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If there was something in the message that caused concern then they should have the professional courtesy and decency to share it with the patient and call her. As it is they have said nothing, not even a courtesy email saying they are glad she was okay after the wellness check and why they were worried.
To be totally honest, we don't know that they didn't try.
It's happened to me before that I get a voicemail of a call that never rang on MY phone. To the person on the other end, that might sound like something bad happened and they were concerned enough to contact the authorities.
I'm glad you know just how a doctor's office should be run. Perhaps you could set up a consulting business. One time I got a phone call about 6:30 AM. It was my brother's doctor's office in Pennsylvania, where it was about 8:30. He had not shown up for an appointment for some type of heart procedure. I was the emergency contact. They called me to see if he was OK. I said I hadn't talked to him for about a week, so they sent out the police.
I remember one time when I spaced out an eye doctor appointment. I got a call from the office asking if I was OK. Yes, I was embarrassed. No, I did not change doctors. They have since instituted reminder calls.
Dont make assumptions and putting aside your sarcasm your post confirmed exactly my point , if a doctor is concerned about a patient they have their office contact you first, or the next person on your emergency list.
This isn’t what happened for the op and whether you or I would not feel embarrassed is really beside the point.
To be totally honest, we don't know that they didn't try.
It's happened to me before that I get a voicemail of a call that never rang on MY phone. To the person on the other end, that might sound like something bad happened and they were concerned enough to contact the authorities.
I am super impressed they cared enough.
Well if the op doesn’t know that and the doctors office isn’t talking to her or doing a follow up then there is still a communication problem that is uncomfortable for the patient. My doctors either call, text or email, so it seems strange there is such a lack of communication from the op’s doctor.
Thank you I am torn between just pretending it did not happen and at least saying sooooo... how about those police officers LOL. I mean I know I don't have the voice of an American Idol, but I did not realize it was this bad hee-hee
You could just ask them if they don’t have your emergency contact number or did they try to contact you first?
Something very embarrassing happened today and I am happy for any advice on how to move past it. Today I left two separate voicemails, somewhat lengthy, on the answering machine for the Pediatric orthopedist detailing some changes I needed to upcoming appointments. I repeated phone numbers, birthdays, everything they asked me to leave in the voicemail and yet somehow they do not call me back. Instead they call the police thinking I'm drunk or in need of medical assistance and of course the police come out and cause consternation where my kids are now scared and not sure why the police are knocking on the door. Most bizarre over-reaction I have no idea why the person thought this other than maybe my voice sounded bad from a cold or who knows what I have no idea. I am very flummoxed by this and have no idea what to do now. Should I just pretend like this misunderstanding never happened and continue on scheduling and working with the orthopedist office? I just feel like I want to move along and find a new doctor as if I can never face them again. Has something like this ever happened to anyone else? I just wanted to move an appointment!
OK, I took a break from this thread and now I'm back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by randomparent
Oh, COME ON, people! This thread is starting to look like watching my Scotch-Irish Appalachian family threaten to shoot each other in the kneecaps over a perceived slight. (Don't ask. ) The receptionist clearly over-reacted in this particular situation, but let's not assume any ill will. And let's also stay focused on the OP's need for understanding, consolation, and perspective. If things really had been wrong, the OP would have gotten help. I think this is what she needs to remain focused on and to communicate very clearly to her children. Even though it was a false alarm, someone cares about them and was willing to send an emergency responder to check things out. A minor embarrassment is all this is. We're all so hyped up and looking for reasons to be offended. Encourage the OP to laugh it off for both her own and for her kids' sake. And if a neighbor asks what happened because they saw the officers arrive, she should just say, "You won't believe it..." with a big smile and tell the story. It will get around quickly and everyone will think it's funny. It's all in the presentation.
LOL! That is exactly why I took a break.
We don't know that. No one but me and one other person who has some experience with medical offices wants to believe that the staff is running the office, including the front desk, the way the doctors want it to be run.
I agree with the rest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4
To be totally honest, we don't know that they didn't try.
It's happened to me before that I get a voicemail of a call that never rang on MY phone. To the person on the other end, that might sound like something bad happened and they were concerned enough to contact the authorities.
I am super impressed they cared enough.
Another doctor chimes in. Yes, we don't know that the office didn't try to contact the OP, or her emergency contact. I don't often agree with you, stan4, but I do on this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spuggy
Dont make assumptions and putting aside your sarcasm your post confirmed exactly my point , if a doctor is concerned about a patient they have their office contact you first, or the next person on your emergency list. This isn’t what happened for the op and whether you or I would not feel embarrassed is really beside the point.
We don't know that. Much as we want to help the OP, we don't know the whole story. We don't know what she said in not one, but two lengthy phone calls via VM. Obviously she wasn't just calling to change an appointment; that does not require two lengthy phone calls. Apparently she said something concerning.
I don't think you should be embarrassed at all, rather grateful that a relative stranger took the time to ask the police to check on you. I would thank them the next time you are in that office.
In this day and age, someone could drop dead on the street, and people would walk around them and do nothing.
Fair point, Kat. We don't know what was on the voice mail that set off alarms because the OP doesn't even know what happened yet! I should have left that line out. I was speaking from the perspective of hindsight since we know the OP is fine and feeling mystified at the turn of events.
Hello all I was able to pop back in thank you all for the advice. It is true that waking up this morning I started to feel better. Now with some time away from the situation, I think I can start to see how I might be able to laugh at this one day. I am also curious to hear the calls. My recollection was the calls lasted probably one minute each to me that is lengthy. It was basically birthday, phone number, secondary phone number, spelling of names, times when I would be available for call back, and a discussion briefly left on voicemail about why I needed to reschedule which I'm sure I didn't have to leave there, maybe it confused the message. I believe I said on the phone there is a conflicting surgery in the family and this is why I need to reschedule my daughter's if possible. Maybe this somehow is misinterpreted. Also I do not sound great on the phone I have a stuffed up nose and a deviated septum which always makes me sound wonky. I casually brought this up to my kids again today about how nice it was for the policeman to do a little checking on us for the weekend. They seem to be pretty nonchalant about it at this point.
My embarrassment level has gone from a flaming fire to a dull steam so that is good.
Maybe the OP really was slurring or sounding incoherent to the point that someone in the office was concerned. Perhaps they called the police more so to avoid liability if the OP really was having a stroke or something.
Maybe the person who heard the voice mail is nuts and went way overboard calling the police.
We really don't know. We don't know if 1 single person in the office made the decision, or if it was run by higher-ups like the office manager or the doctor. We don't know what the voice mail sounded like.
I don't think the OP has anything to be embarrassed about unless she really was rambling, but who hasn't done that before?
OP, I think you should ask to listen to the voice mail and find out how they came to the decisions to call the police. Perhaps they need to revisit their policy, or perhaps the doctor and office manager need to be made aware that this happened.
I am worried about people's tendency to call the police for every little thing, before they take the time to assess the situation and take it up with people in charge first. First there was the Starbuck's thing. Then, this week some woman called the police on 2 Native American students who joined a college tour in the middle, instead of asking the tour guide if they were on the list or whatever. Now this.
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) The receptionist clearly over-reacted in this particular situation, but let's not assume any ill will. And let's also stay focused on the OP's need for understanding, consolation, and perspective. If things really had been wrong, the OP would have gotten help. I think this is what she needs to remain focused on and to communicate very clearly to her children. Even though it was a false alarm, someone cares about them and was willing to send an emergency responder to check things out. A minor embarrassment is all this is. We're all so hyped up and looking for reasons to be offended. Encourage the OP to laugh it off for both her own and for her kids' sake. And if a neighbor asks what happened because they saw the officers arrive, she should just say, "You won't believe it..." with a big smile and tell the story. It will get around quickly and everyone will think it's funny. It's all in the presentation.
