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Your voice is not being heard about the Patients' Bill of Rights

A parent needs medical care, not red tape. Ill child? Sorry, doctor will not see you now

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER Monday, February 19, 2001
By Lisa Suhay

Has anyone else noticed that when you call a doctor's office for help, the last question asked is, "What is wrong?" The first is, "What type of insurance do you carry?"

It is not news to anyone that the arrival of health-maintenance organizations forced medical practices into a degenerative spiral in which cost effectiveness and reimbursement overrode patient-treatment concerns. Then two things got lost: common sense and compassion.

This bent toward the bottom line has caused some doctors' offices to become mills. Especially those of pediatricians. With three sons, ages 7, 5 and 2, I have a wealth of experience in this line.

A few weeks back, I made an appointment to have my 7-year-old and 2-year-old seen for upper respiratory illness.

Upon arriving, I was told that the doctors were behind schedule, and that I should choose which child they would see. Since King Solomon was not around, I chose the baby. Fortunately, the doctor examining the baby heard the older child hacking away and gave a listen to his chest and found him to be verging on pneumonia.

Just a few weeks later, my 7-year-old son began running a high fever and coughing incessantly, with chest and abdominal pain and pink eye. The illness came on like a house on fire and would not let go.

The same Medford pediatrics office that had asked me to make the choice of Solomon gave my child a 4:15 p.m. appointment but reneged when we arrived.

It wasn't overbooking this time. Now it was politics and money.

You see, the partner of my children's former doctor had left to go to this Medford group. As a result, the old doctor handed over all of his Medford patients' records to his former partner and the new group, and he headed off to the Shore to his other office.

We loved our old doctor because he took time to diagnose and tickle and pull magical pennies out of the children's ears. We asked that a set of records be sent to his office so the boys could still see him when we make our summer pilgrimages to Long Beach Island.

When we arrived for the appointment, I was told that I must sign a waiver promising not to take my children to the old doctor and transferring back any copies of the children's records.

"You are not allowed to have two pediatricians," the young receptionist snapped at me. "Sign or your child doesn't get seen here anymore."

Looking at my son, I was ready to do whatever it took. "If I sign, will the doctor see him now?" I was told that even if I signed the waiver, treatment would be refused because the form would take a week to 10 days to process.

"My son has a temperature over 103 degrees, and that is two hours after a dose of Motrin. Let me talk to a doctor. Let's be sane about this," I said.

"That's not my problem," the receptionist said. "The office manager is too busy to see you. The office manager told me to tell you this."

If you are a parent, you are probably wondering if I am writing from jail and how many pieces of receptionist are still lying around.

But part of being a good mother is setting an example. There was no point in causing a scene that would have frightened the other sick children waiting to be seen.

My son cried all the way to the car: "Why doesn't my doctor like me anymore? Why won't he make me better?"

On the way home, I saw lights on at Dr. Graham Jones' office, where my husband and I are patients. Hearing the symptoms, after 5 p.m. as the office was closing, the office manager said simply, "Come on in."

So I want to thank the office manager, nurse, receptionist and Dr. Jones for remembering what is important about medicine - healing. Also, they all have a great desk-side manner.

Doctors, especially pediatricians, should take a lesson from King Solomon and not ask that our children get divided up among insurance companies, cost effectiveness and ego bouts. Finances and petty political squabbling should never enter into the decision to treat a sick child.

At least that's what people at the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners told me when I ran it all by them the next day.

Lisa Suhay, author of "Tell Me a Story," life-lesson fables for families, writes from Burlington County.