I am a professional business woman & mother who lives in Chapel Hill. I manage a health management program that focuses on wellness, disease management & patient self advocacy including that they have strong working relationships with their providers.
I am in need of therapies to help with plantar fasciitis that has not responded to traditional therapy in order to avoid surgery. I called nearly a month ago &scheduled a new patient appointment at Carmela's earliest available time. I called the week prior to my appointment to inquire whether there were any cancellations so I could be seen earlier; there were not so I was eager for my appointment this Thursday.
Monday afternoon I received a voicemail from Hannah- an "appointment reminder" requesting I call to confirm. I am traveling on business & knew I would not be able to return the call until after 3pm Tuesday. I felt this would be reasonable & that my appointment would certainly not be at risk. Tuesday afternoon when my last meeting ended at 3 I checked my voicemails prior to calling & had received 2 additional messages - The 1st at 11:30 am from Hannah urgently requesting my confirmation call & the 2nd, from Carmela, my would be acupuncturist, at 2:30 pm stating "I have called you many times & I do not know why you won't return our call but if you do not confirm todday I will cancel your appointment." I was astonished that I was being threatened by this place of healing. It has not yet been a full business day since the first of 3 calls I have received demanding I call back to confirm my already scheduled & confirmed appointment. I would tell any of the participants in my health management program to communicate their feelings to their provider if one of them told me this was their situation.
So, I call at 3:05 on Tuesday (24 hours or 1 business day from the first "appointment reminder" call) & speak with Hannah. I explain why I have not been available & state that I did intend to come & was eager about working with Carmela. I said I felt their demand of a return call in a short timeframe or else was unfair, especially when I had given no indication of ambiguity about my first appointment but rather the opposite. She interrupted me & passed the phone to Carmela. I verbalized again my schedule over the last 24 hours & my expectations that I not be cancelled or threatened should I not be available to return their call in a short turn around time. I stated that I very much was wanting to keep my appointment & did not appreciate being accused otherwise. She stated, not, "I am so sorry, that was not our intention" but rather "I need to confirm bc I have other clients with emergencies & what am I supposed to do, work another day?" (My thought: yes, if you want to treat them & they do not have a scheduled appointment. Or, refer them to one of your partners, or extend your work day by an hour, or fit them in if you have a cancellation, or perhaps stop taking new clients. I certainly do not think you should threaten new clients who waited patiently for 5 weeks while also in urgent pain for you to have availability & make them feel that you do not have time for them & that we are adding to your problems). My response to Carmela, "Go ahead & treat that patient, I will find a different provider because I do not deserve to be treated this way."
I suggest you seek a different provider too, because just like I tell my program participants - it is essential that you have a respectful working relationship with your provider & it is clear to me that if Carmela is comfortable treating new patients this way & making this type of first impression she is not the type of provider I want & I can guarantee there are kinder, more respectful & professional providers available to us, so take your health needs elsewhere. read more
