Strange Exchanges with new Doc

I was wondering if you guys could give me some insights on this.

I recently moved states and had to find a new pdoc, as my old pdoc isn't licensed in the new state. I was referred to a new pdoc by my new therapist. I called this new pdoc on Saturday to see if he was taking new patients and when the next available apt might be and left a message, thinking that I would hear back on Monday. When I checked my phone on Saturday afternoon, I had 6 missed calls from their office, and two voicemails (one of which has a very passive aggressive message that said "if u could pick up the phone when you see this number, that would be great". I called back, and got the answering machine, and left another voicemail. When I came back to my phone, two more missed calls and another voicemail, saying that they would be out of the office until Wednesday, as the doc is only in the office Wed-Sat. By this time, it was like 5:00pm and so I figured I would just wait until Wed to call back. The office called and left a voicemail yesterday (Sunday) and this afternoon (Monday).

This incessant calling is making me question this new doctor. I looked him up online and he seems legit. And I was referred to him by my new therapist, who seems like she knows what she's doing. The office doesn't say anything except to call them back. And when I call them, I get the answering machine. I have no idea what they want and why they seem to think it's so urgent. In one of my voicemails, I called and said that I had enough meds and that it's not a super urgent matter. Whenever their next available apt is works fine, even if it's a couple weeks out.

Is this normal? Should I find a different pdoc? I just find this communication so strange.

If it were me, I'd see it as a red flag. It seems very strange to me too! Maybe ask your new T how well he actually knows this guy?

My T once gave me a name of a general practitioner because I was having trouble finding a medical doctor. She worked for a well respected hospital and edited a well known medical journal, but her bedside manner was horrid. Just a mean nasty person.

Always trust your own judgement too- T's don't always get it right.

Is there any way you can have your phone on you to answer?

Is it the doctor or his office staff? Pushy and incompetent office staff are a risk when dealing with any doctor. (Just had to do this last week. I was NOT happy.)

But I would ask your new therapist for a different reference.

I do try to have my phone on me. But I just don't hear it or I've set it down. I told them that I'm literally in the midst of moving into my new house and things are crazy.

And I think it's his office staff. But I'm not sure. He's in private practice.

He probably has one particular staff person who handles intake of new patients and that person is just trying to get hold of you to get your information started. My experience with intake personnel is that you almost always have to leave a message when you call and they call you back, so you need to keep your phone on you so that next time when they call you can actually talk to them. It isn't about them being pushy or passive-aggressive; it's just that only this one person handles new patient intakes. I've encountered that kind of system with quite a few different specialists offices. In fact, just went through that changing my husband's pain specialist. It can be frustrating initially, but that's just the way they have that new patient intake system setup. Once you get that initial contact made and get that first appointment scheduled (which they won't do until they talk to you and get insurance info, etc.), you will probably have an easier time from then on.

I agree with lola that this sounds like business as usual for office staff, but at the same time it rankles me because nearly every pdoc office I've been to has the worst staff ever. It's like they hire these people in an attempt to make themselves appear better by comparison.

It's worth getting in for a initial visit to evaluate the pdoc for yourself and then decide how rampant this other behavior is with the office staff and if you can try to ignore it.

I had one that died not long ago and I was badgered by her office staff with letters and phone calls, notifiying me of the death and requesting that I give them my new provider's name (I did not). They look at everything in terms of business and liability. It's like they don't have a clue how they are treating people.

End of rant.

But yeah, I'd ignore the phone calls and missed connections and just try to get on the books. The pdoc himself might be really good.

Don't ignore the phone calls. You are going to have to talk to this person to get that initial appointment set up. But you are also going to have to keep you phone on you so you can actually answer when they call. They won't do this via messages.

I meant ignore the way the many calls and missed connections make you feel, not ignore them as in don't return them. Sorry!

(In my way of having to deal with pdocs and their staff, I have to mentally ignore certain things just to get through it.)

I would find someone else. Having this much trouble communicating from the beginning is a red flag to me. And the incessant calling back is weird.

It is frustrating, but not really a red flag. I went through this with my pdoc and with my husband's pain specialist, both of which have been fantastic doctors and there have been no problems once we got beyond the initial intake. You really have to get in and meet the doctor before you really decide if it will work or not. Had we rejected my husband's pain doc because his intake person was hard to get hold of initially (come to find out she had been on vacation), we would have rejected very high quality medical care.

I agree it is weird and annoying but not a deal breaker. The pdoc might be fantastic, and you won't know until you see them.

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Phone tag is definitely annoying.

Try putting your phone on its loudest setting, and keeping it near you. Moving is a pain in the butt, but there's no need to keep your phone on silent or vibrate at home. It's not like it's a movie theatre or work. My phone is always on vibrate unless I'm expecting a call - then it's on loud and clear so that I'll actually notice it (I nearly always miss calls when my phone is on vibrate!)

Unfortunately, they have to look at everything in terms of liability, thanks to the increasingly stifling nature of legislation regulating doctors, the soaring cost of malpractice insurance, and the constant threats any service professional is under in a litigious society.

My husband is a doctor, and often expresses frustration that to even get to a patient to treat them, you have to pass through a major obstacle course. And oddly, all these rules don't actually seem to reduce the incidence of bad doctors (or therapists) out there.

In this situation, the office staff person could use some better people skills. Be patient.

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I said it is a red flag TO ME. Please do not put down my opinion. Thank you.

That seems strange to me. Is it the doc himself or is it a secretary calling you? Sometimes the secretaries are crazy.

I'm not sure what's normal. With mine, I can call between a certain time on weekdays. They also don't call me outside of those hours.
Maybe they have other workhours at that pdoc's office? I do find it a bit weird that they call on a Sunday. You can try to get an appoinment and meet with the pdoc and see how he is and then make a decision if you want to keep him or not.

The passive-aggressive message alone would put me off, much less the incessant calling but never answering. Big red flag of a poorly-run office, and I hate pdocs already.

Again, I'm not "putting down" your opinion. I'm explaining how the system works and relaying my experience with having had dealt with this scenario multiple times.

I agree that I need to be better at paying attention to my phone. But unlike some teenagers, I'm not attached to my phone 24/7. It's not the playing phone tag that annoys me. It's that they gave me specific hours that the doctor was in, and they berate me with calls outside of those hours. I think one phone call and one voicemail is sufficient. I will call back when I get the message. It's really hard for me to believe that this is "how the system works" as Lolagrace said. And Petra5ed- it's not the doc himself. I think it's a secretary.

My t has horrible incompetent office staff. It's a large clinic. I call her cell phone directly for Appointments. She herself recommended me to do so. She is annoyed with them as well.

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This would actually drive me nuts as well. I'm in the world of public healthcare where you have to pretty much fight to get the spot so the idea of an office member calling that many times would totally put me off. I would hope they were busy enough because they are so wonderful that they didn't have time to call me that many times! Hopefully it works out for you!

I will call tomorrow morning and see what happens. Apparently though, in my area, psychiatrists are in high demand. I was actually told that I might have to wait up to a month for a slot to open up. So this really did catch me off guard that they would be so insistent on getting me in so quickly. It makes me wonder whether there is something wrong with this doc if he seems this desperate for patients. But I'll see what happens. Thanks for all of your insights, guys!

I do think the staff member's behavior is rude and weird. But I wouldn't worry about the doc being desperate for patients. A month's wait isn't really that high demand--in many areas a 3-6 month wait is typical, if not longer. (Not to say that makes things easier for those who have to wait a month when they need the help!)

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I think you're doing the right thing. I do think a month is not really that long to wait. There are NO psychiatrists where I live and the ones in the next counties only take patients from those counties.