WWYD - Dr. related for my 3 year old.

[mommy2allyandaveri]

Saturday afternoon dd3 starting crying while urinating, she said it burned on the inside. I immediately gave her cranberry juice and called the Dr. To my surprise they were able to make me an appt for Sun at 10am - great!

Sunday morning, arrive at the Dr. at 9:50am. They were swamped, clearly made too many appts. Around 10:30am a parent went up to ask about all these people and if they had appts, the receptionist said they all had appts but were being called back by order of arrival. At 11:15am I notice the person who check in right after me was called back, then we were called back. I told the MA who called me that the lady called before me had arrived after me and I would like to be seen before her (call me petty if you wish). 11:45am I am standing outside our room and I see the lady who had checked in after me leaving, they had been seen and were done before we were even seen! Ok, that is outrage #1.

Dr. comes in, not our normal pediatrician and says that although there is blood in her urine and white blood cells, it's not a UTI. I explain that dd has the following syptoms:

low grade fever
blood in urine
frequent urination
literally screaming while urinating
says it burns on the inside (her words as a 3 yr old, not mind)

She looks at DD's privates and says, there is some slight irritation and maybe some yeast going on. She assured me - no UTI and if it continued or worsened I should call in a few days.

We had a VERY rough night. Within an hour of getting up this morning she had gone to the bathroom 4 times and was screaming the entire time. She is terrified to go to the bathroom. I e-mailed her normal pediatrician this morning with how concerned I was. She just called about 45 minutes ago - IT'S A FREAKIN UTI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly what I said it was. I am furious.

This is a very large healthcare facility, VERY LARGE that I also happen to work for. I have always been very happy with our benefits but it is SO hard for me to defend this company as as an employee when I have experiences like this as a member.

What would you do? I want to file a complaint but this complaint directly effects my annual bonus. This is just not right, she should have gotten antibiotics over 30 hours ago and she could already be feeling better by now.

 

[HeatherH]

Sorry, deleted my previous reply, just read closely enough that you got her treatment, thank God.

As for reporting them...I would, if you think it would make a difference in patient care. They should NOT tie your bonus to your honest appraisal of the medical care they give.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Wow! How horrible for you and your DD to suffer through that unnecessarily. It's sad that filing a complaint as a member would affect you as an employee. Your job and your medical care should be two completely unrelated things. In any case, can your husband file the complaint instead of you? Perhaps that would be a way to protest the poor treatment without affecting your employment?

 

[luvmyfam444]

I wouldn't worry about your bonus - its more important to get rid of a lousy pediatrician than worry about the bonus - that way you won't have to go thru it again.
I'm sorry you had to go through that with your dd - I can't imagine - I know I would be livid & if it was under normal circumstances drop the practice - but since you can't you have to file a complaint - keep this from happening to someone else's daughter - that's better than a bonus to keep another child from going thru this.

Do it anonomously if you're worried about people you work with finding out.

 

[SandrA9810]

I think the overall performance of the facility affects the annual bonuses. Not if she as a person files the complaint.

I think you should make a complaint, and hopefully some action will be taken against that doctor. I don't think you'd want to know that doctor puts another child through what you went through.

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

I think the overall performance of the facility affects the annual bonuses. Not if she as a person files the complaint.

I think you should make a complaint, and hopefully some action will be taken against that doctor. I don't think you'd want to know that doctor puts another child through what you went through.

Yes, this is correct. Bonus is tied directly to patient satisfaction scores, among other things.

To make it worse, she was pregnant. Would she want her child to through this???

 

[The Mystery Machine]

That sucks, I would have taken my child to an urgent care.

 

[clarabelle]

Urgent cares are expensive -and there wouldn't be a pediatrician there.

Anyway why didn't she think it was a UTI?
It just doesn't make sense.
I would complain. In a rational manner.

 

[MnMomtoboys]

So your annual bonus is more important than decent patient care? Good to know.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Urgent cares are expensive -and there wouldn't be a pediatrician there.

Anyway why didn't she think it was a UTI?
It just doesn't make sense.
I would complain. In a rational manner.

Oh I know they are but I would get my kid meds. I would not be able to put up with her being in pain.

As far as the doctor, I would get a new ped., sounds like she is not very good.

 

[clarabelle]

So your annual bonus is more important than decent patient care? Good to know.

Harsh?
What if she complains -nothing happens to the doctor and she hurts her future with the company.

I would complain -but tread very carefully. Is there someone at work who can advise you on how to proceed?

 

[crz4mm2]

Blood + White Blood Cells doesn't necessarily = an UTI.

Maybe the first doc was right, and your regular ped treated you because......

 

[Pigeon]

I think your "outrage" over the wait is a little over the top. Now, I routinely fire doctors who have ridiculous waiting times for normal scheduled appointments.

However, if it were a Sunday morning appointment on short notice with a pediatrician, I'd cut them a little slack. As for the other patient being seen first, yes it is a little petty and I'd chalk that up to an imperfect system in a very harried environment.

Personally, I'd be a little ticked that they were calling people by order of arrival rather than time of appointment, because that makes appointments meaningless. If I had an 11:00 appointment, that's the time I'd want to show up, not hours earlier to sit around in a waiting room full of contagious kids.

If I felt my daughter had been misdiagnosed, I would complain, bonus or no bonus.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The problem with diagnosing a UTI is that the doctors want the culture back in order to give the correct antibiotic.

My dd recently had an UTI, although she had no pain with it and we did not even know she had it.

They can give the pills that make your urine red to relieve pain. I think they sell something in the store OTC, to that effect.

So it is not uncommon to wait on an antibiotic for a UTI, OP. Just want to FYI you.

 

[WL Fan]

Medicine isn't an exact science, and sometimes people get misdiagnosed. I wouldn't give up on the practice, especially if overall you feel you get good care.

 

[Amy8888]

Sunday morning, arrive at the Dr. at 9:50am. They were swamped, clearly made too many appts. Around 10:30am a parent went up to ask about all these people and if they had appts, the receptionist said they all had appts but were being called back by order of arrival. At 11:15am I notice the person who check in right after me was called back, then we were called back. I told the MA who called me that the lady called before me had arrived after me and I would like to be seen before her (call me petty if you wish). 11:45am I am standing outside our room and I see the lady who had checked in after me leaving, they had been seen and were done before we were even seen! Ok, that is outrage #1.

Honestly, I think that is a common problem for pediatrician offices across the country. I can't count the number of times I've sat in a waiting room and seen patients come and go. And this was on workdays, so I was missing out on work time, and for the most part these are regularly scheduled appointments, not appointments scheduled the day before due to sudden illness or emergencies. It's annoying, for sure, but I figured in larger pediatrician offices some docs are going to be more ahead of schedule than others.

What would you do? I want to file a complaint but this complaint directly effects my annual bonus. This is just not right, she should have gotten antibiotics over 30 hours ago and she could already be feeling better by now.

I would definitely inquire about it. It is very unfortunate that your baby had to suffer. But unfortunately, people make mistakes. Doctors are people. Some doctors are more prone to prescribe antibiotics than others. She might be less prone to it and less likely to seek signs of infection.

Case in point: In the past few months, I had to take my kids to urgent care. They both came down with ear infections (several weeks apart) and as luck would have it, they were on Saturdays after the pediatrician office closed. The first time I went, the PA looked in her ear for about 3 seconds and confirmed, yep, it's an ear infection. Then she surprised me by asking if I wanted her to go on antibiotics. Of course I did! But she knew more about it than I did, so I asked why that was even an option (not to go on antibiotics). Then my girl started wailing in pain and that sealed it: She was getting antibiotics.

When my boy came down with an ear infection, another PA at the same place looked at him for 3 seconds, said it was infected, and instantly wrote a prescription for antibiotics, no questions asked.

I think there has been a backlash in recent years against the over-prescription of antibiotics. Parents are becoming more educated about the issue, and I believe some parents are questioning doctors more about why they are prescribing antibiotics. In fact, I am surprised your regular doctor diagnosed anything without seeing the patient at all. Although I do have to say, I am jealous that your practice enables email inquiries. I hate talking on the phone, I would love to just send emails to a doctor!

Sorry for rambling, I think a lot of it comes down to personal philosophy, and the doctor you saw clearly has a philosophy that does not work for you. And of course, it is possible she just screwed up (you said she is pregnant--have you ever experienced pregnancy brain? I sure did and it reduced my IQ by about 30 points at times, I believe). You certainly have the right to question (as you did the day you saw the doctor). And in my experience, phrasing a concern as a question rather than a complaint gets better results, KWIM?

I am glad your daughter is feeling better.

 

[WendyLovesPeter]

The problem with diagnosing a UTI is that the doctors want the culture back in order to give the correct antibiotic.

So it is not uncommon to wait on an antibiotic for a UTI, OP. Just want to FYI you.

I work wound care. This is so true. if you are given the wrong med, the germ can actually get stronger then you will have a bigger problem.

I guess they could have given you an ATB for what they think it is, so you will be taking medication while the culture is growing. then if the culture indicates the ATB you are taking is not effective, they could have called to change her meds. That could have been the best route, but you would have ended up paying twice for meds.

And yes they could have given her something for the discomfort and bladder spasms that go with UTI, but I am not sure how they prescribe those meds considering her age and weight. I hope they gave you instructions of supportive care for UTI like lots of water, juices and frequent trips to BR so she would not get to the point where she "coundn't" urinate due to the discomfort.

I am sorry this happened to you. I am amazed you got a routine Dr appt on a Sunday - thats prob why scheduling was all screwed up. Where I live I wouldn't have had this option unless I went to an urgent care.

And, yes, I would probably make this incident known. Like the previous poster said... be polite. When I complain I try to always say I have a "concern" or I am "concerned" because this happened. My husband just rolls the eyes and snickers because he knows I am actually bit...... And in the case, you were the patient, not the employee, so you do have the right.

 

[Heidict]

I would be livid with the pedi also and would make sure that my child was NEVER seen by them again. When making an appointment, make sure you stress that you do not want to be seen by that pedi.

We had a problem with a new doctor at the practice we go to. After he misdiagnosed my DH and blew it off, we refused to see him again and complained to the office staff. He didn't last there long as this seemed to be a pattern with him. The only way to get a bad doc out of a practice is if enough patients complain.

It is sad to see that your yearly bonus means more to you then a bad doctor. It would tear me up to know that another child could go through this because I kept my mouth shut over money.

Hope your daughter feels better soon. I have had more then my fair share of them and they are HORRIBLE!!!

The problem with diagnosing a UTI is that the doctors want the culture back in order to give the correct antibiotic.

My dd recently had an UTI, although she had no pain with it and we did not even know she had it.

They can give the pills that make your urine red to relieve pain. I think they sell something in the store OTC, to that effect.

So it is not uncommon to wait on an antibiotic for a UTI, OP. Just want to FYI you.

I have never had a problem getting antibiotics for a UTI prior to the C&S coming back, not with my private MD and not with other MD's that I have worked for. If it came back showing another antibiotic being better then what they subscribed then they would just call the patient and change it.

Uristat is the over the counter med you are thinking of. The one from the pharmacy is called Pyridium. Oh, I LOVE this stuff. Of course, I could do without the neon orange stains but the relief is just heaven sent!!!

 

[wdwfan16]

I would complain. Maybe your complaining now will prevent more than one complaint in the future and your bonus could be more than if you did not complain.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think your "outrage" over the wait is a little over the top. Now, I routinely fire doctors who have ridiculous waiting times for normal scheduled appointments.

However, if it were a Sunday morning appointment on short notice with a pediatrician, I'd cut them a little slack. As for the other patient being seen first, yes it is a little petty and I'd chalk that up to an imperfect system in a very harried environment.

Personally, I'd be a little ticked that they were calling people by order of arrival rather than time of appointment, because that makes appointments meaningless. If I had an 11:00 appointment, that's the time I'd want to show up, not hours earlier to sit around in a waiting room full of contagious kids.

If I felt my daughter had been misdiagnosed, I would complain, bonus or no bonus.

Agree with every detail here. I've brought my kids to the pediatrician when they're sick, and have waited over an hour, and have no problem with it. In almost 14 years, they've never once refused to see my child. They also tend to make those with check-ups wait less, since they made the appointment months ago - only fair. Patients should be seen in order of appointment time, not what time they decided to show up.