Cannot get physician to sign Medicaid and my Family Leave papers. What can I do?

Your frustration must be at peak level - most of would be ready to tear our hair out. I feel so sorry for you! Sadly, you may have to do as was suggested and make an appointment. Bring in a new set of papers and wait while they get signed. This is something that likely gets put at the bottom of the pile day after day.

Good luck,
Carol

I had the same thing happen to me, I wound up getting new paper work, making a doctors appointment and sat there until he signed them. I had already filled out the questions. Good luck to you.

Being on the other side, your paperwork is not the only paperwork in the pile. The doctors see patients everyday all day long. They give every patient in the office the same time, compassion and care that you would expect and receive. The paperwork is attended to between patients, which is very little time, especially when people are ill and "need to be seen today". Doctors need to go home to their families after a long day, they need to take care of their own health so they can effectively care for you, and yes, they deserve a vacation just like you. Often times, paperwork "dropped off" can take 3 weeks to complete. Nurses are just as busy, and they are working on empty stomachs and full bladders. So, my suggestion to you is please remember you and your paperwork are one of many which we as professionals try daily to not treat you as one of many, but rather a VIP. Please treat us with the same respect. Make an appointment and have the paperwork filled out when you come in, ready for a signature. Yes, you will have to pay for an appointment but it will reduce tension at both ends.

I'm not hearing a possibility that the Dr doesn't agree that she's really Medicaid eligible yet. I thought my Mother was oh so ill because she spent all day in bed till her Dr told me there is nothing at all wrong w/ her. I got the same dx from the ER- NOTHING wrong with her. So she's going into assisted living next week where nice CNA's will get her up, take her to meals, encourage her to do activities. Where I was trying to get her signed up for hospice (therefore Medicaid), turns out she'll probably live on for years. And (best part) someone besides me will be caring for her.

Do what I did. I showed up at the office, and waited in the hall until the doctor came out of another office, and I asked him to sign the papers. Do what you have to do. If you make an appointment to get papers signed, there will be a charge, and they can charge you for copies. Being a doctor is a business, don't ever forget that. Whenever I encounter a doctor whose office is so chaotic and personnel don't respect my time, then I get another doctor. Mostly, you have to be assertive and an advocate for your loved one.

That is why most benefit counselors will tell you to fill the forms in yourself, have the MD sign them in front of you and then take them with you. All too often the office help makes errors or omissions or loses the forms altogether.

I also am "on the other side" and one sure way to get your forms completed is to schedule an appointment with the provider. So many times patient (or the family member) bring forms in for things like admission to a care facility (day care or assisted living) and ask to have them completed. I have to call them and try to get them an appointment to complete the forms. The patient or family member is reluctant to come in because "I just saw the doctor last month". When I check what the visit was for it would be for something like sinus congestion or a cough or pain in their foot or back. Never is it because they had a physical and that would be the only reason you wouldn't need to bring them back for the forms if that exam was recent. Remember to fill out as much as you can especially putting the name and date of birth on each page. Having the forms completed on your part and scheduling an appointment for forms to be done guarantees that the provider has the time and you will have them when you leave. Most important, keep copies for yourself. Many times we have given a copy that I make for the chart to the patient because the facility misplaced it.

Also keep in mind your mom should be seeing her doctor every three to six months following up on how medications are working, if she has chronic problems like diabetes or hypertension (or any thing that she needs medication for daily). If her provider doesn't ask this perhaps she needs a new one.

akdaughter, and as you know well, caregivers are stretched thin. It is hard to get mom dressed and cooperating to go sit in a doctor's office. It is hard to find someone to stay with Mom while you go sit in an office for a form signature.

Most of us are willing to do what we have to do, but, boy, it would sure help if we knew what that was, from the very beginning. And if we were told that politely. And not treated like we were trying to get something for nothing.

Attitude is certainly a huge aspect of the face a clinic presents to the public.

I suggest you look for a new doctor in a different group. My husband is a doctor and this does not happen in his office. Signing paperwork is part of the job, and it sounds like this guy is too busy. You would be doing him a favor by reducing his patient load.

There is an element of rudeness in "dropping off papers" and expecting them to be filled out and promptly signed with no charge for the work involved. Expecting the doctor to do that for free without coming in with the patient involved and without asking if that's how the office prefers it to be handled is just kinda rude. It really is not a duty of the doc to fill those things out for you just because he is your doctor. Courtesy is appreciated. Many times patients are not respectful and then blame the doctor for not doing what they wanted. Don't be "that patient" if you can manage otherwise.