Member-only story
If I Speak Up For Myself, I’m A Bitch
If I don’t speak up, I’m a doormat.
It was actually my health insurance company that suggested I report my doctor to the medical board. The customer service rep’s exact words were, “The physician is responsible for the conduct of his employees.”
As a legal secretary, I know all about a licensed professional being responsible for the behavior of his underlings. I also know all about being thrown under the bus if it’ll keep the clients happy.
This is what I’ve drafted as my email to the board:
The physician’s assistant said that she had “changed some orders,” but she didn’t say how they were changed or why. I ended up getting an HIV test I didn’t need, didn’t ask for, and didn’t want. I also ended up having a lipid panel that I had already told the triage nurse I didn’t need, since I’d just had one the year before — ordered by Dr. X! Explain to me how an HIV test and a lipid panel are related to my lack of appetite, slight fever, and GI distress??
And to top it all off, the entire lab claim was denied as “out of network” by Oscar [my insurance company, which specifically covers services provided by the Cleveland Clinic] even though I was sitting in a Cleveland Clinic hospital and had the blood drawn by Cleveland Clinic employees. One would naturally assume…
