Customer Service in the Medical Profession?

Saturday I went to the doctor (Dr. Fred Lim in Naperville, IL) for a follow-up appointment about a problem I've been having with my hands. He did some blood tests, and one came back slightly elevated and indicated that I may have rheumatoid arthritis, but another test that should have also been elevated was not. In the end he said he was uncomfortable making a diagnosis since the tests were so borderline (understandable). Instead, he wrote down the name and phone number of a specialist on his prescription pad and handed it to me. Since my last visit I had done some research and had some questions about the disease and the medication he had prescribed for me (Celebrex). The answers were prefaced with "because I'm not prepared to make a diagnosis", or were otherwise elementary and unhelpful and I left with no more information than I came in with -just a slip of paper with a name on it. It was clear he wanted to get on to the next patient, so my last question was: Where is this rheumatologist you are referring me to? His answer: "His last known address was somewhere in Naperville I think". Lovely.

So, today I lookup the phone number and it's still registered to the name Dr. Lim had given me -a good sign. It looks like this doctor works out of Edward Hospital in Naperville. Bonus. I try to make an appointment and the lady asks what insurance I have. "Great West" I say. Turns out they only take Blue Cross/Blue Shield or Medicare. Great.

So I call my insurance company and get the name of a specialist I can go to. There's 2 in the area, I call the one in Edwards Hospital. The first available appointment is February 11th. I'll run out of medication by then, but I schedule it -Dr. Lim said to call if I need a refill. The woman who scheduled the appointment asks me to bring in copies of any tests that my doctor performed and that reminds me -I need to call St. James Hospital, Dr. Lim hadn't received my records from my old doctor yet (it's been over a month since I faxed them the request for records transfer).

So I call St. James, press 1 for English, press 4 for records and get... Voicemail. I left a message. They'll get back to me within 24 hours. Bleh.

Next I call Dr. Lim's office to see what kind of hoops I'll have to jump through to get a copy of my tests for the specialist. I go through 5 minutes of "if this is an emergency hang up and dial 9-1-1", then press 1 for making an appointment, yada, yada. In the end none of the extensions fit, so I dial "0". She says I need to talk to a nurse, she'll put me back into the system where I should press "4". Okay, fine. I press "4", and what do I get? Voicemail. I left a message. They'll get back to me within 24 hours. I can't believe this.

I remember hearing an option on the phone for "refilling a prescription", which I need to do, but it says to call the pharmacy and have them request a refill. What if I want to go to a different pharmacy? (See last post about Osco.) I guess I'll ask the nurse when she calls me back.

UPDATE: St. James says that they were having problems finding my records, but they've been located and will be sent to my current doctor within the week.

Also, Dr. Lim's office called and said they could mail me my records, but that they only have the x-rays for my right hand. She called and asked Edward's hospital for the pictures of the left hand, but Edward's claimed they only had the right. If I have to go get nuked again so they have pics of the left hand I'll scream!