Well, I guess I wouldn't like to be treated like that, she has to understand that Lupus is a life threatening disease and that working with PEOPLE and not files is a huge responsability, I would complain too.

I think your complaint is justified. Friendly, pretty and nice are all wonderful attributes, but she is in a position of responsibility, lost files, mislaid messages etc. etc. can cause total chaos and be downright dangerous for patients.

If you say nothing, the problem will spiral, by taking positive action, she may be offered guidance and put back on track. Good for her professionally and great for the doctor and the patients. Constructive complaints actually are useful, they don't always end up with the person being dismissed.

i thought i had it bad! i have a hard time getting through to my doctor since he moved his office in with another doctor, this other doctor's staff run the office. i knew it would be very hard so i wrote a letter to him marked it urgent and took it to the office and smiled and asked her to give it to him. one specialists had diagnosed me with TIA's and i couldn't get help getting a neuro appt for a month! i told him this in the note. he knew nothing about the TIA's because the ophthalmologist hadn't bothered to call him.

about an hour after i walked into his office with a note for him he was on the phone calling me and ordered me to go to the hospital cause he wanted to admit me immediately! i got it done but it is a shame we have to be sick in the first place then have to deal with obstacles too!?! it does get to be too much at times.

i have had great doctors and lousy staff and sometimes they go hand in hand and i have always been afraid to challenge the doctor's staff for fear that i will lose a good doctor. wish i could say go for it write the note but i wouldn't have the courage to do so!

Good for you!!! In my case the receptionist thinks she IS the doctor. I see my doctor every six weeks. My doctor does not take my insurance so I am out of pocket each visit. The last time I called it seems my questions where to detailed (thank you Tracey, Wild Animal and others for educating me on several issues) she actually told me TMI, why dont you just email him? When and if I do get a call back it is weeks later. I was sitting in his office one day and the nurse came in and said in front of me she did it again! The nurse was referring to filing someone elses blood work into the wrong file. My doctor is good (although a bit arrogant at times) so I put up with it. I do not expect to be coddled because I have Lupus, however, I do expect good service. Three cheers for speaking up and out!!!

I would talk to their customer care department. they have a duty to look after their clients. They do not sound very professional, you deserve a written apology.

Ann x

Hi T...
Absolutely OUTRAGEOUS!!! And, YES you did the right thing by reporting her and I would go even further if the director doesnt get back to you and/or solve this problem. Report them to an actual medical board (for your state) if you dont hear from him in a timely manner. That is the only way they may see what a serious problem this is. You are not a bitch by doing this....I have had this happen before and it is so frustrating. I would do the same thing as you did. My pharmacy is wonderful and will give me the number of pills I need until they get the refil from the dr's office. You should look into that as it is dangerous for us to just stop taking our meds (whichever ones they are!). Most pharmacies will give you a certain amount of pills because they know you cant just stop taking them.

I agree 100% with what you did....You do not need to suffer because an MA cant handle their load. Your health depends on these people who dont seem to "get it" because they arent in your shoes....

xoxoxo
Meliss

Thank you all very much.
I am going to make certain that she gets reported. I've reported the issues to my Dr. twice now so it's on to the next step.
Hopefully, as EW said, it will be a 'training opportunity'
If Mr. Director doesn't call me back by Monday it's onward and upward. This has to be changed.

SleepyT,

I\'ve been on the other side of the desk myself. Here\'s a question: how good was the doc at returning phone calls and paperwork BEFORE the PA/MA started?

It\'s been my experience (and I\'m not there to see what\'s going on there in that office) that an incompetent doctor\'s office STARTS with the doctor almost EVERYTIME. If this is happening to YOU, it is happening to OTHER PATIENTS TOO.

I used to put a STACK of phone calls on my two docs\' desks. The good doc would return his calls; the not so good one often didn\'t. But I gave them BOTH their messages. And I would hear not-so-good doc say that he "didn\'t get the message" which wasn\'t true. Often disorganized docs let their assistants take the blame for mistakes.

I had another doc who always kept patients waiting as much as 2 hours. I was told it was the nature of rheumatology. The funny thing is that my next 2 rheumies are ALWAYS on TIME and QUICK to RETURN CALLS. Docs tell their offices how they want to be scheduled. I spoke to the asst. in the first doc\'s office about this and she told me that he wouldn\'t ALLOW more time for each patient, despite perpetually running behind!!

Concerning the other things: a MA can\'t write your prescription (at least not in CA); the doc MUST do it and the MA or office asst. calls the info in. The same with blood work. The doc has to write the order, not the MA. Same for FMLA paperwork. Even the BEST MA gets frustrated and gives up if the doc above him/her WON\'T RESPOND.

As for the blood work, if the results are off, it could be the lab\'s fault if the results are screwy. Or the fixative in the bottom of some of the tubes (like for the sed rate) can be spoiled. Or the lab vials can not get picked up in a timely manner (if the office is outside a hospital). The machines could be miscalibrated too.

I don\'t think you\'re over-reacting in light of the fact that you should NOT be going without your meds EVER. In the event that you are running low, most pharmacies will give you 2 days worth of something that\'s been filled before IF YOU HAVE A TRACK RECORD AT THAT PHARMACY. Second, ALL DOCS have someone ON-CALL for after hours emergencies. CALL THEM and talk to the doc who is covering (even if it\'s not your doc).

In the future, rather than calling the doc\'s office for a Rx, call YOUR PHARMACY and have them FAX THE REFILL to the doc\'s office. Then there is no mistake as to what you need refilled. (In your case, where they the wrong drugs? The wrong dose? Not done at all?) And start EARLY getting your refill. Figure it will take 4 days for the pharmacy to fax the doc\'s office and get a response back. Make friends with your pharmacist or pharm tech. I found out the hard way that screaming at them doesn\'t make anything happen faster. But being nice??? They usually respond to it.

As to your initial question about filing a complaint? I think it\'s unlikely to do anything to fix the situation AND will make the doc dislike you. Mind you, you have every reason to be UPSET with this treatment. But you\'re probably better off finding another doc who is more organized. Another quick story: I sent an-email to the nurse in my old doc\'s office. She accidentally sent it back to ME with this note for the doc: "If you have time to read a long boring drama...." I was horrified! When i spoke to the doc about this, he apologized and said he was stunned by this nurse\'s actions. But would that nurse have sent that note to the doc if she hadn\'t sent notes like that BEFORE??? She obviously didn\'t believe it would make him mad; otherwise she wouldn\'t have sent it to him, would she? So the blame was put on the nurse, but I felt this doc was JUST AS GUILTY and probably said similar things about me behind my back to the nurse. My point: the big guys will always point the finger of blame at the people under them, whether or not it is true. And in this case (your case), it may not be the MA that is at fault, but the doc.....and that\'s not going to change no matter what you do.

Tracy

When I first started seeing my Rheumatologist, the staff he had were totally incompetent, they would make appointments at his other office (2 hours away), instead of my usual, bill incorrectly, lose lab results...and yes...this is because, he seems fairly disorganised and "in his own world". He now has a new staffer, a young man, who is very switched on, organised and seems to "gently guide" the doctor into more organised ways of working. If you have a PA/Administrator/Nurse who is of a take charge nature, they tend to "train" their boss into positive ways of working.

Yes, you can always vote with your feet, but maybe if enough people complain, things change. There are just some people who no matter what their job description and CV spouts, couldn\'t organise a booze up in a brewery...

Thanks for your input.
My Dr is excellent. He even calls me himself and visits me in the hospital.
I feel bad for the MA, she is young, probaly her 1st job but she really does suck. It\'s the calling of the scripts. I\'ve never an issue before her and even the pharmacy mngr. knows it\'s been nuts.
I know this Dr has a very busy office and also volunteers for the free clinic. I can imagine she may be overwhelmed.
The labs haven\'t been messed up, my blood levels have. This is from me cutting up the pills to make the dosage I\'m suppose to be on. My insurance dictates how early I can call for refills.
It\'s Monday and I\'m wavering. I don\'t know if I should talk to her and explain how vital her job is, it seems she should know. I also know I can not possibly be the only one. It was like flipping a switch from when the old MA left and she started.

If you take on a job that involves peoples care and lives in your hands, it is the medical facilitys responsibility to make sure they are properly trained before they are put on the job and handling the patients files and records and prescriptions, etc. I think that more individuals should be as proactive as you were and maybe then we would receive better treatment from our doctors and their offices.