Medical Forms - Continuing Saga

Mon, 11 Jun 2007

I went back to the hospital yesterday morning to have the results of the labs recorded and tie up loose ends. Wishful thinking!

Nothing had been done on the blood work because they were "waiting for permission from the insurance company." I had not requested that permission be sought! I stated firmly that insurance approval was not an issue; I would pay for it myself if necessary. I just wanted the work done so the results could be recorded on my form. I made a big fuss (in a dignified way) and so the doctor's nurse and I ended up going to the insurance rep in the hospital, who got the matter resolved in 5 minutes. Why couldn't he have done his job on Thursday, when I had the tests? After that, the lab *started* the analysis.

BUT! For one Hepatitis test, they had to send a sample to Dubai and the results wouldn't be ready for a week! I again dug in my heels and was finally told that "in 2 or 3 days we will have the results." (This may or may not be true, of course.) The insurance rep told me he would call me when they come in; I took his mobile and office phone numbers and told him I would call him if I didn't hear from him on Wednesday morning. So, more waiting.

I called him on Wednesday and he said the results were in my folder, just come to see the doctor, who would record them onto my forms. I used my lunch hour to go to the hospital (without an appointment) to see the doctor before he left for the mid-day break. Yes, the results were in my folder except for the one from Dubai. He recorded the others on my form and finished up the remaining portions of the paperwork, even performing a "whisper test" in lieu of a formal hearing test. It consisted of me closing my eyes while he stood facing me and snapped his fingers quietly first on my left and then on the right, starting at a distance behind him and progressively moving closer to my ear. I was to hold up my hand when I first heard the sound. When I held up my hand on the left side, it bumped into his hand because it was so close to my ear before I heard it. On the right side, I heard the snapping almost as soon as he began. He wrote the results on the form, including suggesting that I have a formal test, but did not disqualify me from TSS work.. Then I went to confront the insurance rep. He was shocked, saying that he didn't know, when I called earlier, that I was talking about the results from Dubai. He called the lab in question and then told me the results would be in "next week." I was exasperated but not surprised. That's the way things are done here.

When the results finally came in, I went to the hospital again, without an appointment, and got in to see the doctor when he arrived for the day. In spite of the fact that three other patients who probably had appointments were also waiting, he saw me first, cheerfully told me the results were negative and recorded them on the form.

I was so relieved to finally have the entire process complete that I was nearly shaking as I left the hospital, carefully clutching the folder containing my finally-completed Medical Forms. I sent them to TSS a couple of days later via an international courier service.