Trying Not to Be Frustrated

[ladysprite]

The American medical system is broken. Broken, broken, broken.

I've been having a problem with the nerves in my left hand for a little while - long enough and serious enough that my chiropractor wants me to see a neurologist to make sure there's nothing serious going on. He's not an MD, but he has the authority to request referrals, so I didn't think this would be a problem.

I called around, and found a neurologist who could see me this week, and I made an appointment more than a week ago. Everything was fine. Until his office called today and told me that apparently he wasn't going to be in the office after all that day, and they needed to reschedule me. To be specific, they needed to reschedule me to the next available appointment, at the tail end of December. The doctor is going to be away this week, and on vacation after that. Of course, he hasn't set up another doctor to cover his cases while he's gone, and noone in the office could suggest another doctor to refer me to.

So I poked around my insurance's web page, and tried to call a few other offices. Apparently, none of them will see me without a referral from my Primary Care Physician. Unfortunately, my insurance is a PPO, and as such I don't have a primary care physician. Whether I want one or not, the type of insurance doesn't work that way. Their computer won't store it. And even if I did get a PCP and get a referral, apparently the soonest any of the other neurologists could see me would be somewhere around January.

It's a good thing I'm not sick - if I were, I'd be dead by the time I could navigate the ridiculous maze of paperwork, referrals, advance scheduling, and cancellation. I'm almost tempted to just give up trying to see a doctor, and ignore the problem. If it's nothing, it'll go away eventually, and if it's not I'll get worse over time and wind up in the ER - maybe that way the wait will at least be less.

(Yes, I have an appointment with an MD. Hopefully he'll sign a referral, and initial hiself as my PCP, and sometime next year I can get in with a specialist. But I'm not particularly happy, and I am worried that my arm might just fall off before I can actually see someone who can fix it.)

Comments

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

In the UK, the current GP contract is with the Practice, not the GP. No matter how many times you tell most providers that you don't have a specific GP, they still insist on one.

Consequently the official tables of practices have to include a "senior GP" entry.