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Well, it's finally over. I am breaking up for once and for all with my primary care clinic. This last experience was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
It all started when I had to get a refill on my prescription for Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is the one thing standing between me and a cancer recurrence so I'm motivated to be on it but it is a hard drug to take. It causes fatigue, joint pain and lately is giving me some killer headaches. And I have to be on it for the next four to nine years. But even though I don't want to take it, I need to take it. So I kind of appreciate when the health system cooperates and is able to get me my damn medication in a timely fashion. Because ordering more of a drug that I am already on shouldn't be a big obstacles course, am I right?
Monday I called the Cancer Agency pharmacy to order a refill. Tuesday I spoke to them and they said they had faxed my doctor to ask for a prescription to be faxed back to them. Now, I don't really know why my family physician needs to fax a prescription to the agency that prescribed the drug for me in the first place. That seems convoluted and pointless. But whatever. That's the process. I mentioned that I would be in the area on Thursday and could pop by to pick up my pills.
So this morning I did my promised pop by and discovered that my physician had not yet sent over the prescription. I was not surprised. Their fax machine seems like more of a slot machine than anything else. Push the button and maybe you'll get lucky or maybe not. I have had three - THREE - referrals go astray from this clinic. So I mentioned that sometimes they faxed things and they weren't received, or sometimes they forget to fax things. The pharmacist said she would follow up.
Later that morning I got a call from the pharmacist. Our conversation was slightly surreal. It seems my family doctor - who was covering for my other doctor who went on mat leave and never came back - is now on mat leave herself. (How did I not notice she was pregnant the last time I saw her?) There are two other doctors covering for her now. The pharmacist asked if one of them would fax the prescription. The receptionist said, "They may or may not. They may want her to come in."
As you can imagine, the pharmacist was quite confused by this response. So she asked a very logical follow up question: "How will I know if they are going to refill the prescription?" And the response from the clinic was this (and I swear I am not making this crap up): "If you get a fax from us, then you'll know."
So many, many things wrong with this. First, is there a time frame for making this decision? Because you know...as a cancer patient, I might like to know if I'm going to get my life saving medication or not. Second, what exactly is this debate about? My oncologist put me on this medication. It is recommended in the clinical pathway. Are they going to say "nah, we're not going to let you have it anymore". Of course not, that would be ridiculous even for them. So then what's the hold up? Why the dithering? And third, if history is any indication then the absence of a fax is not a surefire indication is hasn't been sent. Because in case I haven't mentioned this before, they SUCK at sending things by fax.
I will admit I was furiously angry when the pharmacist relayed this to me. The only thing that made me feel better was that she was just as shocked as I was. (And I'm sure she didn't appreciate the suggestion that she should keep on checking the fax machine to see if anything had come through. That is ludicrous.) But angry or not, I needed the medication and I couldn't wait around to see if they were going to fax it in or not. After I got off the phone with the cancer agency, I called the clinic.
And the patient-centred care continued! I asked for an appointment and the receptionist let me know that my doctor was on mat leave and I was being covered by two other doctors. I asked for an appointment to get a refill on a prescription. And then this exchange happened:
Receptionist: Do you need that prescription soon?
Me: Yes. (*seriously? do they think people call in for refill appointments a year ahead of time?*)
Receptionist: *laughing* They're really busy.
Me: When is the next available appointment? Is there anything next week?
Receptionist: You're in luck, there's a spot on Monday.
Oh yes, lucky is just how I was feeling! By now I was seething and not at my best self (as Oprah would say). I booked the appointment. The receptionist followed that up with, "You'll be seeing Dr. P. Remember her name because she'll be your doctor until May."
And that was it. I knew I couldn't keep going with this clinic. I don't ask for much. Lord knows, only an idiot would stay with the clinic that lost an urgent MRI referral. I should have left then but I didn't. But I was ready now. So I responded (with a wee bit of snark, which I'm not proud of), "Yes, she'll be my doctor until I find another clinic. Thanks."
With that, I hung up the phone and looked to see which clinics were taking new patients. I found a few in the general area and did some googling. (Thank you, RateMyMD. I take those reviews with a grain of salt but they are helpful to get a sense of what people like or don't like about a practice.) Tomorrow I have a meet and greet with the person I hope will become my new physician. Blind dates aren't easy. But on the bright side - it would take a hell of a lot for it to be worse service than my old clinic. Fingers crossed, here's hoping it's a match!
It all started when I had to get a refill on my prescription for Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is the one thing standing between me and a cancer recurrence so I'm motivated to be on it but it is a hard drug to take. It causes fatigue, joint pain and lately is giving me some killer headaches. And I have to be on it for the next four to nine years. But even though I don't want to take it, I need to take it. So I kind of appreciate when the health system cooperates and is able to get me my damn medication in a timely fashion. Because ordering more of a drug that I am already on shouldn't be a big obstacles course, am I right?
Monday I called the Cancer Agency pharmacy to order a refill. Tuesday I spoke to them and they said they had faxed my doctor to ask for a prescription to be faxed back to them. Now, I don't really know why my family physician needs to fax a prescription to the agency that prescribed the drug for me in the first place. That seems convoluted and pointless. But whatever. That's the process. I mentioned that I would be in the area on Thursday and could pop by to pick up my pills.
So this morning I did my promised pop by and discovered that my physician had not yet sent over the prescription. I was not surprised. Their fax machine seems like more of a slot machine than anything else. Push the button and maybe you'll get lucky or maybe not. I have had three - THREE - referrals go astray from this clinic. So I mentioned that sometimes they faxed things and they weren't received, or sometimes they forget to fax things. The pharmacist said she would follow up.
Later that morning I got a call from the pharmacist. Our conversation was slightly surreal. It seems my family doctor - who was covering for my other doctor who went on mat leave and never came back - is now on mat leave herself. (How did I not notice she was pregnant the last time I saw her?) There are two other doctors covering for her now. The pharmacist asked if one of them would fax the prescription. The receptionist said, "They may or may not. They may want her to come in."
As you can imagine, the pharmacist was quite confused by this response. So she asked a very logical follow up question: "How will I know if they are going to refill the prescription?" And the response from the clinic was this (and I swear I am not making this crap up): "If you get a fax from us, then you'll know."
So many, many things wrong with this. First, is there a time frame for making this decision? Because you know...as a cancer patient, I might like to know if I'm going to get my life saving medication or not. Second, what exactly is this debate about? My oncologist put me on this medication. It is recommended in the clinical pathway. Are they going to say "nah, we're not going to let you have it anymore". Of course not, that would be ridiculous even for them. So then what's the hold up? Why the dithering? And third, if history is any indication then the absence of a fax is not a surefire indication is hasn't been sent. Because in case I haven't mentioned this before, they SUCK at sending things by fax.
I will admit I was furiously angry when the pharmacist relayed this to me. The only thing that made me feel better was that she was just as shocked as I was. (And I'm sure she didn't appreciate the suggestion that she should keep on checking the fax machine to see if anything had come through. That is ludicrous.) But angry or not, I needed the medication and I couldn't wait around to see if they were going to fax it in or not. After I got off the phone with the cancer agency, I called the clinic.
And the patient-centred care continued! I asked for an appointment and the receptionist let me know that my doctor was on mat leave and I was being covered by two other doctors. I asked for an appointment to get a refill on a prescription. And then this exchange happened:
Receptionist: Do you need that prescription soon?
Me: Yes. (*seriously? do they think people call in for refill appointments a year ahead of time?*)
Receptionist: *laughing* They're really busy.
Me: When is the next available appointment? Is there anything next week?
Receptionist: You're in luck, there's a spot on Monday.
Oh yes, lucky is just how I was feeling! By now I was seething and not at my best self (as Oprah would say). I booked the appointment. The receptionist followed that up with, "You'll be seeing Dr. P. Remember her name because she'll be your doctor until May."
And that was it. I knew I couldn't keep going with this clinic. I don't ask for much. Lord knows, only an idiot would stay with the clinic that lost an urgent MRI referral. I should have left then but I didn't. But I was ready now. So I responded (with a wee bit of snark, which I'm not proud of), "Yes, she'll be my doctor until I find another clinic. Thanks."
With that, I hung up the phone and looked to see which clinics were taking new patients. I found a few in the general area and did some googling. (Thank you, RateMyMD. I take those reviews with a grain of salt but they are helpful to get a sense of what people like or don't like about a practice.) Tomorrow I have a meet and greet with the person I hope will become my new physician. Blind dates aren't easy. But on the bright side - it would take a hell of a lot for it to be worse service than my old clinic. Fingers crossed, here's hoping it's a match!