Your opinion needed

holidayroad · #1 11-13-2009, 09:40 AM

I'm not someone who usually complains about much of anything, but something happened on Wed. that upset me a great deal. My son takes medication for ADHD (along with other medications) and because it's considered a controlled substance, his doctor has to write a prescription anytime the medication runs out. It cannot be called in or faxed in. It also cannot be refilled early. (less than every 30 days.) The Dr. advised me to come in after my son took his last pill. Anyway, Wednesday I went to the Dr.'s office to get another prescription written. I went to the receptionist, gave her the empty bottle, and explained I needed a prescription. She went to work, typing it in the computer then said for me to check with the pharmacy in a couple of days to see if it was ready. I then explained to her that it had to be a handwritten Rx from the doctor. Then she's like "Come back at the end of the week or beginning of next week". I at first thought she meant the Dr. was not in. So I asked and she said he was there but that "he's not going to stop and write a prescription for you". I told the receptionist I would wait but to no avail. She told me I had to come back. I live around 20 miles from the doctor's office, my child had no medication for the next day, and I depend on someone else for transportation during the day, who is not always available. I did my best to explain all of this to the receptionist, but she didn't care. Well, very lucky for me, I did find transportation for the next day, so I called ahead of time to see if the prescription would be ready. It was and I went to the office, got the prescription and looked at the date on it. It had been written on the 10th! Which means that the day I was there (the 11th) it was probably already sitting in my son's file! He had to do without his medicine for a day (and takes other medicine that could make missing one dangerous)(he has heart defects) and I had to get someone to drive me 40 extra miles for something the receptionist just didn't want to bother finding out about. I'm still pretty upset about all of this. I just wondered about anyone else's opinion on this situation.

Musicman408 · #2 11-13-2009, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidayroad

I'm not someone who usually complains about much of anything, but something happened on Wed. that upset me a great deal. My son takes medication for ADHD (along with other medications) and because it's considered a controlled substance, his doctor has to write a prescription anytime the medication runs out. It cannot be called in or faxed in. It also cannot be refilled early. (less than every 30 days.) The Dr. advised me to come in after my son took his last pill. Anyway, Wednesday I went to the Dr.'s office to get another prescription written. I went to the receptionist, gave her the empty bottle, and explained I needed a prescription. She went to work, typing it in the computer then said for me to check with the pharmacy in a couple of days to see if it was ready. I then explained to her that it had to be a handwritten Rx from the doctor. Then she's like "Come back at the end of the week or beginning of next week". I at first thought she meant the Dr. was not in. So I asked and she said he was there but that "he's not going to stop and write a prescription for you". I told the receptionist I would wait but to no avail. She told me I had to come back. I live around 20 miles from the doctor's office, my child had no medication for the next day, and I depend on someone else for transportation during the day, who is not always available. I did my best to explain all of this to the receptionist, but she didn't care. Well, very lucky for me, I did find transportation for the next day, so I called ahead of time to see if the prescription would be ready. It was and I went to the office, got the prescription and looked at the date on it. It had been written on the 10th! Which means that the day I was there (the 11th) it was probably already sitting in my son's file! He had to do without his medicine for a day (and takes other medicine that could make missing one dangerous)(he has heart defects) and I had to get someone to drive me 40 extra miles for something the receptionist just didn't want to bother finding out about. I'm still pretty upset about all of this. I just wondered about anyone else's opinion on this situation.

I am sorry to hear about all of this. I would call the office and ask for the doctor to call you back, so that you can complain about it, because that isn't right. I've dealt with plenty of doctors offices, and crappy receptionists really suck, and there is no excuse for it! Let us know what you come up with.

GypsyBlueEyes · #3 11-13-2009, 11:11 AM

You should definitely discuss this with the doctor immediately. He/she should be made aware of how the receptionist handled the situation so that it doesn't happen to someone else. Not having access to one's prescriptions is dangerous. If something awful had happened I would imagine that they could have been held responsible. I seriously can't figure out what her excuse could possibly be for not being more helpful. It isn't that time consuming to check in a patients records to see what it says about prescriptions. And, even if the doctor wasn't available at that time, there would certainly be a nurse there that she could have quickly consulted with about determining the best way to handle the situation or to find out if, in this case, it would have been appropriate to interrupt the doctor. Receptionists should not be making medical decisions about patients, which is exactly what she did by denying your son access to his medicine.

holidayroad · #4 11-13-2009, 11:25 AM

Thank you both for giving me your opinion on this. I have been upset over this ever since it happened. I was originally going to wait until my son's next appointment to bring this up to the doctor (Dec. 9th) but I think I will now inform him right away. It's true that I wouldn't want this to happen to someone else. The ironic thing is that one other time (with a different Dr.,different meds.) I had Social Services called on me because a mix up in pharmacy records made it look as if I had not refilled prescriptions for my son. So, it seems if I don't get the medicine, I could get in legal trouble, but if a doctors office refuses to give me a prescription, nothing happens to them!

markolas · #5 11-13-2009, 11:44 AM

Uh, yeah I'd definitely tell the doctor immediately. And if he doesn't seem to care either, I'd find a different one and tell him why.

I'd also be tempted to give the receptionist a piece of my mind the next time I went in there, but that might not be the most professional thing to do.

gretchen · #6 11-13-2009, 12:19 PM

That receptionist should lose her job without question! Abhorrent behavior.

holidayroad · #7 11-13-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

Uh, yeah I'd definitely tell the doctor immediately. And if he doesn't seem to care either, I'd find a different one and tell him why.

I'd also be tempted to give the receptionist a piece of my mind the next time I went in there, but that might not be the most professional thing to do.

I tried to get in touch with the doctor, but he wasn't in today.

I really have thought about finding another doctor. As for giving the receptionist a piece of my mind, I'd love to, but I'd just be happy enough if nothing like this would ever happen again!

holidayroad · #8 11-13-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gretchen

That receptionist should lose her job without question! Abhorrent behavior.

I agree that she should at least be told that she can't handle patient concerns the way she did! I'm glad no one thinks I'm overreacting!

Sahara · #9 11-13-2009, 02:12 PM

Reception work at a surgery is a tough job I'm sure but prescriptions are very serious business and need to be handled properly and with a little understanding. What an unpleasant experience, let us know what happens

holidayroad · #10 11-13-2009, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sahara

Reception work at a surgery is a tough job I'm sure but prescriptions are very serious business and need to be handled properly and with a little understanding. What an unpleasant experience, let us know what happens

Thanks to everyone for listening!

WildHeart69 · #11 11-15-2009, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidayroad

The Dr. advised me to come in after my son took his last pill.

Yes, talk to your doctor about it! Then, if he is upset about how it was handled, you should rest, somewhat, at ease...

That being said...

First off, you should NEVER wait until the day you take the last pill in case something like this happens. You never know when something might happen. I think what the doc meant was to call FIRST when he was almost out and then come in when he took the last one to pick up the 'scrip.

If you have a decent rapport with your Dr and you have transportation issues he may be willing to write you out a new one early if need be and just have it dated for when you need it so you can have it filled later... but I can't guarantee that they will do that.

If you are thinking about finding a new doctor, talk to your pharmacist... they pretty much know who is good and who is not. For the most part, they have heard all of the stories from patients AND they interact with their offices on a routine basis. If your pharmacist is not willing to discuss this with you, you also need a different pharamcy along with a different doctor!

**mylittledemon** · #12 11-15-2009, 05:00 PM

Just let it go. It's a crap situation for sure, but at this point, the receptionist (or nurse?) isn't going to be doing you any favors. If it happens again, then I'd discuss it with your doctor as being the 2nd such incident within whatever time frame... and how detrimental to your son's health it is.

holidayroad · #13 11-16-2009, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Just let it go. It's a crap situation for sure, but at this point, the receptionist (or nurse?) isn't going to be doing you any favors. If it happens again, then I'd discuss it with your doctor as being the 2nd such incident within whatever time frame... and how detrimental to your son's health it is.

I appreciate everyone's helpful opinion here. I've decided to bring this up at my son's appointment (Dec 9th) but not in a rude way, just in a way to know for sure Exactly how the doctor wants me to go about getting a new prescription. Then, after I have his instructions and do exactly as he tells me, if I happens again I'll know I did what I was supposed to and that the fault is with the receptionist for sure.

holidayroad · #14 11-16-2009, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WildHeart69

Yes, talk to your doctor about it! Then, if he is upset about how it was handled, you should rest, somewhat, at ease...

That being said...

First off, you should NEVER wait until the day you take the last pill in case something like this happens. You never know when something might happen. I think what the doc meant was to call FIRST when he was almost out and then come in when he took the last one to pick up the 'scrip.

If you have a decent rapport with your Dr and you have transportation issues he may be willing to write you out a new one early if need be and just have it dated for when you need it so you can have it filled later... but I can't guarantee that they will do that.

If you are thinking about finding a new doctor, talk to your pharmacist... they pretty much know who is good and who is not. For the most part, they have heard all of the stories from patients AND they interact with their offices on a routine basis. If your pharmacist is not willing to discuss this with you, you also need a different pharamcy along with a different doctor!

The reason I waited until the last day was that the doctor told me he was only allowed to write this prescription every 30 days. The bad thing was that the Rx was written for the 10th (I was there the 11th) and likely already waiting in my son's file.

**mylittledemon** · #15 11-16-2009, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by holidayroad

I appreciate everyone's helpful opinion here. I've decided to bring this up at my son's appointment (Dec 9th) but not in a rude way, just in a way to know for sure Exactly how the doctor wants me to go about getting a new prescription. Then, after I have his instructions and do exactly as he tells me, if I happens again I'll know I did what I was supposed to and that the fault is with the receptionist for sure.

Well done. Best thing to do to avoid another... unnecessary confrontation with Mrs. Nursebitch.