How long do you wait while on hold with the doc's office?
 

Yesterday morning I called my doctor's office. I had to leave a message with the nurse practitioner with my symptoms. (I have chronic respiratory infections and we rotate antibiotics). He called me back later in the day and left a message (my phone's call waiting isn't working!), which I found around 3pm. He said he would have his nurse call in a prescription.

She calls back a few minutes after I got the message, and says that she called it in, and to call my pharmacy. Of course when I called the pharmacy it wasn't there. I called them again at 4:30 and they said they had the scripts and they would be ready at 5:30.

I show up and they aren't done til after 6. I pay and leave. I get home and it's the wrong meds - one that I am somewhat resistant to. Of course the doc on call was no help and I happened to have my doc's cell (he left the number for me) so I called him and told him what was going on. He said he would have her fill the new ones first thing in the morning. (She apparently had just called in my last script all over again, bc I am on it so much). Good thing I checked!

I left a message this morning for the nurse bc as of noon, the pharmacy didn't have anything new for me.

Of course the doc's office is closed for lunch til one. I called at 1:05 and was on hold (hadn't talked to anyone yet) for 17 minutes. I hung up and called back and it was another 8 minutes for someone to answer. They made me leave a message again with the nurse.

The thing that sucks is that the doctor is amazing; it's just his staff that leave a lot to be desired. I know it won't be called in until 5pm. When you really need something, 36 hours is a long time to wait.

Anyway thanks for letting me vent. But seriously, 25 minutes is a long time to be waiting for a live person to pick up. And the muzak - oh boy it's terrible!

You should never have to wait that long when your meds are messed up...I suggest you speak to a supervisor on both ends...and as a point of advice...when picking up meds ALWAYS check them before you walk out...I had the unfortunate event on 2 different occasions of

- having someone else's meds

- having the wrong (and much higher dosage) of a med.

I've had that happen as well; I was prescribed a med that was very similar to one that gives me a very strong side effect. A couple of hours of severe stomach pains later gave me a hint that I had the wrong stuff.

I always check before I take them, and usually before I pay for them, but I was in a hurry and didn't look inside.

I know that a lot of people don't look at the bottle, at the pills (to match to others if you take it often), etc. That can be deadly.

Anyway, I finally got them around 5pm. Now pray that I am feeling better enough by Saturday night because I am performing at an industry event and need to be well.

Thanks so much!

I feel ya! My doctor's medical assistant (Apparently it would be too expensive to have a qualified nurse, either LPN or RN!) screws up my meds all the time. I have asthma and always have to rotate treatments all the time.
Whats sucks the most now is that I am having to go to a specialist and they don't ever seem to communicate with my primary and then she gets mad because she doesn't understand what is going on!

My worst story would be after I had surgery, the doctor didn't put the quantity down on my painkillers. It was a weekend, and he wouldn't fill it until Monday, so thankfully the pharmacy gave me 5 pills, but it sucked going through the hassle!

I would advise you to change specialists becuase communication between the doc's office and your pharmacist is crucial...any slight deviation can seriusly harm you and that is definently not what you want.

ANother thing I advise folks when it comes to meds, is to always keep an eye on their insurance coverage and their drugs ...you would be surprised how much insurance may or may not cover or even change coverage when it comes to your meds.

feel better and break a leg

Definitely good advice. I would suggest calling or going online and getting a print out of your insurance's formulary (basically a listing of all the drugs they cover and which tier drug it is- usually the higher the tier the more you pay for it). Then give this list to your doctor to put in your medical file. That way if they need to switch around your drugs, they can refer to the list as to what your insurance will cover.
The formulary changes every year, so when you re-enroll in your health insurance, get a new formulary.
I will now get off my HR soapbox!