Crazy medical office policy on FAA medicals

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Midlothian, TX
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3Green
My 3rd class expires end of January. Called today to arrange my physical. First available appointment is February 2nd. I say I'll take it. Front desk lady takes my name, date of birth, and can't find me in their system.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"Yes. Dr. T----- has done every medical for me since I moved to Texas in 98... three or four of them."

"Well, you're not in our computer." <silence>

"Uh, that's not my problem! Let me pull out my current medical... I saw Dr. T---- 12/xx/2007, his designation is x-xxxxxx."

"Well, you're not in here."

"OK, maybe you guys got a new computer system since my last visit?"

"Yes, we did. And it drops patients if they've not been seen in two years."

"OK, that makes sense. Let me give you my info, and we'll set up that appointment."

"I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because Dr. T----- isn't accepting new patients for FAA medicals."

"I'm not a new patient; I've been seeing Dr. T for my medicals since 98, and he's the only one I've seen."

"You're considered a new patient once our system drops you out of the computer, and it does that after two years."

"Well, that's a silly policy, considering an FAA 3rd class medical lasts longer than two years. Are you saying he won't see me now?"

"Let me talk to our office manager. Please hold."

<me: thumps fingers, feels BP rising>

"Sir, I can't schedule you, you're a new patient now. If you wish to leave your number, I'll have the doctor call you and you can discuss it with him."

As sure as you can flip a float plane by landing with the amphib gear down, I gave my cell number to Brenda... I've gotta hear how the Dr. justifies this one.

Oh, and she was sounding "purturbed" at ME over this... WTH?
 
I'll bet you haven't been putting the right cover sheets on your TPS reports either.
 
Sounds like you need to find yourself a new AME.
 
Are you seriously trying to tell me there is only one AME in all of Fort Worth Texas? Whadya care which one gives you the little $100 slip of paper? You can come here. The AME I go to is smokin' hot.
 
My husband got notification from his Dr of many years that they're now going to a membership arrangement. You get to pay him $60/mo to be his patient/member.....isn't that special. Oh, and this is a special Charter rate that won't change for 2 years since he's a current patient. :skeptical:
 
We had a similar situation here a few years ago.

We moved into the area and about 6 months later our son was sick -- high fever, etc.

Janet called the recommended by insurance medical conglomerate.

Phone Lady: "Bring him in..."

Load sick kid into car, drive down, go in, wait, fill out lots of forms, wait.

Phony Nurse sits in the window Lady: "Thanks -- we'll be calling in 6 to 8 weeks to let you know if there's room on the patient list..."



(Where's the volcano smiley?)







Yeah -- it wasn't pretty.
 
dmccormack said:
We had a similar situation here a few years ago.

We moved into the area and about 6 months later our son was sick -- high fever, etc.

Janet called the recommended by insurance medical conglomerate.

Phone Lady: "Bring him in..."

Load sick kid into car, drive down, go in, wait, fill out lots of forms, wait.

Phony Nurse sits in the window Lady: "Thanks -- we'll be calling in 6 to 8 weeks to let you know if there's room on the patient list..."



(Where's the volcano smiley?)







Yeah -- it wasn't pretty.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a preview of Obamacare.........:rolleyes2:
 
The office staff probably thinks they are doing the right thing but the physician might not even know what they are telling the patients. This has happened at my office more than once. I will call the patient to apologize after setting the office staff straight. A change in the office like a new electronic medical record system is enough of a catalyst to set this off. Another issue is that most AMEs are primary care physicians who have often been squeezed financially. The costs of running a practice keep rising while reimbursements are staying constant or even falling. Not an excuse, just a fact of life in medicine.
If you can get past the reception desk you should be able to get a message to your AME or his nurse, otherwise look for a new AME.
 
I wonder what the Regional or Federal Flight Surgeon's office would say if they heard one of their designees was arbitrarily refusing to perform examinations based on last exam date.
 
Troy:

Gabriel Fried, MD.

Easy drive to Dallas once every two years (yeah, yeah, I know, I'm old).

Great guy.

13740 Midway Rd., Ste. 610. Dallas, TX 75244 972-361-0155.
 
Gary F said:
The office staff probably thinks they are doing the right thing but the physician might not even know what they are telling the patients. This has happened at my office more than once. I will call the patient to apologize after setting the office staff straight. A change in the office like a new electronic medical record system is enough of a catalyst to set this off. Another issue is that most AMEs are primary care physicians who have often been squeezed financially. The costs of running a practice keep rising while reimbursements are staying constant or even falling. Not an excuse, just a fact of life in medicine.
If you can get past the reception desk you should be able to get a message to your AME or his nurse, otherwise look for a new AME.
Click to expand...

I have got to agree with Gary F. ( Take note Gary thats twice your in agreement with an attorney:wink2:) I am betting the Doc told the staff no new FAA medical patients and they just made the rest up on their own. I'm beting you get an apology from the doc right after he slaps himself in the forehead, rolls his eyes back and lets out a deep sigh. In my dads medical practice he would really want to hear about these snafus so he could fix them.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
My 3rd class expires end of January. Called today to arrange my physical. First available appointment is February 2nd. I say I'll take it. Front desk lady takes my name, date of birth, and can't find me in their system.

"Have you ever been here before?"

"Yes. Dr. T----- has done every medical for me since I moved to Texas in 98... three or four of them."

"Well, you're not in our computer." <silence>

"Uh, that's not my problem! Let me pull out my current medical... I saw Dr. T---- 12/xx/2007, his designation is x-xxxxxx."

"Well, you're not in here."

"OK, maybe you guys got a new computer system since my last visit?"

"Yes, we did. And it drops patients if they've not been seen in two years."

"OK, that makes sense. Let me give you my info, and we'll set up that appointment."

"I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because Dr. T----- isn't accepting new patients for FAA medicals."

"I'm not a new patient; I've been seeing Dr. T for my medicals since 98, and he's the only one I've seen."

"You're considered a new patient once our system drops you out of the computer, and it does that after two years."

"Well, that's a silly policy, considering an FAA 3rd class medical lasts longer than two years. Are you saying he won't see me now?"

"Let me talk to our office manager. Please hold."

<me: thumps fingers, feels BP rising>

"Sir, I can't schedule you, you're a new patient now. If you wish to leave your number, I'll have the doctor call you and you can discuss it with him."

As sure as you can flip a float plane by landing with the amphib gear down, I gave my cell number to Brenda... I've gotta hear how the Dr. justifies this one.

Oh, and she was sounding "purturbed" at ME over this... WTH?
Click to expand...

You would be genuinely amazed how many docs dont know what their office managers are doing.

Looks like he's not interested in third class medicals, only 1st and 2nds..

One of two things will happen.. he will override them.. and hopefully fix the issue... or you will get blown off and he might get lots of bad press about that.
 
Make sure you talk to the doc. Office staff has a way of making up 'policies' as they go along. Medicals are decent money as primary care practices go, why anyone would want to turn away an easy-squeezy third class just to see 5 drug seekers on medicaid in the same time (while getting paid pennies) is beyond me.
 
dmccormack said:
::cue the Canadians::

It's not that bad, eh? My mum only had to wait 18 months for dialysis...
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When my daughter was 3 months old, my family doc in Calgary told us she needed to see an audiologist because she wasn't reacting to sounds...kind of a critical phase for language development.

So, that's fine...we went out to the receptionist and she said they'd make the referral and someone would contact us in 3-6 months to tell us when the appointment would be.:hairraise:

I got on the interwebs and found a pediatric audiologist in Kalispel, MT (about 5 hour drive across the line) who could see us two days later...I remember it vividly because we were going through Marias Pass, and there had been trucks overturned earlier in the day with 100 mph wind gusts in that pass.:hairraise::hairraise:

The guy never even charged us for the examination...the good news was our daughter was just very calm...in the testing, she reacted to all the sounds, but very, very subtly.
 
weilke said:
Office staff has a way of making up 'policies' as they go along.
Click to expand...
It's not just in doctor's offices either. I think the hardest people to deal with are other people's "personal assistants"...
 
SCCutler said:
Troy:

Gabriel Fried, MD.

Easy drive to Dallas once every two years (yeah, yeah, I know, I'm old).

Great guy.

13740 Midway Rd., Ste. 610. Dallas, TX 75244 972-361-0155.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Spike! Red (my wife) said "you need to talk to Spike and Dave and find out who they use". ;)

I also like the "Peoria" answer. I have a long solo X/C commercial flight that needs to be done, anyway. Can't do it before end of January, though.
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Thanks, Spike! Red (my wife) said "you need to talk to Spike and Dave and find out who they use". ;)

I also like the "Peoria" answer. I have a long solo X/C commercial flight that needs to be done, anyway. Can't do it before end of January, though.
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Troy you'd be welcome here.

You know, docs are kinda like chimpanzees in the lab. For a generation we have been pushing on the lever (the insurance company) and the cage dispenses a pill.

Recently the pill is getting much smaller. Even more recently the pill has started to taste badly.

Docs had better WAKE UP. Pretty soon we're going back to negotiated cash medicine, if you want to get any after 2014.

My contact info is at the website in my sig. line, and if you do your long XC to 3MY, I'm ON THE FIELD. We also have part 121 air service.
 
bbchien said:
Troy you'd be welcome here.

You know, docs are kinda like chimpanzees in the lab. For a generation we have been pushing on the lever (the insurance company) and the cage dispenses a pill.

Recently the pill is getting much smaller. Even more recently the pill has started to taste badly.

Docs had better WAKE UP. Pretty soon we're going back to negotiated cash medicine, if you want to get any after 2014.

My contact info is at the website in my sig. line, and if you do your long XC to 3MY, I'm ON THE FIELD. We also have part 121 air service.
Click to expand...
You have part 121 to 3MY? Wow! Hope I didn't cross any snow-covered red boxes when I visited yesterday! And Troy, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better AME than Dr. Bruce Chien!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Thanks, Spike! Red (my wife) said "you need to talk to Spike and Dave and find out who they use". ;)

I also like the "Peoria" answer. I have a long solo X/C commercial flight that needs to be done, anyway. Can't do it before end of January, though.
Click to expand...
If you get your exam from a new AME consider sending your old AME a letter marked personal and confidential and tell him you were disappointed that his office staff would not allow you to make another appointment with him and that you had to go elsewhere for your 3rd class certificate.


bbchien said:
Troy you'd be welcome here.
You know, docs are kinda like chimpanzees in the lab. For a generation we have been pushing on the lever (the insurance company) and the cage dispenses a pill.

Recently the pill is getting much smaller. Even more recently the pill has started to taste badly.
Click to expand...
I have not had big problems with commercial insurance but Medicare/Medicaid is another story. Government insurance is becoming a true nightmare and this is before Obamacare kicks in.
bbchien said:
Docs had better WAKE UP. Pretty soon we're going back to negotiated cash medicine, if you want to get any after 2014.
Click to expand...
Massachusetts is considering yanking the license of any physician who refuses to participate in it's state run health care program. I predict a huge increase in early retirements. The experience the OP had here is only the beginning. I think government planners expect that patient rage will be directed at physicians and not the government for the inevitable problems obtaining medical services.
 
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Gary F said:
If you get your exam from a new AME consider sending your old AME a letter marked personal and confidential and tell him you were disappointed that his office staff would not allow you to make another appointment with him and that you had to go elsewhere for your 3rd class certificate.
Click to expand...

Does that keep the office staff from opening it? I don't have a direct line to him, so I'm hoping he calls me back from the number I left with Brenda. I agree with others--I don't think he's aware of the policy his front desk staff is enforcing. I'd rather reach him and give him a chance to make it right before going to another AME, but I'll switch if I have to... probably to Spike's suggestion. As much as I'd like to fly to Peoria, that's just not in the cards before end of January.
 
Well, I might get to use Dr. Chien after all!

I had punched the expiration date into LogbookPro as 1/31/2011, but noticed in my paper planner that it said 2012... I had initiated the call to the doctor after the LogbookPro currency alert was issued (33 days remaining).

I was under 40 when my last medical was issued in 2007, so I am able to take advantage of that "5 year" rule this time... not so lucky next time. My medical is good for another year yet...
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Does that keep the office staff from opening it? I don't have a direct line to him, so I'm hoping he calls me back from the number I left with Brenda. I agree with others--I don't think he's aware of the policy his front desk staff is enforcing. I'd rather reach him and give him a chance to make it right before going to another AME, but I'll switch if I have to... probably to Spike's suggestion. As much as I'd like to fly to Peoria, that's just not in the cards before end of January.
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Not necessarily, but they may be less likely to treat it as junk mail. In my office they open everything. If somebody in his office reads your letter it might get lost when they realize that they did not do him a favor.

The FAA restricts the number of AMEs so I do not see how an AME could refuse to accept new patients for FAA physicals. If the FAA knew about this would they not remove him from the list of AMEs?
 
I had a similar situation over the Christmas holiday. My family and I visited my parents in my hometown. My daughter had a cold, and was complaining of ear pain. We called the urgent care facility in the (relatively small) town. It was 6:50, and they closed at 7pm. They assured us that if we left now, we'd be able to get in. 6 minutes of driving later, we arrived at the urgent care. Drop wife and daughter off. They begin to fill out paperwork.

I head inside, grab my daughter and sit in the waiting area. At exactly 7pm, I see a man in a white lab coat carrying a briefcase slink out the side door. I think to myself... hmmm, I wonder if that was the doctor? Hmmm, maybe that was the doctor... I hope he wasn't the only one on staff.

5 minutes later, my wife is finished with paperwork and sits down. 5 minutes after that, they call our name. Great (right?)... that didn't take too long. Nope, they were informing us that the doctor was no longer there and that we'd have to come back tomorrow for service. Or we can drive the 15-20 minutes into the neighboring community to go to the ER at the hospital.

:mad2:




dmccormack said:
We had a similar situation here a few years ago.

We moved into the area and about 6 months later our son was sick -- high fever, etc.

Janet called the recommended by insurance medical conglomerate.

Phone Lady: "Bring him in..."

Load sick kid into car, drive down, go in, wait, fill out lots of forms, wait.

Phony Nurse sits in the window Lady: "Thanks -- we'll be calling in 6 to 8 weeks to let you know if there's room on the patient list..."



(Where's the volcano smiley?)







Yeah -- it wasn't pretty.
Click to expand...
 
Dr. Chien,

Email sent via your website. I have two additional pilots who I expect will be in contact for your services. Nice to know you are there for us. :fcross:

bbchien said:
Troy you'd be welcome here.

You know, docs are kinda like chimpanzees in the lab. For a generation we have been pushing on the lever (the insurance company) and the cage dispenses a pill.

Recently the pill is getting much smaller. Even more recently the pill has started to taste badly.

Docs had better WAKE UP. Pretty soon we're going back to negotiated cash medicine, if you want to get any after 2014.

My contact info is at the website in my sig. line, and if you do your long XC to 3MY, I'm ON THE FIELD. We also have part 121 air service.
Click to expand...
 
nyoung said:
I had a similar situation over the Christmas holiday. My family and I visited my parents in my hometown. My daughter had a cold, and was complaining of ear pain. We called the urgent care facility in the (relatively small) town. It was 6:50, and they closed at 7pm. They assured us that if we left now, we'd be able to get in. 6 minutes of driving later, we arrived at the urgent care. Drop wife and daughter off. They begin to fill out paperwork.

I head inside, grab my daughter and sit in the waiting area. At exactly 7pm, I see a man in a white lab coat carrying a briefcase slink out the side door. I think to myself... hmmm, I wonder if that was the doctor? Hmmm, maybe that was the doctor... I hope he wasn't the only one on staff.

5 minutes later, my wife is finished with paperwork and sits down. 5 minutes after that, they call our name. Great (right?)... that didn't take too long. Nope, they were informing us that the doctor was no longer there and that we'd have to come back tomorrow for service. Or we can drive the 15-20 minutes into the neighboring community to go to the ER at the hospital.

:mad2:
Click to expand...

Wow -- I'd have been tossed out of that place after letting the "staff" know exactly where to stick it.

Early in our tenure here my wife found an OB/GYN she was OK with. She went in for a small problem and was given a prescription. Three days later when it still wasn't working she called and asked to see the Doc again.

"Sure"

She went in and learned the main doc was out but the PA was available.

"Ok..."

He told her, "I don't know who prescribed that, but it won't work and you should be on X"

She repeated, "No -- I was hear three days ago and Dr Y -- the Dr Y that I've seeen here in this very room -- prescribed X and I have a prescription with her name on it."

He said she was a liar and walked out.

She called me crying and furious.

I worked nearby. I excused myself, drove down to the office, and asked to see the PA. The window phony-nurse lady claimed he was "Out" -- but I could see him through the window. I let him know I was unimpressed with his methods and would never, ever spend another dime at this quack shop.

The window phony-nurse declared me unfit for civilization and announced she was dialing 911.




When supply is limited the purveyors determine the rules.
 
nyoung said:
I had a similar situation over the Christmas holiday. My family and I visited my parents in my hometown. My daughter had a cold, and was complaining of ear pain. We called the urgent care facility in the (relatively small) town. It was 6:50, and they closed at 7pm. They assured us that if we left now, we'd be able to get in. 6 minutes of driving later, we arrived at the urgent care. Drop wife and daughter off. They begin to fill out paperwork.
Click to expand...

In my never humble opinion, most urgentcare facilities are a scam that exploits existing holes in the current system of care delivery and caters to the expectation of Mc-Medicine in a subset of the general population. The idea was to reduce pressure on the ER system, experience has shown so far that they don't reduce pressure on the ERs but cannibalize from primary care on one hand and create de-novo demand on the other (e.g. by catering to drug-seekers).

As one of the people who was a legitimate customer for an urgentcare, I am sorry you had such a bad experience. You may consider lodging a complaint against the facility and its responsible physician with the respective state medical board. They accepted you as patient for an urgent condition but then abandoned you and pushed you off onto the ER. Big no-no.
 
Ddayle said:
wrong, this is republican Insurance companies idea of fair service. we urgently need reform to stop this money based system. Dave
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Can you explain how this is supposed to work? I grew up in the the government's (military) medical system, was also part of the military's medical system as a practicing physician and have extensive experience working in the VA system during my residency. It was not a good experience. Patients could wait months for tests that I can get same day in the civilian system. I often had great difficulty obtaining specialty consults for active duty soldiers in a timely manner. You are badly misinformed if you think that the government can run medicine well.
dmccormack said:
Early in our tenure here my wife found an OB/GYN she was OK with. She went in for a small problem and was given a prescription. Three days later when it still wasn't working she called and asked to see the Doc again.

"Sure"
She went in and learned the main doc was out but the PA was available.
Ok..."
He told her, "I don't know who prescribed that, but it won't work and you should be on X"
She repeated, "No -- I was hear three days ago and Dr Y -- the Dr Y that I've seeen here in this very room -- prescribed X and I have a prescription with her name on it."
He said she was a liar and walked out.
She called me crying and furious.
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This is inexcusable. I would send a letter to the physician explaining what you were told by the PA although he will probably deny it. The physician will eventually figure it out. I think that that PA should look for another line of work. TSA? At least this PA needs constant adult (MD) supervision. The "experts" who want to reorganize medicine want to use PAs and NPs instead of physicians because they are cheaper. They are reimbursed about 85% of what a physician would get. False economy since they often order more specialty consults and expensive tests. I use a NP in my office to help out but we discuss every patient and I will also see the patient if there are any unresolved issues.
 
Gary F said:
This is inexcusable. I would send a letter to the physician explaining what you were told by the PA although he will probably deny it. The physician will eventually figure it out. I think that that PA should look for another line of work.
Click to expand...

I did. We received a letter a month later "dismissing" us from that practice.

Ha!
 
TangoWhiskey said:
Thanks, Spike! Red (my wife) said "you need to talk to Spike and Dave and find out who they use". ;)

I also like the "Peoria" answer. I have a long solo X/C commercial flight that needs to be done, anyway. Can't do it before end of January, though.
Click to expand...
+0.95 to Dr. Fried. Actually more to Connie his assistant who was very helpful in ensuring that I did everything correctly on my first medical. Connie is what every medical office manager needs to be: Remembers all the patients by name/face/condition/status, knows the regs as good or better than the doc, and is very willing to take the time to answer all of your questions.

The other .05 would've been awarded if they had done the phone call and office issuance for DM2 like Dr. Bruce says he does when the airman brings all the required items. But that was just a small detraction.
 
dmccormack said:
I did. We received a letter a month later "dismissing" us from that practice.

Ha!
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They did you a favor. This is not where I would want my wife or anybody to receive care. Did you inform the original prescribing physician that the PA told your wife that she should not have received that prescription? I assume that you had all of her previous records sent to her primary physician and new OB/GYN. They might be able to sort out what happened.
 
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Grant: no we have part 121 to PIA, 6 miles away!!!...and I of course have a CAR.. We have 135 at 3MY
 
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Gary F said:
Can you explain how this is supposed to work? I grew up in the the government's (military) medical system, was also part of the military's medical system as a practicing physician and have extensive experience working in the VA system during my residency. It was not a good experience. Patients could wait months for tests that I can get same day in the civilian system. I often had great difficulty obtaining specialty consults for active duty soldiers in a timely manner. You are badly misinformed if you think that the government can run medicine well.


"Patients routinely rank the veterans system above the alternatives, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index." In 2008, the VHA got a satisfaction rating of 85 for inpatient treatment, compared with 77 for private hospitals. In the same report the VHA outpatient care scored 3 points higher than for private hospitals.[3]
"As compared with the Medicare fee-for-service program, the VA performed significantly better on all 11 similar quality indicators for the period from 1997 through 1999. In 2000, the VA outperformed Medicare on 12 of 13 indicators." [4]
A study that compared VHA with commercial managed care systems in their treatment of diabetes patients found that in all seven measures of quality, the VHA provided better care.[5]
A RAND Corporation study in 2004 concluded that the VHA outperforms all other sectors of American health care in 294 measures of quality; Patients from the VHA scored significantly higher for adjusted overall quality, chronic disease care, and preventive care, but not for acute care.[6]
A 2009 Congressional Budget Office report on the VHA found that "the care provided to VHA patients compares favorably with that provided to non-VHA patients in terms of compliance with widely recognized clinical guidelines — particularly those that VHA has emphasized in its internal performance measurement system. Such research is complicated by the fact that most users of VHA’s services receive at least part of their care from outside providers." [2]
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