Damn, gotta love Jennifer and Leslie. I have had a problem lately with patients' leaving. It has been frustrating, but I have decided to fight back. Like Leslie, I am no longer taking rude crap from patients. It will take very little to fire them. The mother of the four above called my office to tell me she was taking her kid to the ED, because "she doesn't like me or my office." Uh...OK. So, I sent her a letter. So today she has the gall to call my office and ask what the result of the RSV test was. So my nurse told her even though I would have told her to call the ED. Then she tells the nurse that I like you, but I don't like anyone else there. So, I sent her another letter telling her to ask her new doctor what her results are.
And, consultants. Holy cow! I sent a patient to our local peds surgeon. She thought the left sided pain was due to scoliosis so she referred MY patient to the orthopedist without even telling me. I shouldn't be surprised -- consultants do this all the time. So the orthopedic surgeon sees her and says it is pulmonary, sends a note back to the surgeon and does not copy me recommending pulmonary to look at this pain on the left side. I finally called the mom and stopped all this. She goes to see Dr. Lauer tomorrow.
But, I know what you mean, Leslie. Nothing is more frustrating than a consultant asking for records to decide if the consult is necessary. The consult is necessary, because I think the patient needs the consult. Period.
