There are other, similar, threads all over this forum, but I am adding one more.
My new HMO required that I pick one of the doctors in a medical group that I'm stuck in.
My new PCP isn't too bad, but yesterday he told me that he has a problem with prescribing Warfarin. I told him that I've been self-testing and self-managing for more than ten years.
This didn't matter to him. He wants me to go to an anticoagulation clinic about five or six miles from my home. He doesn't want to have anything to do with Warfarin. My history of testing and managing didn't matter to him.
I may get refills from my former physician (if his office staff will call them in) and plan to get as many refills of those that haven't expired, so I can continue to self-manage.
I wiil probably be contacted by this 'clinic' and may go there to assess how they do it. If they use a CoaguChek, maybe I can talk them out of some strips so I can test at home. Maybe they'll give me a meter and strips, so I can self-test at home. It'll be interesting to hear their advice and their recommendations on frequency of testing. I'll have to remember to show up, acting ignorant about testing and management (probably hard for me to remember to do) until I see how their system works.
But it's annoying that this doctor is uncomfortable prescribing Warfarin. (Yeah, I sort of get it, because he doesn't want to accept liability if something happens - he'd rather transfer that liability to a clinic, and doesn't want to worry about how I self-test and self-manage). As long as they don't want blood draws, I'll probably put up with occasional trips to a clinic.
My new HMO required that I pick one of the doctors in a medical group that I'm stuck in.
My new PCP isn't too bad, but yesterday he told me that he has a problem with prescribing Warfarin. I told him that I've been self-testing and self-managing for more than ten years.
This didn't matter to him. He wants me to go to an anticoagulation clinic about five or six miles from my home. He doesn't want to have anything to do with Warfarin. My history of testing and managing didn't matter to him.
I may get refills from my former physician (if his office staff will call them in) and plan to get as many refills of those that haven't expired, so I can continue to self-manage.
I wiil probably be contacted by this 'clinic' and may go there to assess how they do it. If they use a CoaguChek, maybe I can talk them out of some strips so I can test at home. Maybe they'll give me a meter and strips, so I can self-test at home. It'll be interesting to hear their advice and their recommendations on frequency of testing. I'll have to remember to show up, acting ignorant about testing and management (probably hard for me to remember to do) until I see how their system works.
But it's annoying that this doctor is uncomfortable prescribing Warfarin. (Yeah, I sort of get it, because he doesn't want to accept liability if something happens - he'd rather transfer that liability to a clinic, and doesn't want to worry about how I self-test and self-manage). As long as they don't want blood draws, I'll probably put up with occasional trips to a clinic.