Back in NY I was able to email and leave messages for my pedi. Now we are in NC and I am so frustrated bc I can't just talk to the new pedi over the phone or email. I call and relay a message to the receptionist who sends a message to the nurse who calls me and then I have to relay the question again. She then talks to the doc and calls me back with his response. We have done this 3 times over 2 days and I'm so frustrated. Is this the norm? I love the doctor but I'm not up for playing telephone.
Back in NY I was able to email and leave messages for my pedi. Now we are in NC and I am so frustrated bc I can't just talk to the new pedi over the phone or email. I call and relay a message to the receptionist who sends a message to the nurse who calls me and then I have to relay the question again. She then talks to the doc and calls me back with his response. We have done this 3 times over 2 days and I'm so frustrated. Is this the norm? I love the doctor but I'm not up for playing telephone.
This has always been how I leave messages for our pediatricians, both here in Texas and in Arizona.
Post by ilikedonuts on Dec 18, 2014 16:35:18 GMT -5
Our hospital system changed to "have a random nurse whose on call in some random office" call you back. I hate it. My pedi hates it. Its the thing I always write down on every evaluation they send me in the mail.
I have my pedi's cell number for emergencies (I know when she's in the office so I've only used it once on a day she was there).
Yeah I guess I'm just frustrated bc with all the back and forth a completely different nurse calls me and was like OK so WHATS GOING ON and I'm like seriously I have to start from the beginning? Plus our pedi referred us to a GI that I can't see till one month from now and I'm like soooo in the meantime we should......??
Post by thebreakfastclub on Dec 18, 2014 16:36:09 GMT -5
I have called the nurse line x2-3 in my son's life. The messages are alwasy relayed via the nurse.
Also, I don't choose to have the same doctor each time - I usually see the nurse practitioner, since I like Friday appointments and that is when she is around.
Back in NY I was able to email and leave messages for my pedi. Now we are in NC and I am so frustrated bc I can't just talk to the new pedi over the phone or email. I call and relay a message to the receptionist who sends a message to the nurse who calls me and then I have to relay the question again. She then talks to the doc and calls me back with his response. We have done this 3 times over 2 days and I'm so frustrated. Is this the norm? I love the doctor but I'm not up for playing telephone.
This is similar to it works here in VA too. I call the nurse line, I'm on hold for awhile (15-30 minutes), a nurse finally picks up. She answers my question if she can. If she can't, she hangs up, talks to the pedi, and calls me back, usually several hours later.
I can't speak to my pedi directly, or email anybody. That makes sense to me though. If he was always on the phone, he'd be a terrible doctor to his waiting appointments. I go to him b/c I have his full attention when I'm there.
My pedi will get on the phone if she is available or she will call me back. I Basically call and say I have a question about xyz and would like to speak with Dr. X. They say ok she will call you back and they take my name and number. She generally returns calls around 1pm and 5pm after she finishes seeing patients for the day. Or sometimes randomly during the day if she has free time.
Eta: if it was something that was urgent or something I would just schedule an appointment to be seen.
I can leave messages for the pedi, but they're usually via the nurse. That's the way I've always had it happen, so I guess it isn't a problem for me? But I can see how it's frustrating if you talk to a different person every time.
Back in NY I was able to email and leave messages for my pedi. Now we are in NC and I am so frustrated bc I can't just talk to the new pedi over the phone or email. I call and relay a message to the receptionist who sends a message to the nurse who calls me and then I have to relay the question again. She then talks to the doc and calls me back with his response. We have done this 3 times over 2 days and I'm so frustrated. Is this the norm? I love the doctor but I'm not up for playing telephone.
My old pedi's office was like this. We switched to a smaller / old-fashioned style practice and the pedi calls you directly and gives you his cell #.
Post by SallySparrow on Dec 18, 2014 17:50:06 GMT -5
I worked for a doctor once who would return patient phone calls. He was awesome. That's not the norm around here. Usually there is a specific "nurse line" to leave a message.
Mine is unfortunately exactly like yours anaps28 plus a 5-10 minute hold at the beginning sometimes before the reception picks up. It's brutal and wasteful and completely inefficient. It's one of the reasons I'm considering switching practices.
Our phone tree has an option to "leave a message for your doctor", but I've never used it. I think we've now called the nurse line about five or six times. Presumably if V was in need of more ongoing supervision, (like if he were on a prescription and I thought it needed adjusting due to side effects) I'd go straight to leaving a message for the doctor.
Yep our office is the same. I dont mind as the nurse can usually answer my question. The only time the pedi has called is when we had a weight check and he didnt have time to see us so called later in the day.
Post by cricketwife on Dec 18, 2014 18:36:31 GMT -5
Ours is the same but it's the same nurse every time- Laurie and she has always called back within an hour. We also don't have any ongoing health issues so its never been a frustration for me.
Most of the time I speak to the nurse (questions, scheduling appointments). I have gotten a call directly from the pedi regarding test results and when DS was sick when he was a baby (we had several ED visits and an overnight stay at the hospital).
Post by turtlegirl on Dec 18, 2014 18:40:57 GMT -5
We can call the advice nurse 24/7.
I can email the pedi and my own doctor directly through our insurance/provider website. It's awesome. And they are both pretty good at responding quickly.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Dec 18, 2014 19:06:48 GMT -5
Sadly, that's probably the norm. I'd call around though. Some ped's may be better than others. And I think it would be fairly easy to find one who you can email questions to. Finding one who will call you back may be harder.
We are SUPER lucky with our ped. He is amazing. He keeps his practice small on purpose. So when I call during office hours with a question, I leave my question with the receptionist, then the doctor calls me back. Very, very occasionally his wife (who is a nurse and also the office manager) will return my call. If I leave a message with his answering service after hours or on the weekend, he calls me back himself. Even at 3 in the morning. He is seriously awesome.
Post by curbsideprophet on Dec 18, 2014 19:51:49 GMT -5
If we call during business hours usually we get the receptionist, however sometimes he answers the phone directly. This freaks me out when I call during normal business hours because I am not expecting him to answer. If we call after hours he often answers the phone. Sometimes we have to leave a message and he will call us back. I
Our communication with peds has always been via a nurse. The only time one called us back directly was when we were waiting on the results of an u/s DD had and she got the results end of day Friday and didn't want us to wait the weekend.
I can email my doctors or make an appointment to have them call me. We also have a 24/7 nurses' line for questions and such. We have a lot of " are we crazy" questions and I appreciate the piece of mind.
Yeah I guess I'm just frustrated bc with all the back and forth a completely different nurse calls me and was like OK so WHATS GOING ON and I'm like seriously I have to start from the beginning? Plus our pedi referred us to a GI that I can't see till one month from now and I'm like soooo in the meantime we should......??
You might ask if the nurses desk has a direct line, which can cut out one step. Are you very far from the GI they referred you to? If you are not too far, you might try calling the GI office daily and seeing if they have any cancelation spots come open that you can slip into.