the rix mix

Had appt with new primary physician today (thanks for the lift, Gina). I changed HMOs & needed an updated referral. I had met this doctor before, has a solo practice, which are less & less common & sort of old-fashioned. You have to decide if they're competent or not. Her office, though a little out of way, is small, clean, plenty of current magazines* I bet the receptionist chooses them), uncrowded when I was there. A receptionist-medical clerk who does the job. I had to fill out all the forms you always have to fill out. I brought my prescriptions. My appt time was almost on time. The doctor let me explain a rather complicated history & situation, didn't rush but moved things along, asked some good questions, focused on the one med she's responsible for monitoring right now & which she had prescribed when I was in hospital & she was the attending. It's a heart med for a common mytral valve thing I've had since I was a kid. She knew what paperwork her office needed to do, did an EKG herself, ordered up some standard blood tests at a lab, recommended a convenient one close by, set up a followup appt. Efficient, & kind of "old school" - meaning she probably remembers something about a patient before she looks at the file. She asked why my specialist wasn't the doctor she knew with the office 1/2 mile away. I said I went there & they didn't take my former HMO & sent me away. She looked annoyed to learn I had to go all to way to Newark for a doctor approved by old HMO. She was my attending physician in the hospital, wanted my business as a primary. She has a kind of take charge personality I really could have used.


* Including American Handyman, & the past ten issues of Soap Opera Digest neatly laid out in order. The receptionist must order them.

Labels: mental health