Digging Some Heads Out Of The Sand

Third time's a charm.

The #1 son's doctor's office continued to ignore the pharmacy's request for a refill on his allergy medicine. In the very least, one would have expected a reply that the patient must come in for an appointment before any further refills would be authorized. I used to get those notices all the time, until I pointed out to my doctor that he scheduled me for six-month appointments, and wrote three months of prescriptions.

This morning I called the pharmacy's automated line to see if #1's med was ready. It put me through to one of the old technicians. "Do I need to call the doctor's office to see why they won't give a refill on my son's medicine?"

"We still haven't heard from them. Let me send it again."

"It's already been sent twice since Monday. I probably should call the office."

"Now it's been sent three times. They usually respond by now."

"Well, I'll give them one more day."

In thirty minutes, my phone rang. It was the doctor's office. "#1 Hillbilly has asked for a refill, but it's been a year since he was seen in our office. He will have to come in before we can refill his medicine."

"Yes, we've been trying to get that refilled since Monday."

"Does he want to make an appointment? We have some available today."

"I'll check. Hey! #1! Do you want an appointment TODAY? He'll take it. One-thirty? Yes. He can be there."

See how easy it would have been to respond to the pharmacy on Monday? This whole matter could have been resolved. I guess that office was tired of ignoring the requests that they anticipated coming in once a day until something was done. They have never been very patient-friendly. Calls to the office go to voice mail with a promise that they will call you back. As you walk in, signs proclaim that anybody more than ten minutes late for their appointment time will NOT be seen, but WILL be billed.

I wonder how that would hold up in court.