I am so frustrated! I have twin girls who will turn 9 in March. I made a terrible mistake by initially choosing their first pediatrician. To put it lightly- he was an idiot. I had a legitamate malpractice case against him but I chose not to pursue it because I was more concerned with my daughter's well being than a few dollars. When my daughters were 7 months old we found their current pediatrician. Her name was Toyya Kinsey, but she is now married and her name is Toyya Goodrich and she is part of UNT Health Group. She has always been a good doctor, and since my daughter has some health issues she reserved flu vaccinations for my girls in the years there were shortages.
Her office has now moved for the second time in 2 years. I didn't mind the first move. I recieved notice and the office was actually a little closer to home. The latest move is further away from the house and I have not yet been to the new location. I was not informed at all of the move. Not only that, but I called the office and sat on hold for 16 minutes! I only had a question about my daughters' vaccinations, but of course they had to look up the information and call me back. I did not hear back from them until two days later.
The last week of school before Christmas, my daughter was having difficulty breathing at school. Her inhaler was out and I had to take her nebulizer to the school to give her a treatment. The prescription for inhaler had run out and she needed a new prescription to get a new inhaler. I called the doctor's office and sat on hold for 13 minutes before I hung-up. I asked the pharmacy if they could send over a request. They did, and 4 days later there was still no responce from the office. The pharmacy faxed the request again. A few days later the doctor's office called me and told me the prescription had been approved. I went to the pharmacy to pick it up and they told me that they still had not recieved the approval from the doctor. I had them fax it AGAIN- for the 3rd time- last week. I just recieved a call from the doctor's office TODAY telling me that they will not approve the prescription without an exam. Today is January 3rd and this has now been going on since December 15th. I explained to the girl who called from the doctor's office that they had already told me they would approve it and she said no. I just said thank-you and hung-up.
(FYI- I called the pharmacy and asked them to please fax the request over to my daughter's pulminologist to be sure she has an inhaler.)
When I hung-up with the doctor's office I went straight to give a negative review, but I just couldn't. I really like Dr. Kinsey-Goodrich. She has always been a good doctor and helpful with my girls and their needs. It's this new office. I don't know what to do. It is completely ridiculous that I have had to wait 3 weeks and I am still unable to get my daughter a new inhaler. It is critical that she have this, and it is simple. It is a maintenance medication. It's not as though I am asking for a class 3 narcotic.
What do I do? I would like to keep the same doctor, but I cannot put up with the new office. How do you even let the doctor know? It's not like I have a way to contact her directly and tell her how unhappy I am or even what I have been experiencing. How do I make this better?
****I shared the part about the first doctor to demonstrate the problem I had with another pediatrician in town. I really do not want to go shopping for another one after having such a horrible experience with the first doc. This doctor has been good. It's the office that's horrendous. I'm definetely not making any threats to sue. I don't see how you would even read that into it.****
make an appointment and go in there and tell her how you feel.....I bet she has no idea that you have been given the run around.
Call the office and leave a message for the doctor to call you back personally.
I would address the issue with the doctor. Many times they do not have a clue as to what is going on with the office staff. Every time i am on hold longer than a few min, I always kindly let the doctor know how long I was on hold. My current office seems to have this problem as well.
I'd find a new one.
Our child's first pediatrician was outstanding but her office hours were very limited and not "enough" for a working parent. She was closed on Friday and open every other Saturday. In other words, God forbid my child get sick on a Thursday or Friday evening because he wouldn't be seen until Monday at the earliest. The final straws were having to wait 90 minutes for our scheduled appointment (I wound up walking out) and then showing up for a scheduled appointment only to find out the office was closed.
We finally went to a practice with several pediatricians with daily hours of 8-7 and every Saturday. Now, we don't always get to see our son's primary pediatrician but frankly, if he's sick I really don't care WHO sees him as long as we can see him. We always see him for the well-baby and well-child care.
I understand that you like her but it sounds like it really isn't working out in the best interest for your child. Ask around, shop around, and make the switch to a great physician who also runs a great practice!
I agree with a lot of the suggestions here. One more thought--do you know if she took her head nurse with her? Here's what I suggest:
--Call the office and ask to speak to your doctor's nurse. If it's the same person, ask her if she's been receiving complaints from patients about the increased wait time and how long things take. Be sympathetic--it's hard making a move, and what could you do as a patient's parent to help.
--Ask the nurse if you could have the doctor call you back. Doctors are still in business for themselves, and it's very costly to lose a patient. They want to keep their patients happy. If they earn a reputation for being difficult, it can be hard to overcome.
--Check on her website and see if you can find an e-mail address for her. E-mail her your concerns.
The only reason I'm suggesting a nurse she brought with her is because the nursing staff is the one who can actually push things along to the doctor. They are the filter for the doctor, so there may be an opportunity to help from that angle.
Best of luck!
I feel your frustration. I was not raised in the area where I live now, so when it came time to look for an OB/GYN and then a ped, I was kinda in the dark. I went with the peds who had privileges at the hospital where I delivered and had heard mixed stories about them.
It was a practice with about 6-7 doctors and 3-4 nurse practicioners. I thought I would like this initially-there'd always be a doctor in to see my baby.
It would have been great if they all had the same philosophies on treatment and child rearing. I wanted to breastfeed VERY much. My son was born at 38 weeks with jaundice. He did not nurse well and the only way the peds would release him from the hospital was with the admonishment that if I couldn't get him to nurse within 3 hours of leaving the hospital, I HAD to give him formula. No one ever mentioned pumping and putting THAT in a bottle, which is what I ended up doing.
We also had to have a daily blood test for a week (and I had a c-section AND it snowed and sleeted a majority of the week) and he was prescribed a BilliBlanket. They made a major deal of how "high" his billirubin levels were and how we might have to take him back to the hospital if his numbers didn't drop.
Oddly enough, we had good friends who had a baby exactly a month before our son was born. He too had jaundice, and we called and compared numbers. His billi levels were 2-3 points higher than our son's and no one ever made her feel as though she needed to give him formula, come in for daily blood tests, or use a BilliBlanket. Her son was simply seeing another doctor at the SAME practice.
It just so happened that when our son was about a month old, we took him in for a check-up and that doctor was the only one there. She asked how things were and looked over his chart. She was dumbfounded to see how forcefully they had treated his jaundice.
When he started to have recurrent ear infections, they prescribed amoxicillian over and over, even though he would break out in a rash 2-3 days later EVERY time. I was told it wasn't an allergy because it was taking so long to appear.
I finally had my fill of the peds and took him to my general practioner, who quickly confirmed that the rash was indeed an allergy to amoxicillian and sent us directly to the ENT.
I simply stopped taking him to that office and requested his records be transferred to the new doctor.
I would make the appointment for the exam, that way you are one on one with the doctor and you can explain all that happened. My nephew has breathing issues as well, and the office was causing her problems, so after talking with the doctor about it the office staff now has orders that if my sister calls they are to get the doctor or his nurse to take the call.
I worked for a very popular pedi office in Fort Worth for 7 years and I am very familiar with this Dr. and her practice.
I have heard more negative than positive about her practice.
But, in the office's defense, if they just moved, they may have loops and kinks to work out. Not refilling your daughter's Inhaler is UNACCEPTABLE though and since it is a rescue medication, you should be allowed a refill UNTIL you can come in for an exam.
Leaving a message for her may or may not work. We had several patient's in your situation, and honestly it was a pain for the dr's. She may call you back, but not EVERY phone call. Threatening to leave her practice may not harm her either. A lot od doctor's are too busy to sweat when something like this arises.
From experience, I would ask to speak to the office manager either by phone or when you are in the office next time. More than likely, things will be addressed by her. The doctor walks out of that pt. room and moves on to another patient, unfortunatley, forgetting about your complaint by the end of the day.
Doctor's hire nurses to handle pt. calls and managers to handle situations like this.
Good luck, and I hope this helps.
I agree w/the ladies here - make an appt and get in to see your doc and let her know!
bthree - OMG I cannot believe they did not realize that the rash IS a sign of allergic reaction! I can't take amox either! Can't take sulpha - and that rash didn't show til the 8th day of the meds! Glad your mom instinct took over!
Hi D.,
You should be able to make an appointment for a consultation. That would be where I would do my complaining. At that point you can see if she is sympathetic and might do something about the office or if she has an
Oh well" attitude.
You might also want to look into a pediatric chiropractor. Mine is the largest practice in the state of GA (upper cervical specialty) and they have done wonders to abolish our need for medical doctors. They also will take us in if we walk into the office...I've never waited more than15 minutes to see the doctor. Just a thought.
God bless,
M.
i would give them one opportunity to fix it and if there was a repeat I would move, UNLESS this is one fenominal doctor, meaning she can always diagnose correctly and she always give you, the mom, the benefit fo the doubt and orders any test you ask for and hears your concerns. If she is just "nice" and an average doctor, I would move, but that is just me.
I think you HAVE to tell the doctor. You can leave a message for the doctor. If they say "we'll have the nurse call you back", just simply say, no, I'd really like to speak to the doctor. I realize it may be late this afternoon or first thing tomorrow before she is able to call me back, but I need to speak with her. Then, call daily until you speak to the actual doctor. Another option is to make an appt. for a consultation with the doctor. That way they have set aside time for you to speak with her in person. Once you've voiced your concerns about the office staff and policies to the doctor, see what she has to say. Hopefully she'll have insight as to how this new office will work. If she doesn't have any hope or suggestions for how to make this work, I think you have to seek a new peditirican. I, like you, stayed with a peditirician too long when I wasn't happy. When I finally made the move to a doctor AND office that was kind, courteous, helpful, and respectful, I wouldn't trade it for the world. You are right, her inhaler is a maintenance med. I understand if they want to see her, but they should say "we are refilling it this time, but we won't again until she is seen by the doctor" and then allow you to make an appt.
You do have a way to contact her directly and I suggest that is the way to go since you like her as a doctor. Call and leave a message for her to call you. You don't have to give a reason but if they insist you can say it's personal.
Or you can write to her. I did that when my doctor's assistant gave me the run around. He corrected the situation immediately.
If this were me, I'd continue to go to this pediatrician. In the future, when you don't get an immediate response, I'd ask to speak to the office manager and if that doesn't help, ask to speak with the doctor.
Be calm and concise when stating your problem. She doesn't need to know about your experience with the first pediatrician. I'm not sure why you told us, even. It's totally unrelated to your current situation. Unless........you're hinting that you might sue this doctor too. I would not make that veiled threat. Threats rarely get us the help we're asking for. They make the person angry and defensive which hampers communication. You want results. Be assertive in stating what you want. Use as few words as possible. Start out with a 1 sentence statement of what you want. For example: I want to keep you as my daughter's pediatrician but I'm having difficulty getting prompt responses from your staff. Then, have ready a timeline written down so that you can precisely state what happened. I called to get a refill on December 15. On December , because I still did not have refill approval, I called her pulmonologist to get the refill. It took your staff (this many days) to tell me that you wanted to see my daughter first. I"m willing to make an appointment but in the meantime she needs to have the refill. How can I improve communication with your staff.
Keep in mind that even if there is a problem with her staff she is unlikely to tell you that. She will, however, make whatever corrections she sees needed. And there may be a way for you to more directly address issues with staff. Consider this a communication difficulty and accept your responsibility as being a part of the difficulty even tho it doesn't seem that way to you. Approach your conversation with the doctor with an open mind.
My daughter had a similar situation in which the doctor wanted to see my granddaughter before authorizing a refill. There were a few days in between my daughter calling in the prescription and getting this information. When my daughter called back, because of the delay, they told her to make an appointment. My daughter made the appointment and asked that the refill be authorized so that she could pick up the refill immediately. The staff checked with the doctor who did approve the refill.
It's a matter of learning the system and what works for that office. I suggest that if you can calm down and work with the system you'll have better service. Get to know the staff. Perhaps go to the office just to get acquainted. When people know you they are more apt to go out of their way to help you as you've discovered with the flu vaccine and the doctor.
And remember the old adage. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
