If I'm making an appointment with a doctor and was asked about my race, I'd be offended, just sayin'

Btw, the doctor she works under told her all he cares is they get it at some point. He doesn't care how and doesn't care when. Lol I asked her what he said because he's my surgeon and would have been horrified if he was an asshole like the office manager

I'd be uncomfortable, too.

Also, I'd probably change doctors if they asked me this shit over the phone instead of letting me fill that information out in-office.

Op Here. I did post that he is requiring an answer and leaving it as patient does not wish to respond was unacceptable. I.e.
a: and what race do you identify with
b. Im sorry I'm not sure that is relevant and I do feel comfortable answering that
a:I'm sorry but it is required that I put down a race. The choices are..


I believe that it was my friend is uncomfortable with. Forcing someone to give a race or say Hispanic or not.

Btw I asked my friend if her boss reviews the list if patients for the day and she said only to see who has a balance. I told her to look out to see if her boss went after minorities more than others. Like they can't be seen if they have a balance vs they can take care of their balance at another time. She is already supposed to tell masshealth people that the doctor books way further out than he actually does in hopes that they will go somewhere else.

And fwiw, after learning all of this I really wanted to change surgeons but he is highly specialized and has the best reimbursement with my insurance.

Anonymous wrote: She is an admin at a doctors office that now has to comply with new Medicare policies about information they want. Some of that information involves asking race and ethnicity when booking appointments on the phone. This information can be gathered when the patient comes in for an appt but her boss wants it beforehand.

This gives me the shivers
if you can get that information when the patient walks in, then there is no need to get it telephonically, unless it affects the level of service the doctor plans on giving
This is a weird situation, I am glad I am not in that position.
Face it, the doc's will get their info. And there are no medical reasons for the doc to know this beforehand

This is funny, I was asked this question just today, as I made an appointment for my husband. (asked what his race is, not mine) I was slightly taken aback and said "uh, white". I didn't remember being asked this before. But this information is requested all over the place. It seems to me that it's fine for the boss to require she asks, if it is indeed required on the intake form. If the person refuses to answer, there's nothing she can do, but if it's part of her job to ask, she should ask. (it didn't seem he's requiring that she get an answer, just that she ask.)

While it might seem like an awkward question, think about it. For the person coming to see the doctor, what is more weird, having someone ask your race, or checking you out when you get there and putting you in a category themselves. Wouldn't it be better if they know what race you consider yourself?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - MY fault, I should have had my friend read the post before I put it on. According to her, her real problem is that her boss said she cannot put refused to respond when asking race and whether someone is hispanic or not (those are the 2 questions she is uncomfortable with). So if a patient refuses to answer, she has to either get them to give an answer or worry about being in trouble for not complying with what he wants. Don't know if that changes how people feel.

Simple. Make shit up!!!

No seriously. That is a whole different can of beans. What does he expect her to do? If they don't want to say, they don't want to say!

Exactly everybody should be on color one day, and another the next. And when she has another job that last day they should all be skittles color

Race is a social construct, period. Its value is only the value a society has assigned to it. That's why racial categories and identification differ from nation to nation.

You should focus less on posting bad snark and more on your grammar.