MEDICAL ALERT!

WARNING: A visit to the doctor's office can be dangerous!

When you visit the doctor, particularly a specialist, INSIST on receiving a written copy of his dictated report. You do need to put this request in writing to comply with Federal regulations.

So, why is this important? You decide after reading my story.

I've talked about the infamous visit to Dr. Israelite, an ortho surgeon. After over a month and NUMEROUS phone calls to a non-responsive support staff, I finally got a copy of the dictated report - and I had filled out the form at the time of visit, indicating where reports were to be sent! I began reading, noting a few minor, trivial discrepancies (which is expected). However, rather than seeing the CORRECT medication listed, something totally different, but sounds the same was typed instead. The doctor should have caught this before he signed off on the report. Now I have to hassle with the office some more to get the report corrected! Instead of the anti-inflammatory medicine, he had me listed as taking SLEEPING PILLS!

I read the rest of the report quite carefully, only to find that whoever typed it was NOT familiar with the English language. Red flags went up (I'm a 30-year-plus medical transcriptionist!). When I looked at the coding at the bottom of the report, it became obvious to me that this was typed by a company who sends its work overseas to INDIA!

You see, the decision of who types a doctor's report is NOT made by a doctor, but by a penny-pinching, non-medical administrator, who cares nothing for accuracy, but for the bottom line. He will spend $10 to save a nickel!

So, the moral of this story - DEMAND a copy of your medical reports and READ them carefully. Complain loudly and persistently until the report is corrected and you receive a corrected copy. If this is not done in a timely manner, file complaints with your insurance company, the local medical society, the hospital administrator, chief of staff, AND the administrator of the practice, telling him/her that you will continue to file complaints with regulatory boards.

No longer is healthcare really "care." It is a function of management. You can either relegate the management to an MBA with absolutely NO knowledge or concern for medical quality - or you can manage your care yourself. Remind the doctors and administrators who pays the bills. They work for US. They are responsible to US. But we have to take on a less passive and more assertive role in how our care is managed, even down to how a report is typed.