So, during the pandemic my family doctor, who is American, went back to her country, leaving me without a medical professional.
When the pandemic ended, I went in search of a new family doctor in my city in British Columbia. However I couldn’t find one. I did find a nurse practitioner who can do most of what a doctor can do, including prescriptions.
In October, 2022, she asked me to do a standard physical at Life Labs so I did. She called me on the phone later to say everything was fine.
However, 8 months later, in June, I was called by an outpatient medical clinic asking me to come in for an EKG. Confused, I asked why. And they said it was triggered by my visit to LifeLabs and requested by my primary care provider.
I went for the EKG, which ended up being an ultrasound. That was June 27.
Then I waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing.
I finally called my NP and asked why I haven’t heard back on what the results were and the receptionist said it’s standard practice to only contact patients if follow-up is necessary. But I felt like something must have triggered the follow-up EKG/ultrasound so I wish I’d been told what that was and why I visited the hospital for it.
However, the tone of the receptionist made me think it’s the normal way and I’m just being entitled.
Generally yes they will only call you if there is something wrong. Family docs / NPs have too many patients and tests to call everyone with normal results in most cases. A few things are weird about your case though.
- 8 months for a follow up test
- not telling you why you needed it
- not scheduling a follow up
While I’m sure stuff like this happens often, ideally it isn’t supposed to. You should call your NP and schedule a follow up yourself.
Yes, I’ve wondered this in the past and that is my experience: they’ll only contact you if a test indicates a problem or they need you to come back. I suppose they figure it’s needless time and expense to call and say “oh, everything is fine”.
I’ve had doctors miss important results though (a positive celiac blood test!), so it’s always good to check with them if you don’t hear anything. You can get most everything from their websites and apps these days though.
Yeah, you always think of the negative stories you’ve heard. For example, my accountant’s husband had an operation and the surgeon didn’t do a follow-up with him and he passed away from a blood clot. The widow feels that if the surgeon had done better follow-up care he could have sought help and lived. I guess I just want that reassurance that I’m being looked after and not just another number in a health care system.
I also recognize it could be a time sink to call and say “hey everything’s fine” but it sure would make me feel better/appreciated as a human being.
In island health, test results with comments are often available right from the app. X-ray images right there, too. A friend of mine had her shoulder images with comments within 24 hours when she was checking (for a prescription, but noticed the new images).
They’re killing that as they harmonize everyone’s experience down to Frasier levels, I hear, which is almost the stone age.
I’d say that’s the case in my experience anyways. No news is good news.
When I had a family doctor he was making sure to tell the results over a follow-up appointment, good or bad, I really liked his empathy. I wish this was the standard…
This is what every doctor I’ve seen (in multiple provinces) has done for decades.
They used to tell me they’d only call if there were issues, but most don’t say anything anymore because it’s common practice.
