Rant: Finding a New Doctor Makes Me Need Valium

If I had a top ten list of things I hate in life, finding a new doctor would be right up there at the top. Along with paying bills (can't I pay someone to take care of all of that for me??)

Anyway, I've been waking up every day for about a week with back pain, and it gets worse by the day. So, time to see a chiropractor, right? No, because I'm scared that they'll mess my back up, and so I won't go unless they come highly recommended. And they don't do all sorts of new age, homeopathic type stuff. The only one I know of that fits that bill is in Draper, and I can't get out there on a regular basis. So, it's on to finding an orthopedic specialist. I decide that finding one from the Orthopedic Specialty Hospital would be a good place to start.

So, I tell UHC's web site to show me all of the physicians affiliated with them, and pick a random one from the list and call. I'm then told that this doctor is no longer at the clinic I'm calling. So, I ask if all the doctors are orthopedic specialists (yes) and if they accept UHC insurance. That insurance question was a doozy, I tell ya! The woman on the other end of the phone blurts out some kind of confusing explanation about how they usually do but they can't guarantee payment so she really doesn't know. So, I try to simplify the question, and ask if any of the providers are on UHC's provider list. Somehow, she modifies her answer to be less clear, and 'they maybe are and maybe aren't, but here's the original doctor's phone number that you asked for'.

Wow, that was painful.

So, it's on to calling the original doctor I was looking for. This time, I verify that the doctor is indeed still practicing through wherever the hell it is I'm calling, that he does take UHC and he is taking new patients. Yep, yep and yep. So, I ask how long it will be before I can be seen. I'm then transferred to his assistant's voicemail. Surprisingly, I actually got a call back about 5 minutes later, only to find out that it'll be almost 2 weeks before I can be seen. Then I find out he specializes in knees and shoulders.

She was very nice and referred me to both a clinic (Spine Clinic) and another doctor, neither of which I can find in my insurance directory.

So, with an hour wasted, I'm back to square one. At this rate, I'll end up waking up unable to move before I can find a doctor to help. And I was supposed to find a doctor to treat my endometriosis, a regular doctor (for annual checkups and medication refills) as well as a new dentist. I think I'll go stick my head in a hole in the ground, instead.