Let's Get this Show on the Road!

How long should it take to get an appointment with a physical therapist about getting a new wheelchair? Seems to me like one day to wait for a call back (if at all) is more than enough, and anything longer than that is too long.

Let’s see – on Mon 4/12 I emailed my Rehab doc office for the phone number of the Sharp Rehab PT dept to call for an appt or if that was not possible, to get them to call PT directly and have PT call me.

4/14 I had a doc appt, and asked whether they got my email, which they did and had contacted PT, who was to call me.

I waited a week, from past experience it usually took that long for a call back from PT, which is why I had hoped to get the number to call them directly in the first place.

OK, Wed 4/21 I emailed the doc office again, saying I hadn’t heard from PT yet. I got a quick reply that PT would call me right away, and also this time I got the name of the person who would call and her phone number. Now, why couldn’t I have that a week earlier?

Friday 4/23 11:30 AM Liz at Sharp PT calls me, while we’re out at the zoo. – That’s 11 days for a call back.

Monday, today I call her back, about the same time 11:30, knowing I’ll be home all afternoon when she calls me back. But she didn’t reply. I called 3 times, left messages. Perhaps she was off today? Nothing in her answering message to that effect, just a direction of where to call if it was an emergency. The second time I called it went directly to voice mail, what it usually does when someone is one the phone.

But I ask you – what kind of scheduling office never has someone answer the phone, or doesn’t make a provision for what happens when someone is out on vacation? I can’t imagine calling my GYN or dentist’s offices and waiting over 14 days to get an appointment. They might not answer immediately, but they’d call back in a day. If on vacation there would be a recording saying as much, and when to call back. My regular PT (Innovative PT) office has a receptionist who answers 9 times out of 10, and calls back within an hour if she’s away from her desk.

So, what happens tomorrow? I won’t be home from 10:10 till 3 or so. I may break a cardinal rule and leave her my cell number. But I’m also looking into ways to order this chair bypassing Sharp’s PT dept. I emailed the rep from the medical supply store today too, no reply yet. I’ll try calling him tomorrow if he doesn’t reply by email.

I do think patients with disabilities are sometimes treated worst by the hospital system. It’s as if they think you have nothing better to do than to wait by the phone. They see you as having all the time in the world, no reason to hurry. I pity the person ordering a wheelchair who needs a new one yesterday.

The crazy thing is that the reason this is all taking so long is because I have insurance. If I didn’t, I’d have ordered this chair on Monday 4/12, right after the Expo. There are plenty of ways to order a chair online, at a lower price to boot. But since I have insurance, I have to go through a supplier willing to bill insurance, and I have to get a doctor’s prescription – which is why I’ve been bothering with the Sharp system in the first place. Supposedly that’s the proper way to approach this. I do wonder if it’s possible to order the chair with the supplier’s assistance, and get their advice on the prescription wording, and then go directly to the doctor’s office for a signature. The PT serves 2 functions, assuming I understand this right – they make the measurements (which shouldn’t be hard given that I have a chair that fits already) and they submit the papers to the doc office for the prescription. There’s a 3rd function too, seat mapping – which means using a machine to measure how pressure is distributed under you as you sit and comparing cushions to see which gives the best pressure relief. But I’m not ready for that one. I want the new chair first.

I read about another machine recently too – The SmartWheel. It attaches to the wheel of your chair and supposedly helps you see the best way to position the wheels relative to the seat (you can adjust height and forward/back position a few inches each way) to see which is better for your wrists and shoulders. Sounds like a great idea. I don’t know yet if Sharp has one of these gadgets, though I believe the VA has one. That sounds like exactly what I need!

I’m guessing Sharp doesn’t have one of those machines though, for I think they would have mentioned it. But I’m not ready for it yet anyway. I want my new chair first. I’ll cross that bridge later, at the same time as the seat mapping.

This chair is going to cost $4000 - $6000. Imagine a used car salesman, not calling you back for 2 weeks when he knew you were interested in one of his cars. Or an appliance salesperson. It wouldn’t happen! So, how is it medical supply people get away with it?! Very annoying.

I know this is boring stuff, but at times this annoying boring tedious activity is part of a person with a disability’s life. There is so much waiting – for the medical bureaucracy to work it’s way, for test results, for things to be made, things to arrive, and sometimes for things to heal. And I’m not a good enough writer to convey the tediousness without being tedious. So, if you are not a PWD, be glad you are just reading about a tedious process, and not living it. I don’t want pity, just understanding – and more than anything I’d like the medical system to change!