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Patient, not customer

Posted 12/2/14

I recently had an appointment with a local doctor and X-rays at a local hospital. Everything was fine and I didn't require any follow-up appointment. However, I received a letter in the mail and a …

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Patient, not customer

Posted

I recently had an appointment with a local doctor and X-rays at a local hospital. Everything was fine and I didn't require any follow-up appointment. However, I received a letter in the mail and a phone call telling me that I had an additional appointment -- a specific date and time -- with a different doctor that I had never heard of. This was not a standard doctor referral and I requested no such thing. Who is accessing my information and determining that I should go to an additional doctor? This feels like predatory behavior by our local healthcare system. What further concerns me is that the new appointment was with a pain management center -- places notorious for prescribing addicting painkillers. Sure seems like an effort to get more of my and my insurance company's money. This makes me feel like a customer, not a patient.