Fired by a Pediatrician...

T., you didn't do anything wrong. You need to let this go. This doctor is the problem.

Find another peds office, or primary care physician, and try to find one that is smaller.

Dawn

Physicians are like mechanics....for humans.

If I hire a mechanic to fix my car, and I feel like I'm getting the runaround, or an attitude...I find another mechanic. While I've never heard of a physician refusing to see a patient due to a complaint, I'd just take it in stride and go find a better doc.

I'd get on angieslist.com and write a review there of that doctor. And I'd also use angieslist to find an awesome pediatrician.

Best of luck!
♥
C. Lee

This has never happened to me. If my pediatrician is unable to see my daughter that day, they make another doctor available. You did nothing wrong. Consider it a favor. You don't want a doctor that can't handle constructive feedback about their practice, anyway. Good riddance, I say. And yeah, I'd yelp this one, too. Here is one specifically for doctors:
http://www.healthgrades.com/

You were told to use another one of their offices. Did you call to try to get an appointment? Does not sound like it. So you went to Urgent Care. Your daughter was diagnosed and treated. That is what is important. I would not have said anything because I understand how busy these doctors offices are. They did not say, see you next week. You were given alternatives. You then complained. Hence, fired. Sorry.

So this is the story? - the staff couldn't accomodate you on a day your child was sick, you went to urgent care and your child was indeed sick, and you mentioned it when you went back for a well visit and they ended up firing you as a patient?

Time to find a new practice and call it good riddance.

If you were truly as polite as you are saying then be glad you're out of there. Sounds like very thin skin and too small a practice to accomodate their patients when there's a childhood illness making the rounds.

When I began to think about pediatricians (when I was pregnant with my first child, 17 yrs ago) my concern was to find a practice that had a number of doctors so someone would always be available. I ended up at a large medical group that has many specialities including pediatrics. Their pediatrics division has emergency hours 365 days a year, they have early morning walk-in hours M-F from 8:00 - 9:00 - and I have to say I've used that a number of times over the years with a child who was up most of the night! My group has 5 doctors and 3 nurse practitioners so there's always someone to see a sick child.

My advice - consider it a needed nudge in the right direction to find a better fit for a pediatrics group. Too bad it had to happen this way!

I had a similar situation (my daughter had Scarlet Fever, and the pedi wouldn't see her), and I fired them before they could fire me.

In your situation, be sure to give her a write-up on Yelp (and anywhere else you can) so parents of other kids who are looking for a pediatrician know exactly how this doctor works. Let others know that this doctor not only WON'T make time to see a seriously ill child, but if you then bring it to the doctor's attention later, she will fire you as a patient. Honestly, this is information other parents need to know about!

But as others have said, clearly this pediatrician is not the doctor for you (or anyone, it sounds like). Your kids will be better off elsewhere, with a doctor who runs a better-organized practice and actually cares about his/her patients!

I imagine this practice must be very busy to be able to just let patients go!
I would advise when going forward to keep in mind that there will be times when your doctor is too busy to see your child, that's very common, especially during cold and flu season. They can literally and physically only treat so many patients in a day, and they did suggest alternatives, so I'm not sure why you complained. What could/should they have done, pulled another child off the schedule to see yours? I'm not trying to be harsh, really, and clearly your daughter was sick, but I'm sure all the other kids they saw were sick and/or in real need that day as well.
Perhaps if you find a newer practice, one with fewer patients, you'll have a better chance getting seen every time. Good luck, I hope you find something quick!

There are times that a doctor simply does not have any additional time in their day, they cannot see every patient in one day. Urgent care was created for a reason, if you can't get in with your regular doc you go there. Did your child need to be seen? Yes. Was your child seen by a professional? Yes. In this day and age doctors must be very careful about who they care for because people sue for absolutly absurd reasons. I assume that the practice has a "risk management" department that reviews complaints and errors and makes a judgement call about what needs to be done. Cutting a family loose that has the appearance of possibly creating a liabilty in the future is just good business sense.

M

Call me crazy, but I DO expect a doctor's office serving children to be able to fit me in in the case of a serious illness. So far, DD's office has delivered. Most times you just need 5 minutes, maybe 10, for a diagnosis and resolution.

The doctor sounds like an impersonal "B" with no people skills. You're better off without that place and doctor. And to dump you via a letter and not have the guts or common courtesy to tell you on the phone, is just crappy.

my husband is a physician and had fired patients. Emergency rooms are another story, but a private practice Doc. can refuse to do business with anyone for any reason, same as a restaurant or store. Only the Dr. has to give a two week or 30 day written notice to find another dr.

My husband fires patients when they are difficult or even high maintenance. It would be bad business to fire all your difficult and high maintenance patients, so they don't do it all the time. The truth is people don't tend sue the doc they like, they tend to sue the docs they dislike. If they perceive you are unhappy, you are a liability to them.
Other times, personalities just don't click, and while we Dr. shop to find the right one for us ( who shares our philosophy, or has a pleasant personality), also sometime a dr. just doesn't want to deal with certain patients because of their views on medicine or personality.

You may very well have been misunderstood. You may very well be one of his least difficult, but caught him on a bad day.

My advice, just move on. There are lots of Docs out there.

--
per your update, I can see why they fired you. You have unreasonable expectations and continue to insist you were wronged here. You are a liability to them. Unless I call first thing in the morning, I am often unable to make a same day appointment for my kids. I am sent a little further away to their urgent care office that stays open late, or to the ER. Since I am with Kaiser, they offer this in house urgent care. Perhaps they realize that you will never be happy with them because they cannot accommodate your expectations. They can see that its a poor fit, and I suggest you see it that way too.

Obviously you are not the first person this has happened to, as this was an episode of "Seinfeld" where Elaine got blacklisted by every doctor for being a "problem patient." She eventually had to see a vet. It was a silly episode, but you might enjoy it now that you can identify. : )

Nope, never been fired from a pediatrician! I've fired a two though!!!

If they don't have time for you - they are NOT the practice for you.
If they can't handle complaints - they are not the practice for you.

Start interviewing other pediatricians in your area. You might find this as a blessing. Ask this pediatrician for a copy of all of your children's records for the next pediatrician.

GOOD LUCK!!

Who cares, you don't want a ped. like her anyway. Go find another one.

I was "fired" by one of my grandmother's doctors once. She was in her 80s with numerous health problems, I was her care giver. I asked questions about medications, etc. One he was prescribing was linked to ulcers - of which she had a history. He took umbrage at that, and my general attitude that he was not God, and I received a letter stating that I would be happier finding another physician for my grandmother. Two weeks later she wound up in the hospital with a bleeding ulcer.

I, of course, found another doctor, and wrote a very polite "F off" letter to the first one.

I tend to side with doctors bc they go through so much to become doctors - expensive schooling, brutal schooling, brutal internships, constant threat of malpractice suits etc - and then they typically don't make all that much money and are expected to be at everyone's constant beck and call. I agree with people that said there likely wasn't anything the doctor could do. If you can find a doctor who can always take your child, then that's your right. If it's cold and flu season, I'd kind of question how good that doctor is to be that unbusy though. Practices vs sole practioners are the way doctors try to ensure patients are seen but the patient's actual doctor can't be there 24/7 and see every possible sick patient. But just as its your right to find another doctor, it should be the doctor's right to say they don't want to deal with certain patients. Maybe take a step back and ask yourself why seeing another doctor in the practice wasn't sufficient for you. Did you want your doctor to cancel another child's appt for your child? Strep sucks but it wasn't like you showed up with your child unable to breath and they turned you away. And it's highly unlikely one of the other doctors couldn't diagnose it step. We've used urgent care frequently bc the doctors seem fine and that's what it's there for. I usually dont' even bother calling our pediatrician unless it's first thing in the morning. I don't want to be the person calling demanding my child be seen when it's highly unlikely there's an appt just sitting there by that point. And if there isn't, I don't expect them to bump another child or make the doctor work overtime when there is urgent care for me to use. If a doctor took every same day appt request, likely they'd never get home before midnight. I hope you don't post a negative review on yelp bc of this.

We were dropped from our long time family doctor years ago when I refused to let her vaccinate one of my kids before he had healed from chicken pox. I also regularly refused to give them the iron/vit d/fluoride supplements. Vaccinating my child before his sores had healed was contraindicated by the CDC, and I told her so, but she was ready to boot us anyway because she didn't like my alternative vax schedule (also supplied by the CDC, we didn't start until they were 2yo) or the fact that I didn't treat her like the Goddess she thought she was. (I don't want to hear they don't make much money. Maybe this is true when they are residents, but once they have their own practice, that all changes...I know where the doctors in our area live, and it's not in MY neighborhood, that's for sure. I don't want to hear how "hard" their job is or how much money they spent to get their degree. That was their choice to be a doctor, no one forced it on them. My job is hard, too, but I don't complain about what I do because I chose this profession and I LOVE IT.)

We've been through two other doctors, both of whom worked with us concerning the vaxes and both of whom we liked much more than our first doctor. Being dropped from that practice was the BEST thing that ever happened to us, we found smaller practices to go to and were always able to get in the same day if needed. Because my kids are on Medicaid, we don't have the option of using an Urgent Care place unless we want to pay out of pocket. Consider what your doctor did as a blessing in disguise. Find someone who is a better fit for your family, and don't worry about *why* she reacted the way she did.

most offices that are any good will have lots of clients and same day visits may not be possible, that is why places like urgent care are there. If she has so many people that she has a hard time fitting everyone in then I can see the appeal in getting rid of people who complain about the care I provide. Sorry, that does suck though.

I think it sounds very strange. Assuming you truly were as calm as you say, it sounds like the doc didn't want to deal with anything non-medical and saw you as a difficult parent to deal with. I don't agree with that, I am just saying what I figure the doctor was thinking.

As annoying as it is, I would take it as a sign that the office isn't a good match for you and it probably is best that you're being forced to find someone else. you need a doctor that you can talk to about concerns without repercussion, assuming you do so in a calm, non-accusatory and appropriate way (which it sounds like you did).

Frankly, it doesn't matter whether the doctor took your wording as a threat or not at this point. There may have been some misunderstandings on both sides, and she might not have seen your criticism as being as calm and reasonable as you do. But that doesn't matter. This was a practice that obviously couldn't meet your needs, and wasn't right for your personality. Take this as the sign that it's time for you to find a pediatrician who will work with you and put your child's needs first. Good luck with your search.

Having said that, I've been reading over the responses, and I have to say I'm very surprised. Getting in same-day in the instance that my child is sick is a MUST HAVE for me, and I've NEVER been refused by my pediatrician. I have a new pediatrician now that we've moved across the country, but the ped. who saw my son through his first 4 years (and my daughter through her first 2) would never have told me that they couldn't fit me in. It was a small, three-doctor practice, and I needed them to see me same day several times when my kids were truly sick, and at least twice when they were injured. Sometimes, I had to wait a long time in their waiting room to see the doctor, but they always got me in same-day. A couple of years ago, my child was getting sicker and sicker throughout the day, so I called in and there were no appointments left (it was after lunch by the time I called), so the nurse told me to come in and wait until the doctor had seen her last appointment for the day, and she would see me after that. That's right, the doctor actually stayed late at the practice so that she could see us.

That sort of care created confidence and trust, because I knew she had my child's welfare at heart. In fact, they had an emergency after-hours on-call service, so that if I had a problem in the middle of the night, I could call, leave a message, and one of the doctors in the practice would return my call within the hour to either advise me to get in first thing in the morning, or recommend I get my child to the hospital. So basically, our pediatrician (or one from the practice) was available 24-7 if needed. We had to pay a bit extra for same-day appointments, but since I only made them when something was truly wrong, I never minded. To me, this is a basic requirement, and absolutely one that I looked for with our new pediatrician as well.

My family physician/cardiologist "fired" me after I'd been his patient for 10 years. I had suddenly become very, very ill. He couldn't find anything wrong with me--even after running lots of different tests, MRIs, scans, etc. He called and told my husband in person that I was "fired" from his practice (private practice, he was one of the founding doctors) while we were at the ER, trying to bring my dangerously high blood pressure down. The doctor told me to go and "find someone who could help me."

So I did. I'd been asking for some time why I was having this or that issue, and my doctor couldn't tell me. So I went with alternative medicine, where I finally found not only the answers to the questions I was asking but also managed to get off the 10 pharma drugs my doctor had put me on over the years (I was 40 years old at the time).

Changing doctors/type of medicine was the BEST thing that ever happened to me (and my family, because my husband absolutely refused to use a physicians office where I wasn't allowed to go, esp if he might some day have been treated by my doctor). I discovered I and my daughter had severe heavy metal toxicity, that all of us had food allergies/intolerances, that my daughter and I have a genetic liver mutation that doesn't allow us to detox or metabolize correctly (which means no pharma/OTC drugs for us--or if absolutely needed, have to be watched very carefully), and that the Advair this well-known Cardiologist put me on was NOT needed--first off, I have a casein allergy, not asthma, and second, you NEVER put someone with an allergy to milk protein on Advair. Since he didn't test me but just put me on Advair, he put my lungs at risk for further serious issues and complications down the road.

It would have been nicer, though, if he would have talked face-to-face with me and explained that he didn't have the knowledge or the patience or the time to help me figure out what was wrong with me rather than just flat-out dumping me. However, as an MD, the AMA (American Medical Association) won't allow him to talk about any other treating/healing modalities other than the ones he learns in medical school that are sanctioned by the AMA (think pharma drugs, surgery, putting a Band-aid over the problem instead of finding the root cause, etc. They don't learn anything about nutrition or any alternative medical modalities). If they even hint at something (like they tell you to think about eating organic or stop drinking pop--and give you any information as to WHY you should do either one), the AMA can revoke their medical license.

So they'd rather get rid of you and not help you than risk actually helping you and getting you well if it means they risk losing their MD license.

They're not willing to risk losing their license, so they get rid of you instead.

Oh, and when my daughter was young enough and seeing a Pediatrician, I almost never, ever had any problem with getting her in to see at least one of the Pediatricians who were in the office that day. They usually had one of the Peds be a "traveling" doctor each day, meaning they didn't have any of their regular patients; they were strictly there to take care of any call-in sick kids that day (private practice). And if there was an overabundance of sick kids and the other Pediatricians had any openings, then they would also see sick kids (there were 4 or 5 Peds at the clinic). My daughter's primary Ped also was available after hours, if needed.

You're better off without this particular Ped or this doctor's office, in my opinion. Find a different Pediatrician and a different clinic/office. You need someone you can count on. It doesn't sound like this Ped/office is it.

Wow. Um, I have never been refused my our Ped. They are ALWAYS there. The nurse Norma has saved me probably thousands of dollars, by being able to call her after hours with any questions and talk me off the ledge.
They are pretty much available to me 24/7.
I guess your particular office is too busy for that kind of care. I bet you can find one that is different.
Well, you have to now. Good luck! Damn I love our Ped!

I would consider it a blessing and move on, you weren't happy they couldn't accommodate your sick child. Personally, I agree with you, I want my child seen the day I know they're sick.

Seems you saying you hoped it was a fluke occurrence or that you would have to look at other options was taken as a threat, I would have seen it that way. Our actions and what we say have consequences, regardless of how we meant them...that's what I'm teaching my almost 4 year old.

My kids go to a very good pediatritian with a very busy office and only one partner. We see him for well check ups and any long term chronic problems, but all every day type of complaints that require same day visits (such as strep throat, ear infections) that simply require a prescription of antibiotics are for urgent care or walk in clinics or nurse practitioners. I would never expect the pediatrician to have same day appointments.

I say good riddance too.

From your ETA I wonder if she would have had the same reaction if your HUSBAND had stated the logical conclusion of the failure to meet the objectives for which she was hired (i.e., get in quickly for true sickness)? I don't find your comments to be threatening at all - just honest. But maybe coming from you she got her nose twisted for some reason (which I also find ridiculous).

In any event it's probably a blessing in disguise that they let you know what they're really about before another urgent situation arises.

ETA: I don't think I've every NOT gotten my sons a same day appointment when they were very sick. I thought most peds tried to provide that service, either themselves or via partners. What's the point in a ped that you can't see for unexpected illness? I'm surprised to see some of the other answers.

I have never had that happen, but I really don't see what you expected the office to do. If they were booked, then they were booked. There is nothing wrong with going to urgent care.

I think the problem came in when you told the doctor that if it happened again, you would look for another pedi. You were probably okay until then. But you kind of sounded entitled. When I call, you get me in. Kind of demanding.

I am sorry you had this happen. Sounds like very bad business, and most importantly a place I wouldn't want to take my kids. Hope you can find a much better practice for you and your little ones.

I was waiting to read something about "dual care" like another poster mentioned.

We can't always be seen same-day and that's what Urgent Care or the ER is for. I've had my DD seen by different doctors in the same HMO if her doctor or any I liked were not available (there is one we hate who we will never see).

After you took her to urgent care, did you just call to follow up with her regular doctor about the diagnosis or to complain? I would have just said, "they found that she had strep and she is on x medication and if it doesn't work, they said to call you in x days for follow up. Just letting you know." If I use our Urgent Care, it's the same system, so the doc sees it in her notes but if I went to one of those Righttime Clinics, they'd likely tell me to follow up with her on my own. But I wouldn't complain if they were otherwise a good practice.

The patient/doctor relationship works both ways. Hopefully you'll find what you are looking for, but with the number of patients seen in most offices, I suspect that it's likely there will be times you can't be seen on short notice and will have to use urgent care.

Also wanted to address the post regarding the American Medical Association (AMA). The AMA does NOT have the ability to revoke a physician's license. The state medical boards issue and revoke licenses. The AMA is a voluntary group that physicians can join or not join and does not dictate what physicians can or can't discuss. Sorry, but it makes me batty when such blatant misinformation is posted as fact.

While I am surprised you were "fired," I am not surprised they were not able to get you in the day you called. In my experience, and my kids are now teenagers, I've almost NEVER been able to get a same-day appointment and I totally understood and didn't complain. I just took them to Urgent Care and that was the end of it. If any follow-up was needed then I would call back to my regular doctor immediately and get an appointment within a few days - which was fine.

Our doctors' office now has sick-bay in the morning from 8:00 - 9:00 (for the typical Strep, colds, etc.), which I love because if the kids are sick when they get up I know I can get them in immediately. Otherwise if it's later in the day, I just take them to Urgent Care.

Good luck!

No..has never happened to me. I have never heard of this happening.

If it all truly went down as you say then good riddance to them. Ask around and find a pediatrician that you like. Don't ever give a good recommendation for this doctor's practice...and write them a letter to document a formal complaint.

I find it totally acceptable to complain to your doctor if you do not like the care you are getting. The doctor works for YOU! This is a beautiful aspect of our current private medical coverage...you can ditch the doctor and find one you like.

Happy doctor hunting!!

You don't have to "yell and scream" to be a pain to deal with. I suspect the last episode was the straw that broke the camel's back. I understand that you needed to have your child seen and taking her to urgent care was a good decision. Chalk this up to "just one of those things in life" and move on to another qualified ped and think about how you speak to people who you are asking for for assistance/help.

Blessings......

My daughter's pediatrician's office always fits kids in for same day visits with at least someone on staff. I can see if maybe they were just entirely overwhelmed, but I think they would offer an explanation if that happened.

I think you are better off with a different pediatrician if you can't get your kids in when they are sick. So, maybe the pediatrician actually did you a favor, even though it doesn't feel like it.

I would say its a blessing in disguise. Do you really want a ped with this type of attitude? They are in the business of taking care of kids and at the very least he/she should have respect and care, concern for the child. Since they couldn't/wouldn't help you.....good riddance. Warn all of your friends, families, neighbors about this shady doctor. Good luck with finding a new pedi and consider yourself blessed you found this out now vs having something really bad happen and not being able to count on the doctor.

Yah she felt a threat and she did that do it to you before you get me first thing. You should write about this so other people will kno what a snot she is. Buut i guess she was scard you will sue later maybe not for that but something else so she got mad. You can tell the doc what you think shes not god or somebody that she cant know she did a bad job!

wow thats crazy! i have changed my daughters dr twice once was because her orrigional dr left the practice to do sports medicine. but we got another dr in the same office. the second time was because we moved out of state.
i have had to wait a couple days before to get my daughter in but usually its same day. the times i took her to urgent care was when she had chicken pox (5 months old), hand foot mouth (14 months old) and when we though she fractured her ankle (16 months old). with the hand foot mouth i had a 3 day wait to get to the dr and went to urgent care because she didnt want to eat for 2 days.
i have also saw other drs in my daughters old office. i litterally was in and out of that office for 2 months when my daughter was having asthma flare ups and cold back to back.

I would get a new pediatrician.