Irritated. My right eye was irritated. So was I. My eye had been bothering me for a couple of days. I didn’t know if it was allergies, a sty, or an infection. I had been determined to rely on eye drops and to just tough it out, but that was before I had needed a warm compress in the middle of the night. Time to get medical attention.
As previously noted, I was a touch irritated. Before I could deal with my issues I had to solve a client’s problem with UnitedHealth One. I was on hold for 52 minutes! My phone has a timer. Staffing cuts reflect the company’s losses over the last few years. Once that was completed I could focus on me.
I contacted the Cleveland Clinic facility in Beachwood. It only took 30 seconds for me to clearly state that I didn’t need to see my doctor, or any doctor. I would be perfectly happy with a nurse practitioner as long as I got to come in today. I had also detailed my eye problems. If I was having a heart attack or bleeding to death the scheduling tech would have been able to send me to the E/R and hang up. No, she had to talk to me.
I have been a Cleveland Clinic patient for years. The clerk had all of my information on her screen. Still, she needed to verify ALL of the information from my Anthem card, front and back. I said that I’ve had this policy for over three years. Nothing has changed. It didn’t matter. She plowed on. Next, where do I work? What is my job title? At the eight minute mark, remember my phone has a timer, I noted that we had spent more time confirming how the Cleveland Clinic would be paid than my health problem. She persisted.
Ten minutes into the call I asked her again who was going to see me. She said, “We don’t have any openings today”. “Then why did you waste my time”? She began to offer appointments for the following week, but I had had enough and hung up.
I hear it all of the time. Every negative encounter with the medical industry is blamed on Obamacare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act). Sometimes the complainer is correct, but not always. Failure can be traced to a number of sources.
The staff cuts and financial losses at UnitedHealth One are due, in part, to some really awful decisions. And UH1 cut their marketing and service staff when the going got tough. They succeeded in making it harder to do business with them. UnitedHealth One will get better. This is just a bump in the road.
And the Cleveland Clinic’s failure can’t be blamed on Obamacare. This insatiable push for more money, more donors, and more buildings occasionally leaves the patient as nothing more than a necessary evil. We are in the way. Soon we will be diagnosing and treating our own ailments and simply sending tribute payments to the Cleveland Clinic.
Two websites and a phone call later I had an appointment at a Minute Clinic in a CVS. These clinics are somehow affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic. The nurse checked my vitals, noted my agitation, and gave me a prescription for some eye drops.
So what was it? Allergies? Sty? Infections? I’m still not sure. I took an antihistamine and have religiously put in the eye drops as prescribed. I’m sure I’ll be OK in another day or so.
DAVE
When it comes to eye care, I would rather go to an Urgent Care than a minute clinic – you see more qualified people at the Urgent Care in my experience. Hope its better now – eyes are important!
A doctor friend while complaining to an attorney friend at a cocktail party about many of the guest asking him for medical advice rather than going to an Urgent Care facility, finally asked the attorney what he does to avoid the problem. The attorney told the doctor that he usually answers the question and then sends the party goer a bill. The doctor said that was a great idea. Two days after the party, my doctor friend got a bill from my attorney friend. Dishclaimer: This joke can not be blamed on Obama even though he was a law professor.
Linda McCorkle
My attempt to leave a comment on the blog site failed; apparently, I was too slow. The practice of conducting an interview prior to checking for available appointments is one that I find annoying. My last appointment with the Cleveland Clinic was scheduled after a nearly 10-minute conversation with their representative. I have been a patient of their opthalmology department since 1967. When the representative asked who referred me to them, I explained that my mother took me there as a child; she then asked, “Well, do you know who referred your mother to bring you here back in the 1960s? Goodness me, what a waste of time.
I’m glad your eye is better, Dave. I’m having trouble with one of mine. If it continues, I think I’ll go see the Nurse Practitioner at work.