Healthcare in Indiana PA (area, population, school, Pittsburgh)

[the fox]

Hi Folks!

I just wanted to point out how idiotic the doctors and healthcare system in Indiana PA is. Oh Boy! I don't know where to start--Here goes!

The doctors here don't seem to have the basic knowledge they should have. I've tried different doctors with similar problems. My current medical history is hypothyroidism. I currently take 50 micrograms of Levothyroxine, and have had no problems. I've been on this current dose for a while now. I have no other medical problems. The previous amount of time was once a year to see a doctor which is fine if you don't have serious health problems which I don't. I was informed by the secretary that it changed to every 6 months. I told her I would prefer every year but relented. More recently it was every three months now every two. I have been more vocal and said it wasn't necessary to see him that often. She wouldn't let me off the hook and basically forced me to submit. I did reluctantly. She stated that the doctor told her to do that and I can always cancel. I stated that that seemed silly--why make an appointment if she knows I will cancel. I even told him directly during my exam but he avoided the issue. I feel this is impractical and I am being forced to do something I don't want to. Let's look at the BIG OBVIOUS PICTURE--IT'S ALL ABOUT $$$$$ YEAH-MONEY! Doctors and pharmaceutical companies are married to each other and they are both benefiting at the expense of the patients. I don't know if I'll find a doctor who doesn't. Another sticky part of the situation is the doctor belongs to the same church parish as me and it would be awkward if I leave (I didn't think of that).

The next dilemma affects the status of my health records. I saw a pulmonologist for rhinitis and sleep apnea. I was wrongly diagnosed with copd. He was rushing me and telling me I wasn't doing the test right and made me repeat it. I had several possible diagnoses the first being most likely rhinitis (allergies) and the last being copd and other serious diseases. My doctor has clear lungs on my records when I took a test for a health care facility job. I smoked 20 years before and quit. I told this to the pulmonologist was condescending and walked out on me.

My gastroenterologist put five serious diseases I didn't have when I got my bill from my healthcare provider. I talked to the medical decoder and explained that these disease are serious disease I don't have and would you please take them off? Her reply: But you don't understand: If he doesn't put the diagnoses on he won't get money!! VERDICT: GUILTY AS SIN! THEY SCRATCH EACH OTHER'S BACKS FOR MONEY. Better yet, call it what it is: INSURANCE FRAUD! How do you fight it? These serious diseases I don't have will follow me for life. Do any of you from the Pittsburgh area or any other areas of the US have these problems with doctors?

[tamajane]

Originally Posted by the fox

Hi Folks!

I just wanted to point out how idiotic the doctors and healthcare system in Indiana PA is. Oh Boy! I don't know where to start--Here goes!

The doctors here don't seem to have the basic knowledge they should have. I've tried different doctors with similar problems. My current medical history is hypothyroidism. I currently take 50 micrograms of Levothyroxine, and have had no problems. I've been on this current dose for a while now. I have no other medical problems. The previous amount of time was once a year to see a doctor which is fine if you don't have serious health problems which I don't. I was informed by the secretary that it changed to every 6 months. I told her I would prefer every year but relented. More recently it was every three months now every two. I have been more vocal and said it wasn't necessary to see him that often. She wouldn't let me off the hook and basically forced me to submit. I did reluctantly. She stated that the doctor told her to do that and I can always cancel. I stated that that seemed silly--why make an appointment if she knows I will cancel. I even told him directly during my exam but he avoided the issue. I feel this is impractical and I am being forced to do something I don't want to. Let's look at the BIG OBVIOUS PICTURE--IT'S ALL ABOUT $$$$$ YEAH-MONEY! Doctors and pharmaceutical companies are married to each other and they are both benefiting at the expense of the patients. I don't know if I'll find a doctor who doesn't. Another sticky part of the situation is the doctor belongs to the same church parish as me and it would be awkward if I leave (I didn't think of that).

The next dilemma affects the status of my health records. I saw a pulmonologist for rhinitis and sleep apnea. I was wrongly diagnosed with copd. He was rushing me and telling me I wasn't doing the test right and made me repeat it. I had several possible diagnoses the first being most likely rhinitis (allergies) and the last being copd and other serious diseases. My doctor has clear lungs on my records when I took a test for a health care facility job. I smoked 20 years before and quit. I told this to the pulmonologist was condescending and walked out on me.

My gastroenterologist put five serious diseases I didn't have when I got my bill from my healthcare provider. I talked to the medical decoder and explained that these disease are serious disease I don't have and would you please take them off? Her reply: But you don't understand: If he doesn't put the diagnoses on he won't get money!! VERDICT: GUILTY AS SIN! THEY SCRATCH EACH OTHER'S BACKS FOR MONEY. Better yet, call it what it is: INSURANCE FRAUD! How do you fight it? These serious diseases I don't have will follow me for life. Do any of you from the Pittsburgh area or any other areas of the US have these problems with doctors?

Maybe if the diagnoses are not there your testing will not be covered. Insurance companies play games with providers and patients. Are you sure these codes were not to rule out those disorders in order to justify testing? Did you read your official records or just billing codes?

[purehuman]

just make the appt and cancel 24 hours ahead.
Make another and cancel that too...till you're down to once or twice a year.
The Docs not gonna be mad if you cancel cause you're sick, or got a flat tire...whatever

Never tell a doctor you smoked...especially after 20 years...they always hold it against you.

I'd be pissed if the Doc wrote that I had diseases that I don't...I'd try to do everything I could to prove them false and have them removed...I'd confront the gastroenterologist about that one...in person.

[guidoLaMoto]

Originally Posted by the fox

Hi Folks!

I just wanted to point out how idiotic the doctors and healthcare system in Indiana PA is. Oh Boy! I don't know where to start--Here goes!...
?

I was just about to start a similar thread on this subject when I came upon yours.


I've had similar experience with incompetence &/or criminal behavior on the part of healthcare providers here in rural WI. I don't know if it's a general problem in medicine now that we have such massive govt intrusion into the process and all healthcare is now being practiced by the book & computer instead of being tailored to the individual, or if it's because only the less competent are attracted to practice in rural areas, and smaller population bases force them to commit billing fraud to supplement their incomes.


Let me qualify myself by first saying that I practiced internal medicine in a large metropolitan area for 45 yrs, then retired here 3 y/a. I personally saw 125 pts a week in the office and carried a hospital census of 8-15 pts a day on my service....The local hosp here has 25 beds. Its staff includes 7 Family Practitioners and NO specialists in Internal Medicine. (An Internist spends 36 months in residency training seeing exclusively adult medicine pts; A family practitioner spends 36 months in training, divided equally among adults, children, OB/GYN & surgery-- ie - only 9 months seeing adult medicine pts. Who do you want to see for your adult medicine needs?)


Even with a busy schedule, I was always able to get pts in for a visit in 1-2 days. Here, I doubt they see 125 pts a month, the waiting list is 6 weeks long. My office staff was good about handling calls. If the problem was one they could not handle, I was readily available. Here, you call and get a switch board operator, no doubt a hi school drop out, who asks personal details about your problem to screen calls to determine whether she'll even bother contacting the doc's office to talk to the nurse. You NEVER get to talk to these docs (that's probably good, given their sorry state of expertise.)...Even my 80 y/o uncle's diagnosis of lung cancer was rendered over the phone by the NURSE- not the doc.


I could go on & on with examples of incompetence- both on the medical and inexcusably the personal level. Is it just here, is it a rural problem, or is it generalized now that we have young docs who rely in CT scans to make diagnoses instead of good old fashioned clinical judgement?


BTW- Fox: 95% of hypothyroid pts require 100ug of levothyroxine for good treatment. Are you one of the 5%, or a victim of incompetence?

[sierranevada1]

Considering the situation with healthcare in the US (uncivilized lack of it, like in a primitive 3rd world country) you should be glad you can see a doctor at all, I think.
Every 2 months? One should be glad to have such opportunity. But can't you change your PCP if you don't like the frequency of visits?
And if the doc cares enough to put the right diagnoses to get insurance to cover the testing and all, it's good: beats the kind of doc that puts only most minor diagnoses and then you get 20K bill and have to fight it alone. Insurance will fight tooth and nail not to cover things.