The doctor was wonderful, and I want to make that very clear. Unfortunately, our experience checking in with the receptionist was completely different and extremely disappointing.
When we arrived, we were told that our appointment had been canceled. I explained that neither my husband nor I had canceled it and asked what we needed to do from there. Instead of focusing on helping us resolve the issue, the receptionist continued questioning me about who had canceled the appointment.
She asked whether we had given anyone else permission to call on our behalf. I explained that we had not given anyone permission to cancel appointments and suggested that perhaps something had happened because of my husband's recent hospital admission. She then asked me to verify my phone number and told me that MY number was the number that had called to make and cancel the appointment.
I explained again that I had only called their office ONE time, and that was to originally schedule this appointment. Her response was, "So the system is wrong?" I said yes, because I knew I had not called and canceled the appointment.
Integrity is extremely important to me, and what bothered me most was not the appointment mix-up itself, but the way I was treated throughout the conversation. I knew exactly what calls I had made, yet instead of simply trying to figure out where the mistake occurred, I felt as though I was being challenged to prove that I was telling the truth. There is a big difference between asking questions to solve a problem and speaking to a patient in a way that makes them feel their honesty is being questioned.
I then wondered if someone from my husband's transplant team had contacted the office. Sure enough, a member of the transplant team had called, but they were calling to schedule an appointment for an entirely separate matter. I went back inside and had that team member speak directly with the receptionist so there would be no question about what had actually happened.
At that point, the explanation changed. The receptionist pointed out that we had given the transplant team permission to speak on my husband's behalf, as though that explained the canceled appointment. To be very clear, we did NOT give the transplant team permission to cancel this appointment. They were not calling to change or cancel this appointment at all. They were calling to schedule a separate appointment regarding an entirely different matter. Those are two very different things. More importantly, this still did not explain why I had been specifically told that MY phone number was the number that called to cancel the appointment.
My concern is not that there was an appointment mix-up. Mistakes happen. My concern is the way it was handled. Rather than simply saying, "Let's figure out what happened," I was repeatedly questioned and specifically told that my phone number had called to cancel the appointment, which was not an accurate representation of what happened.
Perhaps the office should document not only the phone number calling, but the name of the person they are actually speaking with when appointments are scheduled or canceled. That would help prevent situations like this in the future and avoid putting patients in the position of having to defend themselves over an office scheduling issue.
Again, the doctor was great. It is just sad when good doctors risk losing patients because of the way they are treated by the front office before they ever even make it back to see the physician. read more
