HMO Doctor referral Question

[Hillbeans]

I went to a new PCP this weekend, just to get a referral to my podiatrist (who i've seen years ago) to have a very minor surgery on my foot.

Long story short, I had to wait for about 2 hours, in what was a glorified clinic. When I finally saw the Dr. he went off on some tangent about how much he hates healthcare and insurance companies and how at the end of this year, he's done with medicine (this came about b/c of my need for a referral apparently). I sort of sat there stunned. I really didn't need to see him, only for a referral, so perhaps he felt I "wasted" his time, but if he's part of the Aetna plan, he still got paid for my visit.

I now will never go back to this man for any reason. I just feel like I should have said something or still say something. Any doctor that tells a patient 2 minutes after meeting them how much they hate medicine shouldn't still be seeing patients, IMHO.

Any thoughts?

 

[piglet too]

I actually loved my HMO, but again I love my kids pedes (and my doctor is so-so.) All I can think of is maybe you should report his behavior to your insurance company. It may not do anything, but you never know how close he may be to getting dropped from the plan. Are there any other PCP that you can see? If you call to complain maybe you can switch your PCP at the same time.

 

[WeirdEyes]

I totally agree with you. There's no way I'd go back to that doctor. He sounds like he needs to go into research instead of actually seeing patients.

 

[TEENEE]

When my daughter was small she had an eye doctor that was terrible. She was about 2 y/o, this crazy doctor wanted to put a patch over her eye to do part of the exam. He didn't take the time to talk to her or show her what he was going to do just came at her with the patch. He scared her. At that point she was crying and carrying on. He said he couldn't examine her because she was out of control and he left the room. I called my insurance company and told them the whole story. They were not happy and never paid him for that visit. They thanked me for calling and telling them what had happened. Since then my dd has gone to a wonderful eye doctor.

Some people, and this is not directed towards anyone here, are afraid to confront doctors. Remember that they work for you and if you are not happy with their service in any way all you have to do is stop going to them.

 

[Dixielady908]

sorry you had such a bad experience with your doctor. I actually work in a PCP office and do the referrals. The physicians I work for are great, they never get upset with new patients if all they needed was a referral. The patient is following the guidlines that the insurance sets down, and we in turn give them the referral they need. So I would report the physician to the HMO. That should have never happened. The physician signed the contract with the insurance so I am sure he knows the guidelines.

Denise