Aa
An Oxymoron...Canadian Healthcare
Hubby has a bad back...he was sent by Dr. S. on July 15th to have a CT Scan on his back. We went on vacation but the day after we got back I called to make an appointment to specifically get the results of the CT Scan which is what I told the receptionist (who's name ironically is 'Rena' but I will call her moron from here on in and you will soon see why). I was told that Dr. S is on vacation but has an interim dr. covering so we could see her...I agreed. We went to that appointment and when we asked the interim dr. what the CT Scan showed, she looked in the file and there was no report from the CT Scan. She asked the moron to look for the report but moron said she couldn't find it and that it was probably on Dr. S. desk. The interim Dr. told us that she can't look on Dr S. desk because that would be an invasion of privacy...WTF?!!! We left after a totally wasted appointment that he will be paid for regardless.
A week later I called Dr. S. office and got to speak to moron again...I asked her if the CT Scan report was found and she acted like she knew nothing about it. She took the information from me but what she did with it after that, who knows because she said she would call when the report was obtained and I never did get a call from her.
A week after that I called Dr. S. office again and in the midst of the conversation where I had to repeat everything AGAIN, she asked me to hold and covered the receiver with her hand (very unprofessional) and I could hear her ask Dr. S. about the CT Scan and heard him tell her to call the hospital and have them fax over a copy of the report and then get back to me. She came back on the phone and said the same thing that Dr. S. did and said she would return my call.
Well, today after not hearing from moron for yet another week, I called Dr. S. Office. I explained who I was and the receptionist (not moron) said she "knew nothing about it and that Dr. S. (YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ONE) No longer works in this office and his files are no longer here so I can't help you!" I said WHAT??? So where is Dr. S? Do you have a forwarding number or address for him? She said, "I don't know where he went or what new number he has but if you would like I can put your hubby in with Dr. D...
At this point, I have had enough...I said, "You must be nuts if you think I am going to have my hubby see Dr. D., your office is so disorganized and poorly run that we haven't even been able to get the results from a CT Scan done on July 15th...all I can say is that you had better hope that there is nothing serious that has shown up on that CT Scan or your office will be hearing from our lawyer!
So...Canadian Healthcare = Oxymoron...and where is Dr. S.? I haven't got the faintest idea! I am going to call the College of Physicians and Surgeons and see if they know anything...for all I know he might have been deported!
A week later I called Dr. S. office and got to speak to moron again...I asked her if the CT Scan report was found and she acted like she knew nothing about it. She took the information from me but what she did with it after that, who knows because she said she would call when the report was obtained and I never did get a call from her.
A week after that I called Dr. S. office again and in the midst of the conversation where I had to repeat everything AGAIN, she asked me to hold and covered the receiver with her hand (very unprofessional) and I could hear her ask Dr. S. about the CT Scan and heard him tell her to call the hospital and have them fax over a copy of the report and then get back to me. She came back on the phone and said the same thing that Dr. S. did and said she would return my call.
Well, today after not hearing from moron for yet another week, I called Dr. S. Office. I explained who I was and the receptionist (not moron) said she "knew nothing about it and that Dr. S. (YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS ONE) No longer works in this office and his files are no longer here so I can't help you!" I said WHAT??? So where is Dr. S? Do you have a forwarding number or address for him? She said, "I don't know where he went or what new number he has but if you would like I can put your hubby in with Dr. D...
At this point, I have had enough...I said, "You must be nuts if you think I am going to have my hubby see Dr. D., your office is so disorganized and poorly run that we haven't even been able to get the results from a CT Scan done on July 15th...all I can say is that you had better hope that there is nothing serious that has shown up on that CT Scan or your office will be hearing from our lawyer!
So...Canadian Healthcare = Oxymoron...and where is Dr. S.? I haven't got the faintest idea! I am going to call the College of Physicians and Surgeons and see if they know anything...for all I know he might have been deported!
There is a place to file complaints against doctors in the U.S.; I looked into it after a bad experience; wanted to see if there were any complaints against the bad doctor. I discovered that complaints are only available to the general public if there was a malpractice award of over $100,000.
Complaints without sizable court action are kept private, as they are not proven and could harm the doctor. Ahem, what about harming the patient??!!!
Rena, we do have that sort of p-iss-ing contests between doctors down here, too. I had an orthopedic surgeon who did two of my surgeries, Dr. M, and the results of the second were less than optimal. I looked for a referral from my Sports and Spine doctor, who sent me to people that his wife had seen, he knew professionally to be excellent at what was needed by me.
The original orthopedic surgeon had a fit, a genuine foaming at the mouth fit. The surgeon I saw about the knee that Dr. M. had operated on agreed with the spine doc that a kind of surgery would help, but not the one that Dr.H. said would. He said that this Dr. M. had just as much experience with the other surgery, and suggested I go back and see him.
The surgeon I saw about my shoulder told me that it was fine (though MRI showed otherwise), and should I need further care with it, I should go back to Dr.M.
I went to Dr. M. to ask about the knee surgery, and he had a very unprofessional fit about me "Dr. shopping" and said that my knee was in too bad of shape for any kind of surgery; I would have to wait until I could have a total knee replacement. All he could suggest was artificial cartilage injections, and when I made a remark about having Dr. H. do them, he made some very rude comments about Dr. H.'s credentials.
I did question him why he didn't warn me about how bad of shape my knee was in, instead of saying it was in great shape and would last me a long time, when his op notes noted all the damaged cartilage and how many large pieces he removed and smoothed edges. He ignored my question
I mentioned seeing the other surgeon about my shoulder, and that was when the smoke started coming out of his ears!
So, here, they band together, even if one of their elite group has cleaned out so much damaged cartilage that there is no cushion left and every step is painful, and degeneration will progress more rapidly. Dr. H. told me that one of the two other surgeons would be good for a nerve release that could reduce my pain, and I said "Do you think I would be allowed to see him"? Dr. H. shook his head and said something about how weird that all was and he just didn't understand it. He did mention that he had seen Dr. M at some professional event, and he acted all buddy-buddy, like he had forgotten that he had told a patient that he couldn't be trusted with simple procedures.
Rena, I'm glad that the College of Physicians and Surgeons responded so promptly. Maybe I should have filed a complaint, even if it wouldn't have helped any other patients right away. Maybe here if they get enough complaints, they get disciplined in some way.
My insurance company has online access to doctor's visits, insurance charges, etc. You can click on the name of the physician you saw and make an annonymous comment about your visit with them. I made a complaint about the guy that did my traumatic LP. They limited me to 800 letters, which made it very difficult!
Love and hugs,
Kathy
Complaints without sizable court action are kept private, as they are not proven and could harm the doctor. Ahem, what about harming the patient??!!!
Rena, we do have that sort of p-iss-ing contests between doctors down here, too. I had an orthopedic surgeon who did two of my surgeries, Dr. M, and the results of the second were less than optimal. I looked for a referral from my Sports and Spine doctor, who sent me to people that his wife had seen, he knew professionally to be excellent at what was needed by me.
The original orthopedic surgeon had a fit, a genuine foaming at the mouth fit. The surgeon I saw about the knee that Dr. M. had operated on agreed with the spine doc that a kind of surgery would help, but not the one that Dr.H. said would. He said that this Dr. M. had just as much experience with the other surgery, and suggested I go back and see him.
The surgeon I saw about my shoulder told me that it was fine (though MRI showed otherwise), and should I need further care with it, I should go back to Dr.M.
I went to Dr. M. to ask about the knee surgery, and he had a very unprofessional fit about me "Dr. shopping" and said that my knee was in too bad of shape for any kind of surgery; I would have to wait until I could have a total knee replacement. All he could suggest was artificial cartilage injections, and when I made a remark about having Dr. H. do them, he made some very rude comments about Dr. H.'s credentials.
I did question him why he didn't warn me about how bad of shape my knee was in, instead of saying it was in great shape and would last me a long time, when his op notes noted all the damaged cartilage and how many large pieces he removed and smoothed edges. He ignored my question
I mentioned seeing the other surgeon about my shoulder, and that was when the smoke started coming out of his ears!
So, here, they band together, even if one of their elite group has cleaned out so much damaged cartilage that there is no cushion left and every step is painful, and degeneration will progress more rapidly. Dr. H. told me that one of the two other surgeons would be good for a nerve release that could reduce my pain, and I said "Do you think I would be allowed to see him"? Dr. H. shook his head and said something about how weird that all was and he just didn't understand it. He did mention that he had seen Dr. M at some professional event, and he acted all buddy-buddy, like he had forgotten that he had told a patient that he couldn't be trusted with simple procedures.
Rena, I'm glad that the College of Physicians and Surgeons responded so promptly. Maybe I should have filed a complaint, even if it wouldn't have helped any other patients right away. Maybe here if they get enough complaints, they get disciplined in some way.
My insurance company has online access to doctor's visits, insurance charges, etc. You can click on the name of the physician you saw and make an annonymous comment about your visit with them. I made a complaint about the guy that did my traumatic LP. They limited me to 800 letters, which made it very difficult!
Love and hugs,
Kathy
I wasn't sure about it either but I figured that something had to be done to keep others from having to deal with this garbage...Dr. S. is Phillipino and a lot of his patients are newcomers to Canada and only speak Tagalog (Phillipines language) so if they had to try to find Dr. S, with the language barrier I can only imagine the difficulty they would have. I am sure that there must be something similar in the US because as far as I am concerned for society to let anyone with as much power as dr.'s have are run amok and run themselves would only be asking for trouble...obviously we have this to keep the docs in line and even then they misbehave regularly because they are only human after all. I would ask Quix about this but there must be a body that provides the doctors with their certificates that state it is legal for them to practice medicine in the USA.
Are you feeling any better today honey? How is the cough?
Lots of Hugs,
Rena
Are you feeling any better today honey? How is the cough?
Lots of Hugs,
Rena
Wow, you go girl! I had not clue that the College of Physicians and Surgeons would be so nice and prompt about handling such things.... I hope that they are able to grab both doc's and tell them exactly how to handle their office staff and make them behave!
Do we have such a thing here in the US that will handle our doc's?
Smiles!!!!
~Sunnytoday~
Do we have such a thing here in the US that will handle our doc's?
Smiles!!!!
~Sunnytoday~
Oops...I was so incensed at the situation with hubby's dr. yesterday I put the dr.'s names in my post by mistake...first time for that...not much I can do now I guess. I did get a response from the College of Physicians and Surgeons and they are going to send a copy of my complaint to both doctors and will expect a response explaining their behaviour and they will contact me when they receive that. They agreed that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable and that they were glad that I notified them so that hopefully they can stop other patients from having to deal with this ridiculous situation. I hope it helps and no one else has to deal the immature staff at Dr. S.'s old office.
Rena (not the moron receptionist) hehe
Rena (not the moron receptionist) hehe
as I read that I am remembering that we also lived through a doctor practice split twice - once with our GP and the other with my husband Ortho surgeon. Let me tell you I think it is worse than a divorce - really bitter from the party that was left.
I'm glad to hear that you found the good guy doctor at least.
And pat your husband on the back for dealing with Moron in a straight way!
Be well,
Laura
I'm glad to hear that you found the good guy doctor at least.
And pat your husband on the back for dealing with Moron in a straight way!
Be well,
Laura
Well...I called a friend of mine that sees this same Dr. S and he said that he received a card from Dr. S when he saw him about 2 weeks ago and at that time he was told that he would be leaving that clinic and moving to a new one...
So...I called the new clinic and asked if Dr. S. is working there and she said yes. I told her that I had called the old clinic to get the results from a CT Scan and was told that Dr. S. doesn't work there anymore and that they didn't know where he went and they didn't have a forwarding phone number. She told me that the old clinic is pretty upset that Dr. S. is leaving so that is why they are behaving that way.
So...in Canada if you are a doctor and you do something to another doctor that pisses them off, they can have a temper tantrum and say well if you are going to leave this practice I'm not going to tell anyone where you went and I will offer my services and then you will lose all your patients...so there...nyah,nyah, nyah, nah!
What an incredibly unprofessional way to behave and who is going to suffer because of the foolish, childish games...the patients of course! I spent most of the day trying to figure out where this fool went and then after we found out where he went, hubby couldn't believe that this was happening so HE called the old office. Of course Rena (the moron receptionist) answered the call and he told her who he was and that he had a CT Scan done in July and would like the results. She put him on hold and came back and asked which doctor had this done and he told her Dr. S. and he isn't here anymore. Hubby asked her where he is and she responded that she has no phone number for him and no address but that Dr. D. would see him if he wanted. Hubby was not quite as nice to her as I was and he did use a few expletives but I couldn't blame him. He told her that if she was capable of doing the job she apparently was getting paid to do, Dr. S probably would have stayed but since she is a complete and utter moron and is incapable of a simple task like calling to have a result faxed from the hospital and returning my wife's calls more than 3 times, he is glad that Dr. Sarria left because at least he is away from her! He also asked to speak to Dr. D. but of course she wouldn't let him because she knew darn well that hubby was going to tell her what he thought of his employee.
I did write another email to the College of Physicians and Surgeons to update my complaint about this situation. This to me is a very unprofessional way of handling this situation. When I spoke to the receptionist at Dr. Sarria's new clinic she stated that "the people at Dr. Sarria's old clinic are not happy that he left that clinic and moved to this one." To me this signifies hard feelings between two colleagues and that the patients are being used as pawns. I cannot see how this behaviour would benefit any patient caught in this fiasco and I believe that it should be nipped in the bud, so to speak, so that all of Dr. Sarria's patients have the option of either staying with Dr. Danial or moving along with Dr. Sarria. This appears to me to be a form of blackmail to keep patients at Dr. Danial's clinic and I don't approve of having to be caught in the middle of it all...we are patients and deserve to be treated with more respect and regard for our health.
So I guess this is just another day in the circus I call life with Canadian Healthcare! Boy, won't tomorrow be boring??? hehe
Rena (not the moron) hehe
So...I called the new clinic and asked if Dr. S. is working there and she said yes. I told her that I had called the old clinic to get the results from a CT Scan and was told that Dr. S. doesn't work there anymore and that they didn't know where he went and they didn't have a forwarding phone number. She told me that the old clinic is pretty upset that Dr. S. is leaving so that is why they are behaving that way.
So...in Canada if you are a doctor and you do something to another doctor that pisses them off, they can have a temper tantrum and say well if you are going to leave this practice I'm not going to tell anyone where you went and I will offer my services and then you will lose all your patients...so there...nyah,nyah, nyah, nah!
What an incredibly unprofessional way to behave and who is going to suffer because of the foolish, childish games...the patients of course! I spent most of the day trying to figure out where this fool went and then after we found out where he went, hubby couldn't believe that this was happening so HE called the old office. Of course Rena (the moron receptionist) answered the call and he told her who he was and that he had a CT Scan done in July and would like the results. She put him on hold and came back and asked which doctor had this done and he told her Dr. S. and he isn't here anymore. Hubby asked her where he is and she responded that she has no phone number for him and no address but that Dr. D. would see him if he wanted. Hubby was not quite as nice to her as I was and he did use a few expletives but I couldn't blame him. He told her that if she was capable of doing the job she apparently was getting paid to do, Dr. S probably would have stayed but since she is a complete and utter moron and is incapable of a simple task like calling to have a result faxed from the hospital and returning my wife's calls more than 3 times, he is glad that Dr. Sarria left because at least he is away from her! He also asked to speak to Dr. D. but of course she wouldn't let him because she knew darn well that hubby was going to tell her what he thought of his employee.
I did write another email to the College of Physicians and Surgeons to update my complaint about this situation. This to me is a very unprofessional way of handling this situation. When I spoke to the receptionist at Dr. Sarria's new clinic she stated that "the people at Dr. Sarria's old clinic are not happy that he left that clinic and moved to this one." To me this signifies hard feelings between two colleagues and that the patients are being used as pawns. I cannot see how this behaviour would benefit any patient caught in this fiasco and I believe that it should be nipped in the bud, so to speak, so that all of Dr. Sarria's patients have the option of either staying with Dr. Danial or moving along with Dr. Sarria. This appears to me to be a form of blackmail to keep patients at Dr. Danial's clinic and I don't approve of having to be caught in the middle of it all...we are patients and deserve to be treated with more respect and regard for our health.
So I guess this is just another day in the circus I call life with Canadian Healthcare! Boy, won't tomorrow be boring??? hehe
Rena (not the moron) hehe
My jaw has dropped and that's not a symptom of MS! I am amazed that you have gone through so much just to get a simple CT scan result.
In Canada do you have legal rights to your records like we have here in the States? If so I would gather copies of everything you can remember having done and keep them in a safe but convenient place. I have a portable file box that I have started this year and have every CT result, MRI films, blood test and correspondence with my doctors that has taken place.
If my records disappeared with a missing doctor, I would have to scream loud and clearly, and probably in the direction of a good attorney to help me recover those things.
Good luck in tracking the scumbag down - and I wouldn't count on moron for any extra help! :-)
Be well,
Laura
In Canada do you have legal rights to your records like we have here in the States? If so I would gather copies of everything you can remember having done and keep them in a safe but convenient place. I have a portable file box that I have started this year and have every CT result, MRI films, blood test and correspondence with my doctors that has taken place.
If my records disappeared with a missing doctor, I would have to scream loud and clearly, and probably in the direction of a good attorney to help me recover those things.
Good luck in tracking the scumbag down - and I wouldn't count on moron for any extra help! :-)
Be well,
Laura
What...he just disappeared...well, they are supposed to have someone notifiy the patients are too where their files are sent....I would not let this one go...boy oh boy...what people are supposed to put up with...auuughhhh
sorry,,, venting...too
andi
sorry,,, venting...too
andi
Well, shoot! That is truly bizzare and frustrating! Did you ever hear of the show, House? Maybe Dr. S. was prescribing himself too much medicine and had to go into treatment, ha ha. I just hope that his records were put safely away somewhere, no matter why he disappeared.
Can you get the CT Scan and report from the hospital, so you will have your own copies when you find a new doctor in a competently run office? That way you won't have to count on them keeping track of your records.
You should see my notebook of lab reports, MRIs, CTs, Xrays, radiologist's reports, other test results, etc. It's huge, and I still have files of information to put in another notebook. I won't be caught without my records again! Of course, getting a doctor to read reports ordered by another doctor is a whole different story!
I hope that the CT scan doesn't show anything serious.
Hugs,
Kathy
Can you get the CT Scan and report from the hospital, so you will have your own copies when you find a new doctor in a competently run office? That way you won't have to count on them keeping track of your records.
You should see my notebook of lab reports, MRIs, CTs, Xrays, radiologist's reports, other test results, etc. It's huge, and I still have files of information to put in another notebook. I won't be caught without my records again! Of course, getting a doctor to read reports ordered by another doctor is a whole different story!
I hope that the CT scan doesn't show anything serious.
Hugs,
Kathy
OMG!!! It just never ends does it!?! I don't know how you put up with all you do, you are a much better person than me. I'm afraid I would have already had a b u t t kicking party!!!
Maybe you can track that dr down, but if not, can't you call the hospital where the test was done and get a copy for yourself? Good luck, sweet lady, I am sorry the troubles keep mounting.
As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs
doni
Maybe you can track that dr down, but if not, can't you call the hospital where the test was done and get a copy for yourself? Good luck, sweet lady, I am sorry the troubles keep mounting.
As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Hugs
doni
Well I sent an email to the college of physicians and surgeons and I am sure that I am not the only one...where this heck did this guy go and WHY wouldn't he leave a forwarding phone number or address...seems to me that he may be either running away from something or hiding? And where are all his files? I don't like the idea of a personal file like that floating around in space somewhere if ya know what I mean. Hmmmmm
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