Re: Bad week
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Sat Feb 22 08:13:24 2003
Yes, El, we all want our patients to comply with their medications. BUT,
1) I can calculate this easily for myself based on how often she
requests a new script, 2) Prilosec is pretty much only for symptomatic
relief and she won't die if she misses a few doses, and 3) Missing 8.6%
of her doses is probably fairly average and not likely to result in a
stroke even if it was antihypertensives (which it was not). Getting a
"Compliance Alert" requires that my staff pull the chart, that I review
it and respond to it, and someone on my staff faxes back my response. If
I throw it in the trash they will just keep sending them til they get a
response, and if insurance companies are going to start sending these
out EVERY TIME a pt. misses 8.6% of their doses, I will not have time
to take care of the patients.
ALSO, my partner is not the one complaining about getting called up. HE
is quite willing to go, even though it means about a 95% cut in his
income for the duration and leaving his wife and 2 little boys. I'M the
one complaining. We had one doc quit in September and now he's going to
be gone so we are REALLY short-handed.
Well, at least no one is going to be firing missiles at me. I should
stop complaining.
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Sat, 22 Feb 2003, Dr Eberhard W. Lisse wrote:
>
>Anna,
>
>In message <200302220151.h1M1pnF24884@mail.medispecialty.com>, Anna Meenan, MD
>writes:
>
>> Monday I got a "Compliance Alert" from an insurance company
>> informing me that, by their calculations, one of my patients had
>> missed 8.6% of her doses of Prilosec, and insisting that I needed to
>> return the form with my assesment of why this might be so. The
>> choices included "Pt. no longer taking this med", "Pt. deceased"
>> and a couple of others. I wrote in "Pt. is a normal average human
>> being." Do I really need this?
>
>In one of my former lives I have run a BP clinic with some 400
>patients twice a month. Prior to commencing we had a stroke a week and
>a death from sok a month. It took a few interested sisters and me
>bullying (my usual charming self :-)-O) every patient that came late
>for over a year to raise compliance to one stroke a month and one
>death every six month (virtually all of them defaulters).
>
>I'd love to have someone figure out that a patient was defaulting. And
>to be in a position to do something about it.
>
>> Wednesday I saw a 14-year-old girl with a tongue stud that said
>> "Lick Me" on it. Her mother took her to have it done and was proud
>> of how brave the kid was. I know those of you who practice in New
>> York or California have probably seen much worse than that, but this
>> is a small farm town in Illinois. I was depressed. I comforted
>> myself with the thought that, if her boyfriend can read and follow
>> instructions, at least she won't get pregnant.
>
>At some stage one particular poorly trained branch of the Namibian
>Police (a hob creation program for former combatants) had the idea
>that our President's abhorrance of homosexuality required that they,
>in pre-emptive obedience, forced every male with an ear stud they'd
>encounter on the street to remove it or they'd rip it off.
>
>Took some gentle explanations from lawyers that they should rather nab
>some criminals (coupled with a few law suits for assault) to stop
>that.
>
>> Today my partner (1/4 of our group) was called up to report to his
>> reserve unit on Sunday and ship out on Monday. Yikes!
>
>Poo thing. But then he never complained about the money they paid him
>to go to Medical School and for not having to go, yet, right?
>
>el
>
>--
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