![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 9th, 2004 07:59 pmMy employer is changing health insurance companies at the end of March. My primary care doctor is not listed in the new plan, so I have 3 weeks to find a new doctor. For some people, this would be an administrative nuisance. For me, it is a matter of profound terror.
The political rant is being saved for another post. The medical rant, mixed with plenty of worry and some background information, is behind the cut tag.
( Read more... )
Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can ask a prospective doctor about this delicate subject before making him or her my primary care doctor? I don't want to come across as excessively single-minded (obsessed. drug-seeking. desperate.) but this really is a deal-breaker for me. There are doctors out there who won't prescribe the kind of medication I need, at all, to anyone, for any reason. They have philosophical objections, or they're scared of the DEA, or something. I don't care - they're not a good fit for me. My big concern is that a doctor who would be willing to prescribe it to a known patient if there was trust, rapport, a damn good reason, etc, might turn away a stranger who just phoned and started asking.
Note to faraway readers: It is my understanding that attitudes towards pain medication vary by region, and the old Puritan tradition is very strong in New England. Doctors in the Southeastern US, for instance, are much more liberal about prescribing narcotics for both chronic and acute pain. I have considered moving for this reason, but the transit options and diverse intellectual/spiritual communities are keeping me here.
Note to local readers: My new health insurance is the Harvard Pilgrim HMO. I'd prefer a doctor near the Red Line, 77 bus route, or at the Lahey Clinic, but I know I'm not in a position to be picky that way. Do you have direct personal experience of a compassionate doctor who is good at listening to patients? Someone who recognizes that different patients can react differently to the same treatment. Someone who doesn't say things like: "You'll just have to learn to live with it" or "It's not helping? You should take more of it. Don't worry about the side effects."
The political rant is being saved for another post. The medical rant, mixed with plenty of worry and some background information, is behind the cut tag.
( Read more... )
Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can ask a prospective doctor about this delicate subject before making him or her my primary care doctor? I don't want to come across as excessively single-minded (obsessed. drug-seeking. desperate.) but this really is a deal-breaker for me. There are doctors out there who won't prescribe the kind of medication I need, at all, to anyone, for any reason. They have philosophical objections, or they're scared of the DEA, or something. I don't care - they're not a good fit for me. My big concern is that a doctor who would be willing to prescribe it to a known patient if there was trust, rapport, a damn good reason, etc, might turn away a stranger who just phoned and started asking.
Note to faraway readers: It is my understanding that attitudes towards pain medication vary by region, and the old Puritan tradition is very strong in New England. Doctors in the Southeastern US, for instance, are much more liberal about prescribing narcotics for both chronic and acute pain. I have considered moving for this reason, but the transit options and diverse intellectual/spiritual communities are keeping me here.
Note to local readers: My new health insurance is the Harvard Pilgrim HMO. I'd prefer a doctor near the Red Line, 77 bus route, or at the Lahey Clinic, but I know I'm not in a position to be picky that way. Do you have direct personal experience of a compassionate doctor who is good at listening to patients? Someone who recognizes that different patients can react differently to the same treatment. Someone who doesn't say things like: "You'll just have to learn to live with it" or "It's not helping? You should take more of it. Don't worry about the side effects."
