
I have other things I need to do besides chase down my meds. There is no perfect doctor I guess..... if anyone knows one clue me in.
I never know when they will answer the phone and why they can not get someone to answer the phone for them I do not know?
I see a surgeon once a year for a breast check and her office is way more together and she charges me less money then my LLMD for a visit.
I do like my LLMD more then some so I do not want to change but I am tired of the chaos.
If someone says something will get done they should be accountable.
My car mechanic just did this kind of stuff to me and I plan to find a new one.
Sometimes I wonder if confronting these doctors would help or just manage to **** them off? I do plan on confronting my mechanic. I still have to deal with him about a matter....
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Vanilla,
If we do have the same doc, he did appologize to me at my next visit.
I don't recall what the problem was now.
But, he did say that they droppd the ball.
I wasn't sure at the time what was going on..or where the ball got dropped because several factors were involved.
That is when I decided to try and keep a log of what was done so I would know. I couldn't trust my lyme fog to figure things out.
As I was reading your post for the second time, the thought occurred to me that it is great you are able to get your meds.
This is a good thing.
I hope you continue to get the meds you need and that things will run smoother next time.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
vanilla, thanks so much for breaking up your text!
i hear you! i didn't have that problem, but when i had terrible, serious herx, i called llmd's office and left a detailed message of my symptoms. HE NEVER CALLED ME BACK! i also sent him a detailed email next day, and he never got it!
i also complained about his terrible RN in an email; perhaps she was the one who read his mail and made deletions? i'll never know!
but i saw this llmd at dairy queen several months ago and asked why he never returned my phone call on my major herx! HE WAS NEVER GIVEN MY MESSAGE, but would do followup at office when he got back to find out WHERE the problem was as other patients told him the SAME thing!
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posted
I find that, regardless of the type of doctor, it is necessary to bird dog everything, be an educated and involved consumer. They have a lot of demands on their time and if you make it easier for them, everything will work better. Faxes are good, better than phone calls, if you can do it.
Keep your own log of meds, prescriptions, so you will know when something needs to be done and you can ask at the appt. or fax with enough lead time. And before you drive anywhere at a distance, call and see if the pharmacy has gotten the prescription.
Sorry, this is hard for sick people, but patients have to be organized. No one is going to do it for you, unless you have friends or family members who are willing to be the organizer. If your brain is not up to par because of lyme, maybe you could enlist a friend or relative to help until you can handle it yourself.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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Aniek
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5374
posted
Vanilla,
As others said, this isn't really an LLMD issue. It's an issue with any kind of doctor. My LLMD has a very large staff, and is great about getting prescriptions in when I need it.
I do recommend that you look through all of your prescriptions before you go to your LLMD and mark which ones you need a prescription for. If you see your doctor less than once a month, then make sure you have enough refills left to get you through, or ask for a new prescription.
You may want to start getting refills a little early, so you can eventually be a month ahead just in case.
-------------------- "When there is pain, there are no words." - Toni Morrison Posts: 4711 | From Washington, DC | Registered: Mar 2004
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Ann-OH
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2020
posted
I am lucky, I guess. I can get a prescription written for a 90 day supply and send it by mail to my insurance people. I pay only $35 for the whole 90 day's worth, no matter what the usual cost of the medicine. The medicine is shipped to me by mail or by UPS depending on the medicine.
Maybe you could check with your insurance people to see if they have something similar.
posted
Insurance? What insurance? I have AARP and in Calif. unless you end up in the hospital they pay $60. 4 times a year towards a doctors visit and that is it.
It would have been nice if I had been diagnosed while I still had good insurance but I did not have the right doctors even though I tried to get diagnosed for 16 years.
I looked into getting better insurance but Blue Cross which I would want would not be worth the high cost. I pay everything out of pocket. Many months my medical costs are over $1000 and that is not counting my acupucturist or Tibetan doctor.
Lou I did call the pharmacy and the doctor more than once. His office promised my script would be there on time and then it was not as promised. They knew I was headed there and how far from my home Costco is located. I was assured it would be there.
I drove to Costco before it arrived because I was out of my med and did not want to wait another day for it and Costco would be closing within 2 hours for the night.
I waited all day for the script to get faxed over. I would have done this the day before but I was sick in bed with a migraine and I have been really busy moving homes which is not easy either and takes up a lot of time.
I have moved into a nice place which was left filthy for me which I still have not been able to get cleaned. Now the one and only toilet is broken so I can not use it.
I did get an apology call at 5:30 pm yesterday with the message that my med was now at Costco. To me that is not really enough.
An apology is great but I was not given a reason why this happened and if I took 2 hours of the doctors time up by not following through on something I promised to do he would not be a happy camper. It is really not fair treatment of a patient.
They should have offered me a discount on my next visit. My time and gas with gas prices in Calif. is valuable or at least to me.
The more time I spend driving the more worn out and sickly I get. 2 days driving to Costco which is not close by in a row wore me out.
The next time I see my LLMD which is not often I will make sure all my refills are in order - this has really been a giant pain and one big lesson for me.
Perhaps if they had listened to me the last time I had to pay for an over night Fed Ex which they mislabled so I did not get that med on time either I would not care so much but the flakiness and layers of it does get to me.
I do not like my money or time wasted because they are over worked or not paying attention. If they make a mistake will pay for it. If they were forced to they might stop messing up.
It costs me extra money when they flake and it does not seem to really bother them just me. They take way to long to get things done.
If they are going to order lab work then get it in my chart so when I come into see you you can review it.
They need to hire more staff period and try hiring staff that are mature enough to do things correctly.
Perhaps if they pay more they can hire people who are better suited for the job instead of the person that told me all about how she threw up at work and no she does not have LD.
She is the person who seems to be involved every time they mess up or take forever on something.
Someone I know stopped going there because she felt she was over charged once (I agree with her) and she did not like the chaos. I can not blame her. She does not have a lot of money so getting over charged is no picnic.
I am hoping they get it together because I would like to keep my doctor. If they do not I might go else where because it gets old.
kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Vanilla,
When I was having to drive a couple of hours to a pharmacy...getting there and finding they were out of the drug after being told it was ready, etc.
...someone suggested I try on line delivery service.
...I moved shortly afterwards and am able to get my meds locally even though health is still a factor as to when I can actually get there.
Bottom line is perhaps you could go with an on line service that would deliver to your door.
I thought Costco did this?
I know they are less expensive which is why I am assuming you are going with them.
The other factor I have noticed with pharmacies is that Walgreen's actually keeps up on your prescriptions and will not let you run out.
This also may be a good plan for you.
I still haven't been able to keep ahead of my prescriptions and deal with them the last minute too.
I think about going back to Walgreen's at times.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Thanks for letting us know about AARP. I wondered about them but never followed through on it.
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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Vanilla
Unregistered
posted
I use Costco because it is way cheaper then any other place I found but I really do not like dealing with them. Do they really deliver?
I live way up a hill on a narrow one way street in rural America. We do not even have TV or internet Cable up here so even if Costco delivers meds I doubt they would come all the way out here. I do not think we even have news paper delivery here.
Oh AARP is better in other states and covers more but with Arnold ruling here they cover very little in CA. Arnold pretends he wants better medical coverage for all here but I do not believe a word the guy says.
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