Have You Ever Quit Seeing a Doctor Because of the Staff?

[KathleenL]

In a previous thread, I had posted that I am scheduled for cataract surgery towards the end of October. I saw the ophthalmologist on the afternoon of July 31. When the Dr. was done examining & talking to me, he walked me up to the front desk and said that the surgical coordinator would now talk to me & get me scheduled. But, I was then informed by another staff person that the surgical coordinator had already left for the day. (This irked me - why leave early when you know the doctor is seeing a patient that likely will need to be scheduled for surgery?) I was told she would call me "first thing tomorrow morning."

The following day (August 1), she still had not called me by 3:00 in the afternoon, so I called her (I had been given her card with her direct number). She said that she was with a patient and would call me in 15 to 20 minutes. I called her again at 4:45, as it was nearly quitting time and she still had not called. We talked for less than 10 minutes, and she scheduled me for the first eye to be done towards the end of October (!), and the second eye to be done the last week of November (!) and said she would be e-mailing me a bunch of paperwork the next morning (I guess because it was close to quitting time) and that there would be some forms that I would need to sign and send back to her. Again, this was on August 1st.

On August 8th I sent her an e-mail (her e-mail address is on her business card), saying that I still hadn't received the paperwork she was supposed to e-mail, and that by e-mailing her, it would make sure that she correctly had my e-mail address. I have received no response to that message.

On August 20th I called her again because I still had not received the e-mail with the paperwork. Again, she said she was "with another patient" and would call me back in 15 minutes. An hour later I called her again. She offered several excuses as to why she hadn't yet sent the paperwork, and then said, "I give you my word I will e-mail it to you no later than first thing tomorrow morning."

You guessed it - she didn't.

Then, on Tuesday of this week, September 10, she called me. I heard my phone ring, but couldn't see the screen to see who was calling, so I didn't answer, and the call went to voicemail. She left a voicemail message that said, in part, "I was calling to let you know that I am sending you that e-mail today with all of the patient paperwork..." But it's now Thursday afternoon and she still hasn't sent it!

This doctor uses the same online portal that all of my other doctors use - the MyChart by Epic thing - and I see that this woman has scheduled me for the post-op appointments without discussing dates/times with me at all. I know that the first post-op appointment is always the day after surgery, but she's got me down for three post-op appointments after the first surgery, and two after the second surgery. When we were scheduling the surgeries, I emphatically told her that early mornings are NOT good for me for many reasons, which include where I live and where I need to be for the surgery and post-op appointments. The three post-op appointments for the first surgery are scheduled for 11:50am, 12:45pm, and 8:15am (which, by the way, conflicts with an appointment I have for an MRI of my cervical spine, and she can see that appointment in the online system); and the post-op appointments for the second surgery are scheduled for 7:45am and 1:50pm. To be there at 7:45am would mean leaving my house no later than 6:30am. Uh, no.

While I have faith in the doctor's skills and abilities to do a great cataract surgery, I am so incredibly frustrated with this woman who is the surgical coordinator that I am ready to say "to heck with it" and go elsewhere. I should note, too, that my husband sees another ophthalmologist in the same office for his glaucoma, and he, too, has had problems with the office staff.

I realize this has been an epic rant, for which I apologize, but I have so little tolerance for stupidity and outright incompetence. What would you do? Would you just grin and bear it, or would you say buh-bye?