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UTIs are serious illnesses. I would hope your PC doctor would put more effort into referring you to a specialist. Much of the problem with doctors is the tyranny of the front office. The lowest paid employee controls the appointment calendar. I once told a PC doctor that his front desk was essentially triaging patients. I explained in detail and he was shocked. He saw lawsuit in his mind’s eye. The entire medical system is a mess. If you are on Medicare it gets even more complicated to get seen. Doctors hate Medicare and when one explained to me the paperwork with Medicare and the bureaucracy I could understand his point of view. I’ve read that over half the PC doctors are over 50. That’s not good. As bad as things are now it stands to get worse. I keep my passport current in the event I need to go abroad for care. Thailand has some excellent tourism medical care. Good luck.
OP, you should be happy, not mad. It is not a good idea to go a physician, or any professional, who does not want to see you. However, as the above posters said, you do need to make an appointment with a urologist ASAP, even if you have to wait awhile to see him.
You also might want to consider retiring in another location, if specialist medical care is hard to access where you are now.
I was plagued with frequent UTI's for awhile, and a Urologist put me on an antibiotic that's designed to be taken for a much longer time. I was on it for 3 months, and it finally cleared up.
I just Googled "Long term antibiotic for UTI" and "Methenamine" came up. It's been several years since, but this name does sound familiar. The doctor felt an infection was not truly knocked out by previous short term antibiotics, so that why he put me on the long term one. This might be something to ask your primary doctor about.
Probably due to so many infections, I had also developed relatively mild symptoms of interstitial cystitis which is no fun. My gynecologist recommended taking a supplement for urinary health called D-Mannose with Cranactin by Sol Rey.
I get it on Amazon and it's made a world of difference in preventing UTI's and easing my IC symptoms!
It would definitely be on my list of things to have on a desert island! Might be worth a try. It helps be keeping the lining of the bladder clear of bacteria.
The waiting is typical for most specialists and that is several months. The primary care doctor should treat you as best he can until you see the specialist. ...
Doctors are independent professionals ....
Not anymore...Now everyone is under coontract to The Group. Salaries are usually paid for a general number of pts/hrs worked and bonuses for seeing extra pts don;t click in until alarge number of extras are seen-- if any at all. No inventive to take on extra work, or to evenplease any pt, for that matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimrob1
Thanks everyone for your comments.
I called the Primary doctor today. I asked for the actual reason. She said the Urologist texted them the reason. Patient has a past history of infections, therefore Dr Ho has decided to decline the referral.
.
Ahhh. That explains it. This doc doesn't want to see any pts who have ever been sick. (!!!?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Medical Lab Guy
.... that urologists must have had unsuccessful or bad experiences with such patients. .
Any PMD can treat an uncomplicated UTI...Recurrent UTI is often seen in cases of urinary obstruction, That's when a specialist (urologist) is needed for consultation.
Maybe this guy needs to get out of the specialty and get a desk job..I understand Dr. Falsey's job may be open soon...Sounds like a perfect fit.
UTIs are serious illnesses. I would hope your PC doctor would put more effort into referring you to a specialist. Much of the problem with doctors is the tyranny of the front office. The lowest paid employee controls the appointment calendar. I once told a PC doctor that his front desk was essentially triaging patients. I explained in detail and he was shocked. He saw lawsuit in his mind’s eye. The entire medical system is a mess. If you are on Medicare it gets even more complicated to get seen. Doctors hate Medicare and when one explained to me the paperwork with Medicare and the bureaucracy I could understand his point of view. I’ve read that over half the PC doctors are over 50. That’s not good. As bad as things are now it stands to get worse. I keep my passport current in the event I need to go abroad for care. Thailand has some excellent tourism medical care. Good luck.
The issue the OP has is his area. He is right that medical care is not that great there. I had a friend who lived there with her husband and they had to travel all over for care because the specialists that were decent were in other cities. The issue with areas dominated by retirement communities is that there are less amenities and less focus on items that matter to younger folks who tend to have families. As you mention, there are also a lot more patients on Medicare, which may not be as appealing to the doctor.
In the OP’s case, it is possible that the doctor is older and winding down the practice. It’s one thing to take a patient with a one-time issue, but he may not want to take someone who is going to need ongoing care if he is not going to be there to provide it long-term.
I recently went to the ER for a UTI infection. I was treated with antibiotics and told I needed to see my Primary Doctor for a followup. I did and I was referred to a Urologist because its a chronic problem. I was then called by the Urologist and asked a number of questions about my history, and previous care for the problem. I gave them the info and explained I had only lived in this area 1 year, so my care here is very limited. Most of my Urology care was in my previous location. Honestly the call was weird and felt more like a over the phone job interview, than entering me in their system for an upcoming appt. The call ended and I felt like I was in some sort of a selection process with this doctor.
Yesterday I was called by this Urologist and they left a message on my phone. The message said I'm sorry but the doctor has decided he would not be able to provide your medical care, your primary is being notified of our decision. If you have question you may call us.
Well I about flipped as I did not know this goes on, but also as I said I felt like I was being selected for care with Doctor and I flunked their selection process. I just wasn't aware that Doctors pick and choosing their patients at least here. . This Urologist is a PPO for my insurance company which is BCBS. So he has signed a contract to take their patients.
I did call this Doctors office and it got worse. I did get upset with them and feel I had every right to as I have been feeling ill with this problem. The infection obviously has not cleared up. I asked what is the reason you pick and choose patients. Their answer was very nonchalant and rather uncaring. They said not to take it personally but their are other Urologist in Central Florida that I could see. Their level of coldness was unbelievable. I explained they are a PPO for BCBS and I have been a patient in a hospital for a Urology problem that has not cleared up. They said good bye and hung up. I'm still in shock over this.
I reported this to BCBS here in Florida and they apologized this made me feel bad, but offered absolutely no solution to this type of incident.
The thing is there are few to no other Urologist in this region, and when there are the wait list for an appt is several months long. It also means driving to distant cities in Florida, but mostly an appt can't be found.
I have found serious problems with medical care in the Ocala region of Florida. This Urology incident is just one of them. And this has really stressed me out. I honestly don't know if I can retire here, but packing up and moving at this age is not an option.
How would you feel if this happened to you? Especially if you don't feel well and have been recently hosptialized for this problem. What would you do?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimrob1
Thanks everyone for your comments.
I called the Primary doctor today. I asked for the actual reason. She said the Urologist texted them the reason. Patient has a past history of infections, therefore Dr Ho has decided to decline the referral.
When I called Dr Ho yesterday I wasn't given any response other than I was declined care.
Either or these are not doctors I want. The primary referred me because male problems are not her expertise. No one at the primary seems to resolve this by finding Urologist. I have to keep after them because a referral is needed. I can't just travel to a urologist and be seen. It's really a tough situation to be in To sum it up Retirement areas really should have much better healthcare. This has really been an education.
You should try going to the Florida section to post, asking for a urologist referral. You can also see if there is a Facebook group for your town to ask there. There's nothing like people recommending doctors over havi8ng to cold call.
Same if you are replacing your GP too. Maybe you should find a male doctor.
Consider going to google to leave a review of the urologist and the GP if you're unhappy with them. Also check reviews on google maps to see if reviews carry over because they did not use to.
You should also consider moving. I won't live in Florida, medical care is at the top of my list on why not to move there, in addition to storms and the "wildlife" they have.
I'm sorry you were treated that way. I had a dentist who I originally liked until my cap fell off. He wouldn't see me because I didn't have a check book on me to write him a check. He refused to send me a bill. My hub and adult son both go there, we have a good history of paying when we owe money after insurance pays. I've never been to a doctor that didn't understand it was an emergency. They've been happy to bill me or have me bring a check the next day.
I called the Primary doctor today. I asked for the actual reason. She said the Urologist texted them the reason. Patient has a past history of infections, therefore Dr Ho has decided to decline the referral.
When I called Dr Ho yesterday I wasn't given any response other than I was declined care.
Either or these are not doctors I want. The primary referred me because male problems are not her expertise. No one at the primary seems to resolve this by finding Urologist. I have to keep after them because a referral is needed. I can't just travel to a urologist and be seen. It's really a tough situation to be in To sum it up Retirement areas really should have much better healthcare. This has really been an education.
Yes, it is a tough situation to be in. That's one of the main drawbacks with the FEHB BCBS Basic plan as opposed to the BCBS Standard plan. You pay $170/month instead of $267, but in return for that $97/month discount (+ another $800/yr toward Medicare premiums), you have a gatekeeper you have to go through before you can see a specialist.
And the problem with having Basic as opposed to Standard is not just having to get a referral to see a specialist, the even bigger issue is that with Basic you're limited to just the doctors & facilities that are preferred providers. In other words, no out-of-network coverage. Of course, Medicare would still pick up their portion as the primary insurer, but then you'd be responsible for everything they don't pay. With BCBS Standard as your secondary insurance provider, that's never an issue.
Given the problems you've been encountering in Ocala, you may want to consider switching to the higher-priced Standard option next open season so that you can determine on your own where, when, and what doctor you want to see without having to get permission first from your PCP.
Keeping their success rate numbers high. I doubt it was just because they were so busy to take on a new patient because they would have forgone that interview process were that the case. But, like others mentioned, it would probably have not been a good relationship anyway.
I avoid dr.s offices as much as possible. I get tired of their superiority and treating you like you work for them.
Yes, it is a tough situation to be in. That's one of the main drawbacks with the FEHB BCBS Basic plan as opposed to the BCBS Standard plan. You pay $170/month instead of $267, but in return for that $97/month discount (+ another $800/yr toward Medicare premiums), you have a gatekeeper you have to go through before you can see a specialist.
And the problem with having Basic as opposed to Standard is not just having to get a referral to see a specialist, the even bigger issue is that with Basic you're limited to just the doctors & facilities that are preferred providers. In other words, no out-of-network coverage. Of course, Medicare would still pick up their portion as the primary insurer, but then you'd be responsible for everything they don't pay. With BCBS Standard as your secondary insurance provider, that's never an issue.
Given the problems you've been encountering in Ocala, you may want to consider switching to the higher-priced Standard option next open season so that you can determine on your own where, when, and what doctor you want to see without having to get permission first from your PCP.
Good advice but remember that changing your medicare supplement plan usually requires a medical questionnaire. They have the right to say no you can't change plans.
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