About 3 weeks ago, I completed my phone screening with a nurse of the MGH anesthesia department. We went over the normal stuff regarding general anesthesia and various things before surgery. Things were going great until we started talking about my specific surgery date. She mentioned that my surgery was going to be a single overnight surgery. I was very confused because my oral surgeon and I had discussed this surgery at length and he told me that it would be a day surgery only. When I mentioned this to her, she said that maybe my doctor saw something in my chart and decided to book me for an overnight just as a precaution. But she also advised me to call my surgeon's office just to clarify what was actually happening so I could plan to have a ride home or not.
So, a few days later, I called the surgeon's office and left a message with the insurance coordinator. I've had some issues with her returning my phone calls in the past so I didn't expect her to return my phone call that day. However, after a week of nothing from her I decided to call back and see if she was in the office. I got some office worker who was pretty rude to me. "Well, Mary is here in the office but she's very busy talking to insurance companies all day today. So..." I'm sorry but that is not something you tell a patient. Thankfully, I work in healthcare and am an understanding person and realize that she is very busy. And I'm sure she only has a limited window in which to talk to these insurance companies. But seriously, it won't kill you to give a little white lie or something. Tell me that she's in a meeting or that she's out of the office that day, anything besides what you just told me over phone. Telling someone that they are on the phone with insurance companies implies that insurance companies are more important than the patient who is on the phone asking a very important question regarding a surgery they are having in less than 2 weeks. I was pretty annoyed and offended by how rude they were to me. Especially since I've been going to their office for over a year and will be experiencing multiple surgeries with them. I'm spending a lot of money; I don't think they should speak to me (or anyone for that matter) the way they did.
After I left a second message, I decided to wait out the rest of the week and see if she'd call me back. She never did. Finally, after waiting for almost 2 and a half weeks, I gave in a called the office a 3rd time. Thankfully, the nice receptionist answered the phone and remembered me very quickly. I told her what was going on and she said, "Oh, Mary is in her office! Do you mind holding while I go and ask her?" Very simple and easy. I said no problem and waited. She came back on the phone after a few seconds and said, "I'm going to transfer you to her office because there are a few other things she wanted to talk to you about as well. Here's the number in case we get disconnected." Note the professionalism BTW!
Well, I spoke with Mary and she informed me that my chart said I was spending 1 overnight at the hospital. Do I have any other questions? I explained to her everything I had told 2 people and her voice mail twice. It was like she never even listened to my messages. She told me that she would clarify with Dr. Keith but that she was 98% sure that I was going to spend the night. I thanked her for the info and ended the call. She never even apologized for not returning my messages. I'm very tempted to say something to Dr. Keith when I see him at my post-op. Seriously just irritated me.
But wait! The best part about this whole thing? I realized I had a voice mail once I got into work. It was Mary telling me that there was some sort of "mix up" and that Dr. Keith told her that my next surgery was a day surgery. My 2nd surgery would require me to spend a night in the hospital.
I think the thing that irritated me the most was that my question was simple, yet important. And still she never called me back. If she had looked into Dr. Keith's schedule for next Thursday and asked about my specific case, he would have told her that it was to be a day surgery. THEN all she would have to do is call me back and leave a message on my cell phone. In total, it would have been 10, maybe 15 minutes out of her daily schedule. So irritating!!
I can't wait until this whole thing is over. I'm ready to start recovering so that I can get on with my life.
Sorry about the rant, just needed to get some stuff off my chest!
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