A Tale of Two Doctors

Carolyn had appointments with two of her Doctors today.  The first was with her primary care provider.  I'm gonna tell you a little about it, and let you make some sort of judgment of this Professional Provider of Care.

We walked into the clinic five minutes before our appointment.  Promptness is a trait both Carolyn and I share, and even though it takes almost two hours to prepare her to leave the house, we are always on time.  I consider it an act of courtesy and respect for the person who we are to meet. 

I sat Carolyn in a chair and approached the reception desk. 

"Yes!  What do you want!"

"Carolyn has an appointment today."

"Well, go sit down.   We'll call you."

Twenty minutes later we were led into an exam room where we spent another twenty minutes waiting on the Doctor to show up.  When she did, she walked in empty handed, no notes, no charts, no files, no nothing.  "Well, what can we do for you today." 

Understand, she had made the appointment, and we had been called and told to come in.  I thought there was something important and that she wanted to share it with us.  Luckily, there was something we needed from her.  Earlier this month we had seen Carolyn's Neurologist, a very thorough and caring Physician, and he had asked us about what Carolyn's Primary Care Dr. had done about something he had discovered during an exam four months previously.  "Well, we told her you had found something and she felt the area you mentioned to us," I told him, "She said don't worry about it."  He actually rocked back in his chair.  "I'm gonna give you a copy of the results both she and I received,"  he said,  "And I want you to hand it to her yourselves the next time you go."

I handed her the paper he had given us and said he wanted to be sure she read the part he had circled in red.  We also asked her when the "Welcome to Medicare" physical we had requested when we last saw her four months ago was going to be scheduled.  Appearing puzzled, she asked what we wanted to have checked.  "What tests do you need?" she asked. 

"Ya know, we really don't know.", I said.  "You're the Doctor.  Have you read her charts?  Can you give us an idea what she needs to have checked?" 

"She's got a long history.  I really haven't read it." 

I was floored.  I told her to give me the charts, I'd read them and see if there was anything I could find and we'd get back to her.

"Oh, no, I can't do that.  I'll tell you what.  I'll look through them and order some tests.  Also, I'm going to refer you to a specialist to look at the thing your Neurologist pointed out.  We really should do that soon.  Oh, another thing.  When was her last tetanus shot?  And has she had a shingles vaccination?'"

I told her to look in Carolyn's records.  We really had no idea.  I never accompanied Carolyn to her appointments before two years ago, and she absolutely is unable to recall.  "OK," she said.  "I'll have our assistant set up the appointment with the specialist and administer a pneumonia shot."  Then she left.

About eight minutes later the assistant came in with the appointment information.  We did not prepare to leave and she looked questioningly at us.  "The Doctor's finshed.  It's OK to leave now."   I asked about the pneumonia vaccine Carolyn was to receive.  "Oh!  I forgot!  Just a minute, I'll be right back."

I will swear upon the highest stack of Bibles you can round up that this is a factual account of the care Carolyn received today.  And you know what?  Thre's nothing we can do about it.  This Doctor is the only female practitioner of medicine who accepts new Medicare patients in the area.  If I had the time, I'd go back to school so I could better care for her.  But, it takes most of my time to care for her now. 

Here's how her other appointment went.

We walked in to the office and were greeted by name.  "Hi Forrest.  Hi, Carolyn.  How are you?" 

"We're great.  We're here to see about more medications for her eyes." 

"Oh, yes.  We know.  Tammy will take you right back."

We were left alone in the exam room for less than two minutes.  The Doctor came in, exchanged pleasantries, and examined her.  He asked if there were any new problems, inquired about how her medications were working and wrote a new prescription.  "I'll have the receptionist set another appointment in three months,"  he said,  "Call me if you experience any difficulty before then." 

Medicare pays both these Doctors the same amount for the appointments.  And we are concerned with teachers unions that protect teachers who can't teach?  How about Doctors who can't practice medicine?