Last Monday I sprained my lower back while playing tennis. If you’ve ever tweaked your lower back to the point that getting in and out of a chair requires grit, you know the pain and discomfort I’m talking about.
For the rest of Monday and all day Tuesday, I pretty much followed the basics for this type of injury: ice pack, lay on my back, simple stretching with leg extensions, and moderate walking on a level surface. So far, so good.
The problem was that by Wednesday morning, I wasn’t feeling much better than Monday night. Concerned, I phoned my HMO to seek a referral from my primary care physician to see a specialist. I’m aware that protocol dictates that one must first schedule an appointment with his or her primary care physician in order to then receive a referral to a specialist but, since I’ve had the same physician for a number of years, I expected to receive a referral following a phone call—as I’ve been able to do in the past.
When I called, I entered my health record number as requested and was placed on hold for a couple of minutes which is pretty standard. When the call was picked up by an HMO rep, she asked me to verify some information and then told me that, since I did not have a primary care physician, I’d have to be transferred to the physician selection line.
Confused, I said, “I have a primary care physician. I’ve been seeing the same doctor for the past four years.”
The rep then informed me that my primary care physician had transferred to open a new facility and I would need to choose another primary care physician before scheduling an appointment to receive treatment. She informed me that the physician selection department was currently not open and provided me with a direct line to contact them after 8:00am.
Okay, so I waited until after 8:00am before calling the physician selection department in order to select a new primary care physician so that I could schedule an initial appointment to receive a referral to see a specialist who could do something about the pain in my lower back.
When I called this number, I received the following message:
“Hello and thank you for calling (HMO). You have reached the physician selection service department. Our business hours are from 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday. If you have reached this message during these hours, we are currently assisting other members. Your call is very important to us. Please leave a message with your name, phone number, and medical record number, and we will return your call no later than the next business day. Thank you so much for calling and we look forward to serving you.”
After calling back several more times hoping to get a rep on the phone, I left a message with the information requested shortly after 8:00am on Wednesday. Today is Thursday (“the next business day”). It’s noon and I still have yet to hear back from the physician selection service department who “looks forward to serving me.”
Each month, I pay $1,100 for my family’s health insurance and, fortunately, it’s an exception when I need to call upon health services. But this week, I’m in need of medical attention and have not been able to identify a new primary care physician—let alone get scheduled to see one.
At this rate, the soonest I’ll be able to see my primary care physician is tomorrow, Friday, assuming he or she has availability. Until then, due to the nature of my injury, I’ll get by with the home remedies listed above and Advil.
The author, Peter Glen shares an amusing tactic to get the attention you deserve as a customer when you can’t locate employees or are otherwise feeling ignored and underserved:
“…when you find that you can’t get help, just stand there and scream the word (“HELP!”) as loud as you can. You will see people come running who haven’t moved in years. You will be serviced, solicited, fawned upon. They will sing to you, if that’s what you want, or anything else you want, as long as you don’t do that again. You have embarrassed them by reminding them of their jobs, and they are also afraid someone else might hear and want the same thing.
Screaming HELP at the top of your lungs…confronts the situation, calls a halt to routine, and starts alarms ringing everywhere. You get attention, suddenly and completely. You have just staged a small but specific revolution.”
So maybe I should drive to the HMO clinic, enter the lobby, and shout, “HELP! HELP! Is there a doctor in the house? HELP!” But somehow I think the doctor they’d refer me to would specialize in something other than back pain…
