I just called my doctor’s office to try to get an urgent care appointment. The conversation with their receptionist went like this:
Receptionist (R): Primary Care Group.
Me: Hi, I’d like to make an appointment with Doctor Lady or one of her associates. I got a letter saying Doctor Lady was leaving the practice, is she still there?
R: Yes, she is still here until the end of the month. I’d be happy to make an appointment for you but our appointment system is down, it won’t be fixed til Monday so I can’t make an appointment… [blabbity fling flang blah I wasn’t listening and she would not be interrupted]… Could you call back Monday?
Me: Well, I was hoping to get an appointment today.
R: Oh… today? Doctor Lady isn’t in on Fridays. In fact, none of the doctors in our care group work on Fridays.
Me: Okay… what to you do if you have patients that need to be seen on a Friday?
R: Well, we usually refer them to our on-call doctor, but I was just informed that she is booked for the rest of the day.
Me: Then what do you suggest I do?
R: We tell our patients that if it is an emergency that they should go to the ER.
Me: Umm. It’s not an emergency, but I think that I am getting a [censored] and I’d really rather not wait until Monday to me seen.
R: Oh! Uh… let me see if Doctor Other Guy can see you. He’s not in our care group though.
Me: I don’t really care.
R: Well, I don’t know if your insurance would cover it. What kind of insurance do you have?
Me: [censored]
R: HMO?
Me: Yes.
R: Okay, let me check on that for you. [pause] Hi, yes, Doctor Other Guy can see you, but his only appointment is at 2:00.
Me: 2:00 will be just fine, thank you.
Ultimately she was helpful, but getting the runaround (or voicemail with no return call) is pretty much standard with this office. Given that my doctor is leaving the practice anyway, it’s time to find a more helpful care group.
**updated to add that yes, I was right. And the doctor I saw (who I swear was like, 3 inches from death himself) gave me the prescription to up my wellbutrin from 150mg to 300mg, so hopefully things in that arena will be much improved.**