Quote:
Originally Posted by OneMinute
Earlier I made nine phone calls in one day to local family physicians. Kind of an achievement in itself since I hate phone calls. I made it very clear that I was insured and had money for co-payments. All of them were uninterested in accepting new patients. They already had too many.
If finding a new doctor is normally this hard then dropping patients puts people in a bad situation.
|
This is very common in the area that I am from. It is a very economically depressed area (starting in the mid 80s) and when an old doctor dies or retires it is nearly impossible to find a doctor and if you do it doesn't mean that you will get all services.
The doctor that delivered my first baby is the most popular doctor in the area. Even though I had been with him from the beginning of his practice and he's a family friend it was impossible to get into so see him for an illness. Your only option was to see one of the three PA working under him.
During the late 90s he quit doing OB care. He was the last doctor in 100 mile radius that accepted OB patients. He just couldn't handle the hours anymore. Babies are unpredictable, malpractice insurance is extremely expensive. The only reason he kept the OB portion of his practice open was because he knew that women had to travel 150 miles to see an OB.
I am very sorry that you are having such a difficult time finding a doctor. Did the offices that you called give any suggestions as to which doctors are accepting new patients? I'm not sure what type of a doctor you are looking for, but since ours left we have been going to Fast Tracks in Shopko. Our first choice for a new doctor is not accepting any new patients so for ear/sinus infections and the like the care is adequate... the hours are very patient friendly and even though we have to pay for the visit up front, it ends up being cheaper. Its a flat $50 fee that is refunded through our insurance (which they happily bill once you've paid the fee).
__________________
I've been married for 24 years and have four wonderful children.
|