don't get it
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don't get it
Saw my psychiatrist today. First time seeing him in a year. Been seeing nurses in the mean time. Guess he has gone corporate, so has little time to see his patients. Gave me 20 minutes to tell him what's going on. Went through the cataract surgery, the painful dental work and the prostate surgery along with serious job issues. Felt like I was on a conveyor belt. He said he had to end the discussion so he could update his notes.m Sad because he used to be a good doctor. I will definitely be looking for a new doctor, but I'll bet they are pretty much the same. Nowadays, doctors are no different than mechanics or people serving you at a restaurant. And this is to be a country with great health care. That's why it is so important to learn to take care of yourself. John
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That is very unfortunate. I liked my psychiatrist to an extent, but their sole purpose is to listen for a few minutes and dole out medication. I'll see him just enough to keep my cymbalta, but I'm finding a psychologist. Have you considered (or have you already) gone that route?
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Originally Posted by Dee74 
Sorry that your Dr made you feel that way John.
I tend to go for small practices these days and ask for longer appointments.
D
I tend to go for small practices these days and ask for longer appointments.
D
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Originally Posted by abgator
That is very unfortunate. I liked my psychiatrist to an extent, but their sole purpose is to listen for a few minutes and dole out medication. I'll see him just enough to keep my cymbalta, but I'm finding a psychologist. Have you considered (or have you already) gone that route?
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I've noticed that with my doctor who is part of a huge clinic. He's also gotten involved in administration, which is making it hard to get an appointment with him. He's very busy, and usually 45 minutes late. He spends most of the session entering data. He's a nice guy, but I know what you mean about feeling you are on a conveyor belt, and it's an expensive short ride at that. I think it's just an aspect of the corporate world, just like Amazon or any other corporation that grows phenomenally large and goes public with their stock.
The emergency room associated with the clinic is a bit different, and the staff there are usually the best of the business, or at least given permission to to their job. The nature of "emergencies" requires something be diagnosed and dealt with on the spot. Test results are often available in minutes, and it makes me wonder why I have to wait 3 weeks to find out the results of a blood test ordered by my GP.
Comparing services rendered in the emergency room where lives are often in immediate danger with what happens in the office of a GP, I know it's possible to serve patients much better than our medical system currently does. Hell, even my GP says that.
The emergency room associated with the clinic is a bit different, and the staff there are usually the best of the business, or at least given permission to to their job. The nature of "emergencies" requires something be diagnosed and dealt with on the spot. Test results are often available in minutes, and it makes me wonder why I have to wait 3 weeks to find out the results of a blood test ordered by my GP.
Comparing services rendered in the emergency room where lives are often in immediate danger with what happens in the office of a GP, I know it's possible to serve patients much better than our medical system currently does. Hell, even my GP says that.
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I agree, my experiences with the ER have been great. The Docs spent time talking to me, trying to help or make me feel better. The most recent was a Doc who lost her husband to alcoholism. She was great, but we caught them on shift change. My mom was out getting a snack and the Doc saw her. She stopped and talking to my mom, telling her a little of her own experience with it and how it really is a disease. Those few moments she took to talk with my mom outside were awesome and gave my mom a better understanding of my situation. That never would have happened anywhere else.
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I'm not a fan of doctors or going to them John, and I
thank God for being as healthy as I am to avoid them.
It is sad and such a shame John. Hopefully you
can find one by doing your footwork using recovery
and faith as a guideline.
Learning to take care of ourselves with
knowledge, education and support is sometimes
the best way to go, however, when we need
those physicians in our lives, we become
grateful that they are their for us.
Stay strong in mind body and soul, John.
thank God for being as healthy as I am to avoid them.
It is sad and such a shame John. Hopefully you
can find one by doing your footwork using recovery
and faith as a guideline.
Learning to take care of ourselves with
knowledge, education and support is sometimes
the best way to go, however, when we need
those physicians in our lives, we become
grateful that they are their for us.
Stay strong in mind body and soul, John.
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Yes, my psychiatrist is just a check-in point for keeping my medications, the medical practice that I am seen at has a policy that the GP's don't manage psych meds. So, every six months I have to go in and do the drill, but it's something I have to do to be well. I see an addiction specialist for my other ongoing therapy, every few months.
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Originally Posted by 2muchpain
ok, to add to this, I quit drinking and lost a lot of weight since seeing my doctor. Him not seeing this really hurt. I know this shouldn't make a difference, but it does. John
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I would be looking for another doctor. The doctor I have always speaks to me as tho he knows me well. He takes time to answer my questions and explains things to me. There are good doctors out there. I hope you find one. 
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My psychiatrist appointments are about five minutes and sixty bucks with insurance. He knows my issues, but he's the drug guy, not the talk guy. Vastly different trainings. I think you definitely need a psychologist to talk it out, as well.
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The psychiatrists I saw were crucial to my recovery. Generally there's a long intake of about 45 minutes, after that the medication monitoring visits are 20 minutes. The first visit was a psych consult with the dual diagnosis clinic, who told me in no uncertain terms that the the only way I would get better was to get medical detox and five weeks in rehab, and if I didn't I'd probably be dead within six months.
I have a psychotherapist who I see for, well, psychotherapy. Psychiatrists just do your drugs.
You have to remember that medical clinics are businesses. The more patients they see, the more they can bill. I have a very good friend who's a primary care doctor at Kaiser, they are under pressure for two things...patient satisfaction and number of patients seen. How well the docs are treated by the administration varies from clinic to clinic, she is much happier at Kaiser than she was at UCLA, but even within UCLA some clinics are much better than others. A well-run clinic allows doctors more time to see patients and less time waiting around and/or doing data entry.
That being said, the psychiatrist I have right now is fantastic, I also have a bit of a crush on him, but he really listens. As it's a teaching hospital, he is the "face" that I see for the clinic, I get a new one every year. After we talk he gets an attending and they dispense knowledge, wisdom and antidepressants.
I have a psychotherapist who I see for, well, psychotherapy. Psychiatrists just do your drugs.
You have to remember that medical clinics are businesses. The more patients they see, the more they can bill. I have a very good friend who's a primary care doctor at Kaiser, they are under pressure for two things...patient satisfaction and number of patients seen. How well the docs are treated by the administration varies from clinic to clinic, she is much happier at Kaiser than she was at UCLA, but even within UCLA some clinics are much better than others. A well-run clinic allows doctors more time to see patients and less time waiting around and/or doing data entry.
That being said, the psychiatrist I have right now is fantastic, I also have a bit of a crush on him, but he really listens. As it's a teaching hospital, he is the "face" that I see for the clinic, I get a new one every year. After we talk he gets an attending and they dispense knowledge, wisdom and antidepressants.
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Two comments to offer here (I'm in the US, so these may or may not apply for the OP):
First, I was a medical transcriptionist for a number of years. What that meant was that the doctors would see their patients, then later on dictate a report about the visit which would be converted into a written report and entered into the electronic medical records by a transcriptionist. Several years ago, the technology for voice recognition got good enough that transcriptionists were no longer typing out a complete report from dictation but only editing the draft that the voice recognition engine produced. We were told to go fast--that was the whole focus, go fast to save the medical company money. Eventually someone had the brilliant idea of cutting the transcriptionists totally out of the picture, to save even more money--and to have the DOCTORS edit their own drafts.
Yeah, worked about as well as you'd expect. So the answer to THAT was to do what we've all seen--expect the doc to enter data in a template throughout the course of the visit. I'm sure it saves the medical companies TONS of money, but I'm equally sure it has dropped the quality of care by several orders of magnitude. And it certainly hasn't saved the end consumers any money, as far as I can see. Our health care system, IMHO, is seriously broken, and this is only one of the ways...
Second, regarding the lab tests: There are a number of online lab services where you can order your own lab tests, no doctor's orders required. I've done this for years and have found it to be much less expensive. What makes it so crazy is that you go to the website for the lab provider, choose what tests you need, and then pick a local lab to draw blood (or whatever) for you. The work is performed in the exact same facilities as they would be if you went the other route! What I especially liked is that the results come directly to ME, online. The tests will say how long to expect to wait for results for any particular test, usually a few days. I can then email the results to my doctor's office and/or print out a copy for her when I go in. HealthOneLabs is the one I've used, but there are others.
If you live somewhere like Canada, this may not make any sense for you, but if you're in the US, you might want to look into it.
First, I was a medical transcriptionist for a number of years. What that meant was that the doctors would see their patients, then later on dictate a report about the visit which would be converted into a written report and entered into the electronic medical records by a transcriptionist. Several years ago, the technology for voice recognition got good enough that transcriptionists were no longer typing out a complete report from dictation but only editing the draft that the voice recognition engine produced. We were told to go fast--that was the whole focus, go fast to save the medical company money. Eventually someone had the brilliant idea of cutting the transcriptionists totally out of the picture, to save even more money--and to have the DOCTORS edit their own drafts.
Yeah, worked about as well as you'd expect. So the answer to THAT was to do what we've all seen--expect the doc to enter data in a template throughout the course of the visit. I'm sure it saves the medical companies TONS of money, but I'm equally sure it has dropped the quality of care by several orders of magnitude. And it certainly hasn't saved the end consumers any money, as far as I can see. Our health care system, IMHO, is seriously broken, and this is only one of the ways...
Second, regarding the lab tests: There are a number of online lab services where you can order your own lab tests, no doctor's orders required. I've done this for years and have found it to be much less expensive. What makes it so crazy is that you go to the website for the lab provider, choose what tests you need, and then pick a local lab to draw blood (or whatever) for you. The work is performed in the exact same facilities as they would be if you went the other route! What I especially liked is that the results come directly to ME, online. The tests will say how long to expect to wait for results for any particular test, usually a few days. I can then email the results to my doctor's office and/or print out a copy for her when I go in. HealthOneLabs is the one I've used, but there are others.
If you live somewhere like Canada, this may not make any sense for you, but if you're in the US, you might want to look into it.
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Originally Posted by Bethany57
That is just the way it is . They spend 20 minutes with you and write out a refill. But good Lord he did not even ask about your drinking??? That is scary...unless he didn't know you had a problem?
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