Morning rant
Ok, before a complain, I’ll say that my dealings with a certain unnamed military health insurance provider (”UMHIP”) (you know who you are) have been mixed- some positive experiences and some negative experiences. I have had good experiences with the doctors and quality of medicare care for the most part. However, I no longer go to the local MTF (military treatment facility) as my primary care b/c I kept having horrible customer service experience and difficulty making appoints so I got them to switch me and I was assigned a civilian primary care (the two closest MTFs were full so that’s why I was assigned a civilian). The only time I go to nearest MTF is to pick up prescriptions b/c it’s free.
Unfortunately, my day started with a trip to the local MTF to pick up a civilian prescription. I walked in and went back to the pharmacy and was pleasantly surprised – no one was in there waiting – just me. So I walked right up to the refill/pick up counter where two people were working and smiled and said good morning. The man says to me “you have to take a number” and I said “oh really, since when? I’ve walked in before with a civilian prescription and was told I didn’t need a number.” He said I still needed to take one now and I said “okayyyyyyy” drawn out like what I really wanted to say was “are you freaking kidding me?” So, I took a number and sat down. And waited. And waited for about 5 or 10 minutes before they called me up. First of all, no one else was in the waiting room, just me. Second, it appeared that he was helping his co-worker with some computer issues. HOWEVER, he has a customer (that would be me) waiting for medicine and somehow in my crazy mind, I think I should be waited on immediately. But no, I had to wait. And it’s not as if it wasn’t obvious that I was dressed to go to work so being that they aren’t helping any other customers, why not help me right away. I have no idea what was so freaking important with the computer that I had to wait.
Finally the woman calls me up and helps me and that takes another 10 minutes b/c they are having computer issues and the saga goes on. I so wanted to just say something tactful but on point about the whole experience b/c they were working behind the counter like they had no cares in the world and helping a waiting customer clearly in a hurry to get to work just wasn’t on the priority list. To me, it’s just unacceptable. Someone is going to have to sit me down one day and explain the mysteries behind the UMHIP and how they work b/c I just don’t understand.
If I have offended anyone with this, I apologize. In the back of mind, there is a part of me that says I shouldn’t complain b/c it’s free medical care, etc. But I also think that what happened today was ridiculous too.
I have a lot of experiences like this, too. You can always report them to the Patient Advocate people, but…most of the time it isn’t like they can do anything. While it’s great (and very helpful) that we get these things for free, it comes at a price–we don’t get to choose pharmacies, so if the service is lacking, we’re basically stuck. I waited over an hour last week to pick up a prescription another MTF had called in for me (and I called to make sure it was ordered, and came in the day they told me to), only to find out that they’d never gotten the meds in, and never bothered to call me and tell me. Whether they even ordered them or not is still a mystery. But because of all the ranting I did (DH was conveniently outside making a phone call), I now have the head of the pharmacy department’s direct telephone number, and was told to deal with him exclusively. So I am an advocate of yelling.
Ann M.
November 14, 2007
Ann – that’s equally ridiculous. I’m glad you got somewhere by getting that phone number. I am definitely a fan of yelling now too. Especially when UMHIP’s local MTF has big signs hanging in the reception/waiting area bragging about how they are highly rated for quality customer service. By who is what I want to know.
Hopefully if enough people complain, maybe some marginal improvements will happen.
slightlysaltyspouse
November 14, 2007
You know, when people tell me I shouldn’t complain b/c it’s free, my response has become, “Yes, and clearly you get what you pay for.”
Of course, I’ve become incredibly bitter after my kids were yanked around the local MTF, threatened with horrible tests, other tests lost or delayed for BS reasons, etc. After all that, it turned out they had lead poisoning care of certain Chinese-made toy trains. I actually wrote my congressman about it, it was so bad, and he was concerned enough to forward my letter to the folks investigating the military medical system (at the time, Walter Reed was taking it hard in the media). I also sent letters to the MTF and got personal phone calls about it. I was surprised, but apparently in the current climate, letters go a LONG way. You might give it a shot if the problems continue.
Kerri-Leigh
November 18, 2007