Doctors

I had to put in a photo, because he is so cute!

       Let me start out by saying that we have GREAT healthcare coverage through the military, and I am 100% grateful for it.  Still, I get very annoyed by the referral system they have in place.  We live very close to the base hospital, which we use for all our healthcare needs, for Helo and ourselves.  He has a fantastic pediatrician who we fell in love with, when he introduced himself while I was waiting to deliver Helo.  (He makes me feel old though, considering he is 3 years younger than me) Anyway, Helo was born with a minor medical condition that, at the time, may or may not have required surgery.  We were referred to and off-base provider at Dayton Children's.  It took 3 months to get in to see this physician. Helo's condition, which I would rather not mention, in case he reads this one day.  This specific situation required a "if it hasn't taken care of itself by the 12 month mark, we will schedule surgery".  Well, it has not taken care of itself, so I called our pediatric clinic so that they would put in the referral.  All visits to Dr.s not in your clinic require a referral, whether on base or not.  Well, I get a phone call 3 days after the request stating that I needed to speak to the referral office. The kind lady proceeded to tell me that I would be seen on base. I nicely explained to her that we needed to be seen with our original provider because even though they had a physician who cared for adults in this situation, they did not have one that took care of infants and children.  I was placed on hold for about 2 minutes, after which she came back on the line and said that, "no, you will be seen on base because you were only referred to Children's because they did not have an appointment available on base."  I then told her that, no we were seen off base because they did not have a pediatric Dr. for this area of care.  She said, that they would refer me to Children's if they could not care for Helo.  So I clarified my question by asking if they NOW had a Dr that was a pediatric specialist. She replied yes, they have always had one.  I then told her, no that was incorrect because our pediatrician, specifically sent us to Children's because they did not have a pediatric specialist.  At this point, I am getting really annoyed, cuz I remember everything, when it comes to my child's health care, not to mention I write everything down.  She continued with her explanation that I would be seen on base, at which point I said " continuity of health care huh? I am sorry, I know it is not your fault, but I get sick of seeing someone different all the time, and having to re-explain myself and what is going on every time!"  This seems to be a recurring problem.  You get referred from one place to the next, for specific things to be taken care of, only to have each person wanting to tell you something different or have a different solution, meanwhile, nothing is getting done.  We'll see how this goes. I have to tell you all though, I am going to blow a gasket (internally, hopefully) of they tell me that I indeed need to go to Children's for Helo.  Time wasting is one of my pet peeves. Plus it seems to take MONTHS to get in to see the Dr. at Children's. Pray for me ya'll. Imma lose it if I get told what I already know.  On a side note, I will humbly apologize if I am wrong!