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  • I don't have all day (long)

    Do you ever have days where you try your hardest and it seems like everyone is against you....

    I can't imagine why you'd come to a hospital for a scheduled test and fail to bring your insurance cards, ID, and orders?

    I had this customer who came in for a test here's how it went:
    Me: Go ahead and sign in, may I see your orders?
    SC:Uh I left it at home.
    Me: Ok let me see if your Dr's office sent us a copy..*looks in several files* Ok it's going a few minutes because I'll have to get your Dr's office on the phone.
    SC:Well I don't have all day to wait.
    Me:Ok, do you have your insurance cards and ID?
    SC:No, they're in the car
    Me:I do need your cards, do you think you could go get them (we always have to try to get the cards or we get bitched at)
    SC:Well I have been here and you have it in the computer, but if I have to go outside and have a stroke from the heat then I guess I'll have to. *stomps*
    Normally I'd let her go, because acting like a child won't get you anywhere. You'd be surprised how being nice might prompt me to overlook it. So I tell her ok, don't worrk about it...

    Me: What kind of insurance do you have?
    SC: Medicaid..

    Great, I have to look this up since it's hospital policy.

    Me: Go ahead and have a seat, you'll be called when your order arrives.

    She stomps off. I start off on the quest to get her order. It seems that every Doctor's office goes to lunch from 12:00-2 so it being about 1:30 I can't get anyone on the phone.. I start on the Medicaid search.
    I eventually pull her up, and notice that she has a wellcare cmo (division of Medicaid) and I have to run this too. So I'm taking time out of helping patients because I'm in the middle of this on the phone.

    The idiot woman comes up and opens my window (something I find a bit rude) and asks me if I'm ever going to get her order. I tell her that I don't have an answer at the office. She again reminds me that she doesn’t have all day.

    After finally getting all of her insurance straitened out, printed and verified, I try to get an order. I've alredy handed over the window to another co-worker all the while trying to track down this order. We are now at 2 registrars instead of 3 and the wait is starting to pile up.

    I called the office for what seemed like the 100th time and I finally get someone. The receptionist transferred me to a phone mail, I don't have time for this. I hang up and call the office back, tell the receptionist what is going on and she says I'll have to hold for a nurse... ok. I hold, and I hold......and I hold. While I was on hold the woman came up and started talking to my co-worker and was complaining about how long it too *me* to get her order and again how she can't wait all day. My co-worker knows what's going on here so she doesn’t entertain the woman’s complaints and quickly finds something else to do.

    Still on hold....holding...holding......Finally a nurse comes on and asks me what I need. I explained the situation to her and she barks at me about how she gave the woman the order and she will have to go back and look at her chart and get the diagnosis.

    It seems that I can't win here....

    The nurse comes back, and tries to give me a verbal. I can't take a verbal, so I ask her to please fax it. She sighs hard and says,"I'm getting tired of having to fax YOU orders over there". I told her that the patient was the one that had caused this, not me. So I sit at the fax machine and wait. Anyone who knows anything about faxes knows that if you sit and wait for a fax, it will never come.

    I called the woman over to the window to update her, she frowned and said,” It’s about time you finally did something, you've wasted a whole hour of my time."

    So I sit and wait...and wait... and wait. I called back the office after 15 minutes and the receptionist assured me it was coming... I wait... and wait...

    Here comes the fax, YEA!!! It comes off the fax and I quickly snatch it it and realize.. it's not my order.. damn it.

    So I wait and wait some more.. the fax then starts to go off. I picked up the order and it was mine. I looked to check for codes and a Dr's signature but it didn't have a test marked. I know what you're thinking, "well just mark the damn test on there!!". I can't, legally I can't do anything to that order and I got caught.. well we know what would happen.

    I call back and explained to the receptionist what was wrong, she fetched the nurse who was really upset now. I told her that I can't do it if she'd please help me I'd be ever so grateful. She did, the fax came immediately (finally something is going right!)

    I called the woman back and registered her. She started on about having to wait so long, which is unfortunately bad for me because my boss's office is right behind my cubicle. She overhears the woman's complaints and comes to help. The woman begun her story and told my boss that I was standing around for an hour instead of helping her. My boss didn't believe her but she didn't come out and say that. She explained how it was the Dr's office that was causing the hold up and the woman believed her. I started registering her, I ask her mailing address, and she barks that nothings changed. I explained her that we need to make sure things were correct in the system. Turns out that she's moved, broken up with her next of kin contact and has a different job... typical.

    So I got rid of the woman.. I felt relieved... not. My boss comes up to me and starts hassling me because it took a while and if that woman fills out a patient satisfaction survey....bla bla bla. She's telling me how to deal with the situation step by step which was what I just finished doing. She looks at me and says,"oh", and walks away.

    You know, a nice "Thank you, Jen" is all that I really needed to hear.

  • #2
    Oooo, I hate people like that. I am NOT sitting on my fat butt picking my nose all afternoon. I am calling people FOR YOU. I am doing EVERYTHING I can. It's not my fault you didn't bring all this with YOU in the first place.

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    • #3
      You know, it's bad enough to have to put up with crap like that from the Patient, who with her lack of preparedness caused her own delay. Sadly, we're just supposed to take it and let it roll off our shoulders.

      But, there's no way in Hell the Nurse should have given you any grief about something that was not your fault. I personally think a call or note to her Supervisor, regarding her behavior, is in order.

      Mike
      Meow.........

      Comment


      • #4
        Sucky customer through and through

        made me ticked of just reading it, I would have found it extremely hard to hold my tounge and not give her a good telling off.

        Dont bosses suck like that, when you HAVE done your job and they still tell you off! God forbide she... oh i dont know... say "good job" or "you did the right thing"... no way then you might actually develope some self esteem or something!

        You handled it well. You are allowed to point out (politely of course) that the customers wait wouldnt have been so long if she had brought in the bloomin order in the first place!
        I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

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        • #5
          Jen,

          You handled this beautifully & professionally. I understand why you're so upset, but be glad the situation is over. Phew! Sounds like you need to knock back a cold one! LOL

          PJ
          The universe is mostly empty space, and so is your job. ~Dilbert

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          • #6
            That's why I'm grateful that our policy is to NOT book appointments or perform a service of *any* kind until we have every bit of insurance info that we need/want. Medicaid/Medical SUCKS, I hate dealing with that shit!

            And you should report that hagwag of a nurse, STAT!
            "This is the first time I've seen you look ugly, and that makes me happy!"

            Comment


            • #7
              I can't stand it when people come in and don't have the proper info and payment forms. Ugh........ I totally feel for you.
              My boss has this phrase..."Give 'em the pickle!" but I just seem to want to tell 'em where to stick that pickle....

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              • #8
                maybe just make it standard for those who are rude and forget their information that they must go get it or reschedule? it's their screwup, not yours and their responsibility to carry this info/know the drill and not yours. it's not your job to breastfeed idiots what they've already been told how to do.

                next time, she should have to 'brave the heat' to get that info that she forgot, even though she knew she needed it. the drama does nothing, just go get it, dumbass. heat stroke, my butt...

                as for that 'i don't have all day' crap, she should have factored her 'precious time' into it when she forgot the necessary info.
                Last edited by chainedbarista; 08-08-2006, 07:33 AM.
                look! it's ghengis khan!
                Sorry, but while I can do many things, extracting heads from anuses isn't one of them. (so sayeth the irv)

                Comment


                • #9
                  It's always the medicaid patients that are always the most ungrateful, it seems.

                  I think the only things I would have done differently would be:
                  1) the second she started bitching about the wait from the doctor, suggest sweetly that she call them herself to help prod things along. I always do that if a doctor's office has been lax in calling in a new prescription, a refill request, or a clarification to me. That way, they can yell at someone other than me for a change. Also, they may get themselves that much closer to not being allowed back at that doctor's office again.
                  2) Made her get her stupid medicaid card. Like you mentioned, a lot of different private carriers handle public aid patients. I'm not going to call each of them to track down the correct ID and billing info. Frankly, I consider online billing to be a perk for our patients, and if they'd like me to bill for them, they need to provide me the correct info. Otherwise, they can submit themselves.

                  Otherwise, you did just fine

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                  • #10
                    I love the new "Office Policy" board I wrote up and mounted at the front desk. Now, when people want to bitch me out about something, I can just give them a bored look and point to the sign. "Sorry, office policy!"

                    On it, I included "We would be happy to bill any type of insurance that you have, however if you are ineligible for benefits or the claim is denied for any reason, you will be held financially responsible for all charges incurred during your visit. (emphasis added). It is *not* our responsibility to know or find out who your insurance provider is. You must have your card and all information *in hand* at the time of your visit or you will be asked to reschedule your appointment until such a time that you can provide us with the information that we need."

                    (Or something to that effect, anyway.)

                    Let the bitching commence!
                    Last edited by KuzcoLlama; 08-08-2006, 08:35 AM.
                    "This is the first time I've seen you look ugly, and that makes me happy!"

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                    • #11
                      Thanks, this is soo common, somthing like this happens everyday, not exactly to this degree but it happens in some form and fashion. Usually the customer understands and is decent.

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                      • #12
                        Wow. You handled that so well. I wish I could say your story surprised me, but I know better.

                        My son has multiple medical issues. We are super-polite to medical office staff. Not only because it's nice being nice, but also because I KNOW, at some point, I'm going to be boneheaded and forget something, arrive at the wrong time or screw up a referral. Even if I have a legitimate complaint (which is rare), there's a right and wrong way to go about resolving it.

                        Now if I've been an ass to the staff, how inclined are they going to be to let something slide for me or help me fix a problem?

                        Besides, after seeing some of the sucktacular behavior of other patients and their parents (someday I'll post some real doozies in Sightings), I just can't bring myself to make anybody's day worse than it already is. That would be heartless.
                        The best karma is letting a jerk bash himself senseless on the wall of your polite indifference.

                        The stupid is strong with this one.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth 0oAmericanGirl View Post
                          I can't imagine why you'd come to a hospital for a scheduled test and fail to bring your insurance cards, ID, and orders?
                          I don't understand that either. That's like going to the airport or train station and leaving your ticket at home!

                          Quoth 0oAmericanGirl View Post
                          SC:Well I don't have all day to wait.
                          "And I do? Why didn't you bring your orders and cards with you? You do your part, we can better do our part!"

                          It's a good thing I'm not a receptionist. My temper and low tolerance for idiots would get me fired pronto!
                          I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                          My LiveJournal
                          A page we can all agree with!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Quoth 0oAmericanGirl View Post
                            My boss comes up to me and starts hassling me because it took a while and if that woman fills out a patient satisfaction survey....bla bla bla.
                            Why not fill one out yourself with low marks and critical comments? When your supervisor gets apprehensive reading it you can point out you crossed out PATIENT and entered EMPLOYEE, so it's only your complaints.
                            I second that Frederick Douglass quote--unfortunately, so do a lot of SCs.

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