Today was not a good day for me. The entire day was spent in finding a specialist who is a female physician on the patient’s plan. What senior with a critical illness has the stamina and patience required in researching credentials, making the appointment and obtaining insurance company approval for a physician referral? That’s why I decided this might make a good diary series, if there is sufficient interest.
The “patient”, an elderly woman, has “excellent insurance”, she did not want to deal with the challenge of communicating with someone who listed English as a second language, did not graduate from a US medical school, or had a questionable reputation. My relative is over 70, suffers from constant pain, and is unable to engage in lengthy conversations, type A personality. Sounds easy, doesn’t it, or so I thought initially.
Why not just accept the referral from her primary care physician? I spent an hour on the internet. The specialist her primary care physician recommended did not meet her criteria. Did not graduate from a US medical school, and questionable reputation were the primary dis-qualifiers.
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