I really wish as a teacher I could fire students. Must be nice to have the luxury of firing patients.

Anonymous wrote:My child needed cleft surgery and the plastic surgeon fired us because I -
wasn't happy that she booked evaluations without checking dates and times with us.
She was also fairly dismissive and a fast talker, like we were wasting her time.

Sounds like a win for you, then. That was not going to be a productive relationship anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I fired three drs for ignoring my questions, for incompetence, and for unprofessional bedside manners.

My MILs doc fired her for refusing labs and meds and final straw was being snippy with him and staff.

My child needed cleft surgery and the plastic surgeon fired us because I -
wasn't happy that she booked evaluations without checking dates and times with us.
She was also fairly dismissive and a fast talker, like we were wasting her time.

I went to a dermatologist and before starting treatment for Accutane said if I wasn't willing to terminate if I became pregnant.

When I did get pregnant my ob/gyn said if I wasn't willing to get tested for HIV then I couldn't stay in their medical practice.

I though both were completely reasonable requests.

Anonymous wrote:I got fired by an eye doctor. I was asking questions about cost and completely didn't understand at all my insurance and why it cost me how much it did. She got annoyed and just fired me.

Asking a question? Sure. Asking multiple questions and not understanding your own insurance? probably not a service they provide, but another optometry clinic might. Remember, it's a business just like any other, not special -- and it's not the job of their business to understand your insurance. That's your job. For them to sort that out for you just as a free courtesy -- especially when it's taking a lot of time -- is not something you'd ask of another business, right? If you couldn't understand how your bank accounts and credit cards work, you wouldn't expect a mechanic's office to work it out for you.

^^Sometimes I think that even if patients were going to leave anyway, they want to be begged to stay. Of course I have no idea if that's what went on here, but it sounds like no loss at all to PP. They just made it happen as quickly and easily as possible.

Anonymous wrote:I've been fired as a patient.

I was young, mid-20s, and tore my ACL. Through a connection, I had the best knee surgeon in the area at the time. And at a follow-up appt after surgery, where I made the 8am appt because I had to be at work at 9am, the narcissistic a$$hole doctor showed up at 9, because he was held up by a meeting with the contractor who was renovating his kitchen.

I expressed my displeasure at his arriving an hour late for his first appointment of the day because I was afraid I would lose my job. When I left, at checkout, they literally copied the "orthopedic" section of the yellow pages, and told me not to choose one to see and to not come back.

If I remembered the jerks name, I would share who it was, but it was over 35 years ago, and I've forgotten

You can express your displeasure, but just as doctors aren't supposed to be abusive (express anger, be snide, make cutting remarks, be insulting) to patients, there are expectations of respectful behavior from patients, too.

I mean, if you were that mad that it is bringing up what you express in a post over 35 years later, that was not going to be a therapeutic alliance anyway. Certainly you would have wanted out with your records to see someone else, right? You weren't going to stay and take that kind of attitude and disrespect from him, were you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS: There's a difference between "asking questions" in a polite and respectful way, and asking them in a way that comes with insults, rude challenges, and an insistence to do excessive work for free when it isn't medically indicated.

To be fair, I've had doctors flat out refuse to treat an actual medical diagnosis I have as well as refuse to treat symptoms of an undiagnosed condition. Both resulted in dire consequences to me. Sometimes they need to have that hard conversation with a patient.

If they refuse to treat you, it's usually because it's not within their purview and they direct you to the right specialist. Sometimes the decision of which physician treats what condition is blurry and debatable - but usually it makes sense.

There can be other reasons. I've known a pediatrician that does not treat children with anorexia nervosa because of her own eating disorder history. It's nothing personal, but it is not a service she can safely provide. Not safe for her or the patient.

I've known another VA doc with a kidney transplant that wasn't able to work with sick clinic until COVID vaccines came out and there was sufficient PPE.

I got fired by an eye doctor. I was asking questions about cost and completely didn't understand at all my insurance and why it cost me how much it did. She got annoyed and just fired me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If a doctor gets annoyed by an educated patient askin 1-3 relevant questions, then she/he needs to see a psychiatrist. Dr Wrong needs help becoming Dr. Right.

Many doctors would tell you there's no such thing as an "educated patient." The very idea threatens a LOT of MD egos.

I got fired for asking too many questions, and being upset when I was ignored and the ignorance of the practice led to actual harm on my part. They're lucky I was too sick to sue.

Some doctors, like the people they are, really ain't sh*t.

Looks like we found the pile of pubmed citation poster. Too sick to sue, that’s a new one. Such a physical order to identity a lawyer actually willing to take on a case with merit.

Anonymous wrote:If a doctor gets annoyed by an educated patient askin 1-3 relevant questions, then she/he needs to see a psychiatrist. Dr Wrong needs help becoming Dr. Right.

Many doctors would tell you there's no such thing as an "educated patient." The very idea threatens a LOT of MD egos.

I got fired for asking too many questions, and being upset when I was ignored and the ignorance of the practice led to actual harm on my part. They're lucky I was too sick to sue.

Some doctors, like the people they are, really ain't sh*t.

If a doctor gets annoyed by an educated patient askin 1-3 relevant questions, then she/he needs to see a psychiatrist. Dr Wrong needs help becoming Dr. Right.

I've been fired as a patient.

I was young, mid-20s, and tore my ACL. Through a connection, I had the best knee surgeon in the area at the time. And at a follow-up appt after surgery, where I made the 8am appt because I had to be at work at 9am, the narcissistic a$$hole doctor showed up at 9, because he was held up by a meeting with the contractor who was renovating his kitchen.

I expressed my displeasure at his arriving an hour late for his first appointment of the day because I was afraid I would lose my job. When I left, at checkout, they literally copied the "orthopedic" section of the yellow pages, and told me not to choose one to see and to not come back.

If I remembered the jerks name, I would share who it was, but it was over 35 years ago, and I've forgotten

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, did a fired patient actually tell you this? Did you ask why?

Yes. But it’s more than 1 person probably because I am a patient advocate.The problem is that there are not many options for people in places where options are limited or alternative care is subpar. I have heard this a few times from Mayo Clinics that are outside Minnesota, particularly in Jacksonville. But it is becoming more familiar across the board.
Is this legal to do to Medicare patients? These decisions are often made by clerical staff.
It’s Drs firing patients not patients firing drs.

So who is making the decision, exactly? And are the patients telling you the real reasons?

Is there a consolidation of medical practices over there that is leading to a shortage of doctors willing to include Medicare patients? When a practice changes over to a different owner, and/or they revise which insurances they're willing to work with, it might happen that a group of patients are notified that their insurance will no longer be accepted. Usually there's advance notice. This is perfectly legal, even though it's inconvenient to the patients.