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Op I can't remember if you are on medication and if so, which medication it is. With some medications blood levels need to be monitored to make sure the drug is not causing damage. You can look up info on your medication to see how often the manufacturer says it should be monitored. It may also be mentioned in the package insert or the info your pharmacy gives you on the med when you have it filled.
Also a lot of times rx are only good for 6 months at a time. What medication are you taking if any?
If you look it up and it says it should be monitored every year then tell your dr. Most of my medications have to be strictly monitored every 3 months and I have no problem with that. I even have a 3 hour drive to and from my dr.
Sometimes it isn't all about money and has more to do with how the drug may be affecting your liver. I would be more concerned if my dr wasn't concerned with the ill effects of medication on my body.
Sigh, I really wish people would read before asking previously answered questions.
Yes, I am on medication for cholesterol. As I have been for the last 10 years. I have a full physical every year including blood work for cholesterol levels. And every year, I have the blood work repeated (lab visit only) 6 months after my physical (and 6 months before my next one) to check liver function and to ensure the medication is still achieving the desired results. I do not now nor have I ever had an issue with doing this. If it was every 3 months, I'd be OK with that as well, but 6 months is the recommendation for the medication I take.
My issue was that when my primary care doctor's office called to schedule my 6 month blood work (as usual) they informed me that I would have to have an appointment with the doctor at the time the blood draw was done. I asked the nurse why this had changed from a lab visit to a doctors visit. She said "So the doctor can go over your blood work results". I asked how that would be possible since they do not have an in house lab and the results would not be available for up to a week after the appointment. She then changed her story and said "You must need a physical exam". I said I'd had one 6 months prior. She then got very flustered and changed her tune once again and said "It's our new policy".
I would have no issue going to an appointment AFTER my blood work came back IF there's a change that needs to be investigated. I do have an issue with attending and paying for an appointment that seems to have no real explanation or need. As I said a few posts up thread, I've since found out this practice was purchased by a large hospital corporation a few months ago. I can only surmise that that's where the "new policy" came from. I've since picked up my records and changed to another practice.
IMO, being pro-active about one's health care is not just about living a healthy lifestyle and having preventive exams and blood work regularly, but insuring you spend your health care dollars wisely. In this particular case, the need for an appointment with the doctor had nothing to do with protecting my health and everything to do with adding to the practice's bottom line.
I am talking about today. My doctor called in an antibiotic just a few months ago. My daughter's doctor did not long ago too. Some people have classic symptoms that reoccur at certain times of a year due to allergies turning to infections. When doctors know their patients very well, they are confident in calling in prescriptions even today.
Antibiotic resistance was caused by many factors, not just antibiotics being prescribed for viral infections.
Get used to it. It's becoming more common. As I explained in my post to Suzy, many states have passed laws requiring insurance companies to pay for telemedicine as if the doctor saw the patient in person.
"Telemedicine" is not a simple phone call from the doctor to the patient. It allows a physician to evaluate a patient at a distance, but it requires an office visit and the assistance of someone who can provide physical findings. For example, a patient in a community without a cardiologist might have a telemedicine consult with a cardiologist at a teaching center from her family medicine doctor's office. Telemedicine is generally used in communities that are at a significant distance from the services they need. A doctor in a situation where the cardiologist is an hour a way would not be eligible to provide telemedicine.
There are rules governing which physician locations are eligible for reimbursement for these services.
"As a condition of payment, an interactive audio and video telecommunications system must be used that permits real-time communication between you, the physician or practitioner at the distant site, and the beneficiary, at the originating site. Asynchronous 'store and forward' technology is permitted only in Federal telemedicine demonstration programs conducted in Alaska or Hawaii."
The bottom line is that Medicare, Medicaid, and most commercial insurance will not reimburse a doctor for discussing test results with a patient over the telephone but will do so if it is face to face in the office. That means that docs spend a lot of time on work for which there is no compensation.
Doctors want to see you every 6 months, because they get Paid for your visit. They'd have you come in every 3 months if they could.
I'm retired and with Humana Gold Plus. The doc has always wanted lab work and a visit every 6 months.
I'm generally healthy, take no meds and don't feel like I need all this. I always put the next visit off to 9 months or a year.
They send out a statement that lists the lab work and the cost for it. My latest one was for blood work only and amount to $600 +, which Humana Paid. Now I only pay $1200 a year to them for their insurance. So how does this company stay solvent?
This time I had and apt. for Sept; I put it off till Nov. and then as I got thinking about all this I called and cancelled the apt.; told them I'd call them later. This is ridiculous. Also I do not understand why they must take 3 vials of blood that are twice the size of the ones my previous doctor used. And he only took two.
What do they do with all that blood - sell it??
I have for the last 20 years had consistently High Cholesterol. I refuse to take any of their poison potions to prevent my liver from creating more cholesterol. It think it knows what it is doing. They scare you into this habit.
I wrote a letter to Humana and told them that they are wasting money with all these unnecessary tests.
I really like my doctor but, when I first started seeing him 7 years ago, he required only semi-annual visits to renew my prescriptions. Now he requires visits every 3 months. He'll write scripts for only 3 months' worth of meds.
I understand his situation. Many of his patients are aging and are on Medicare, so he gets paid only a portion of what those patients' previous insurance carriers used to pay him. And he's probably lost patients now that he makes them come in every 3 months -- not to mention that the time spent in his waiting room is now much longer now because of the increased load in patient visits.
But I'm not going to change doctors. I suspect that it would be very hard to find another experienced, knowledgeable doctor with whom I have a good rapport. And, even if I did find someone else who wont require me to see him every 3 months, what's to say that doctor wouldnt change his policy in the next few years too?
I got a call from my primary care physician's office this morning. I was there 6 months ago for a full physical. At that time, they wrote me my normal prescription for high cholesterol. I have crappy genetics and despite eating healthy, exercising and being underweight for my height, it cannot be controlled without drugs. The prescription was for 6 months as usual. After 6 months, I have to go in for blood work to check my liver function and then they renew the prescription for another 6 months. This has been the norm for the last 4 years.
But, the nurse then informed me that I had to have an appointment with the doctor when I came in. I asked why and she said that the doctor wanted to discuss my blood work results with me. I replied "You don't have an in house lab so the results are not available for a few days to a week so how the heck can that happen?" The nurse then reversed course and said I needed an examination. Hmmm.... I asked "What would a physical exam show about my cholesterol levels?". She had no response to that question other than to say that is was now their new "policy".
I told her that was fine, but it was MY policy not to pay for unneeded medical visits and that I would indeed come in tomorrow...... to pick up my records. Anyone else experience such a flat out money grab from their doctor?
My doctor will not renew my prescriptions unless I see him at least once every 6 mos. The doctor I had before this doctor did the same thing. I think this is a normal thing anymore.
Wow, glad I saw this post. My doctor, who I have been going to since 2004, told me about this new policy that he is implementing. I am not happy about it...I was there in May of this year for a full physical and when I called for a refill, the girl told me I needed to come in for an EKG. Nothing was wrong with my last one btw.
I e-mailed my doctor and he told me it was a new policy.
He mentioned a few weeks ago how Obamacare was killing him, financially, so I wouldn't be surprised if he is trying to make more money this way. Kind of disappointed in the whole thing to be honest.
I suspect they'll cut down on the unnecessary visits as the looming doctor shortage overloads their schedules.
Unfortunately, that's the problem I'm facing. My doctor won't renew my blood pressure prescription unless I see her, but she doesn't have any appointments available. In addition, for the last 2 years, she "forgets" to give me the prescription when I do make an appointment and makes me schedule another ($30). Not to mention, she doesn't pay any attention to my blood pressure during the visit, or the test results that have anything to do with monitoring the medication.
Instead, the first visit, she tried to talk me out of taking progesterone for endometriosis and Prilosec for reflux. She even sent me to a gastroenterologist ($40) for a 15 minute visit where he told me I could keep taking Prilosec. Fortunately, I finally found a gynecologist around my own age who takes progesterone for similar reasons, so I can get that without seeing my primary care physician.
My PCP also told me not to eat cherries because they have "too much sugar!" I looked it up: Cherries have a glycemic index of 22 and a glycemic load of 4. As a reference, a tomato has a glycemic index of 38 and a glycemic load of 1.5. Not exactly off the carb chart.
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