Category: Work Stuff

“Hi. Do you need to schedule for something?”

That’s what I usually ask patients when they approach my desk (above).

I’m one of the last people patients see when they check out of the clinic. (Well. They have to see the cashier, but I’m more fun. ha!) My job is to set patients up for further testing: MRI’s, CT’s, Xrays, Injections, Physical Therapy, referrals to other specialists. I’m also responsible to make sure that the insurance companies will PAY for these tests. I’m learning which insurance companies will likely approve these procedures and which will likely give me trouble.

I don’t care dealing with the trouble companies. But I do it because A. it’s my job and B. because I have an honest desire to take care of these patients. Because they can’t move forward on their problem until they have these tests so the doctors can tell what is going on inside them.

It’s terribly interesting and completely challenging. It’s also mentally exhausting. Because each patient is different and has unique problems, no two procedures are ever really the same.

I’m on the phone WAY more than I want to be. You all know how I feel about talking on the phone – I HATE IT. So isn’t it ironic that I now have a job where I’m pretty much on the phone eight hours out of each day? I’m calling patients, I’m setting up appointments, I’m calling insurance companies … the list goes on and on. In fact, I’m on the phone SO MUCH, that I wear headphones so I can keep my hands free to type and/or write at the same time.

This is a picture of the back of my desk:

I have post-it’s everywhere. I go through an alarming number of post-it notes. At first, I wrote myself notes on how to do things, but now that I’ve been working there nearly three months (!?!), I’m starting to get the hang of my job and I no longer have to write myself notes. Now, I use post-its mainly to make notes on specific patients that I need to contact and/or take care of.

I take great pride in my job. The doctors I work for are MY doctors. In fact, I get a little jealous whenever any of the other girls take care of patients for MY doctors. I’m learning their techniques, their preferences, and their habits. I feel protective of the patients they see and I go out of my way to make sure they are taken care of. I honestly care about our patients. I honestly feel for these patients. Because if they have gotten to the point that they are seeing MY doctors? They are in some SERIOUS pain. It warms my heart whenever patients come back after surgeries and praise MY doctors. I’m proud of them for doing such a great job and I’m thankful for their talents.

Doctors/nurses, heck, health care professionals, are truly wonderful people. Think how MUCH they help people!!

Sure. They make good money. They SHOULD make good money! They work hard to fine tune their talents to do what very few humans can do – they FIX our bodies. They are caring, patient individuals who see it all. They deserve our respect. They deserve to be compensated for their hard work.

Our doctors never take lunches. They grab bites to eat in between patients. Our doctors attend out-of-town clinics in order to reach those people who would have a difficult time getting into town. Our doctors take Medicaid patients, even though they don’t get paid to see them. They have huge hearts.

So. It makes me really angry whenever people start treating health care professionals as if they exist to SERVE them. They exist to HELP them. They exist to FIX problems whenever they arise. They DO NOT exist to fix bad personal choices. They DO NOT exist to be anyone’s slave, or scape goat. People take our health care professionals for granted. So much so that they now insist that these people not get paid for what they sacrifice – YEARS AND TIME – from their lives in order to educate themselves on how to help people.

Is our health care costs out of control? Absolutely. It needs reform. Insurance companies need reform. But if we take too much away, then we will be left with nothing at all.

We must find a healthy balance. Because in the end, these health care professionals? Need to feed their families and pay their bills, too. They don’t HAVE to help anyone, if they choose not to. But they do. And I, for one, am damn grateful that they do.

Sorry. I sort of got off on a tangent there. But I get so sick of people vilifying our health care system. There is NO DOUBT ABOUT IT – our health care system needs help. It DOES NOT need to be destroyed.

For then, where would we be?

I shudder to think.

(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Michael Buble “White Christmas”)

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Holy freaking cow – what a stressful day.

And I can’t even blame it on the job because it was me – ALL ME.

I ended up taking lunch at 3:00 this afternoon. I scarfed down a bowl of chili (it was chili day today) before heading back to my desk 20 minutes later.

I now have a stress headache and will likely have to take some Excedrin to stay ahead of the nausea.

But if you think the stress I experienced today has soured me on my new job, YOU’RE WRONG. I still love it. It’s exciting and insanely busy. Today was pretty stressful, but I learned a valuable lesson on what NOT to do next time.

I may be new, but I catch on fast.

(How’s THAT for vague?? HA!)

Seriously. I looked up at the clock expecting it to say 10:00 a.m. and it was 2:00!

This day evaporated before my eyes.

I reported for my general health check-up this morning. Only, it wasn’t a check-up, it was to see where I was on my immunizations and I must have looked like a deer in headlights because she laughed and said, “I take it you have no idea.”

“None,” I said. “I haven’t had anything in about twenty years.”

“You’ve never worked in health care before?”

“Nope.”

“Did you have the flu shot?”

“Nope.”

She gives me a disapproving look. I’m getting used to these disapproving looks. Everyone makes you feel really guilty and stupid for opting out of the flu shot. I can’t help it. I don’t think they’re a good idea. No offense to those out there that believe in them, I don’t.

“You know if there’s an epidemic you’ll be suspended for …”

“Yes. Yes. I’m very aware of the consequences. Thanks.”

I wasn’t that abrupt, but seriously – I KNOW ALREADY. Sheesh.

Anyway. I ended up getting a Tetanus shot, which, okay, I’ll go along with that one. It’s been about 25 years since I’ve had one of those. But then she gave me a Hep B shot. And that was just shot number one. I have to go back in a month and get shot number two and then go back five months later and get shot number three – and then it’s supposed to last me for life.

Let’s hope.

I don’t really have a problem with shots, PER SE, I have a problem with the poisons they inject into your body. Now don’t go getting tense on me. I think immunizations are important – especially for children – I just don’t think getting a shot every year for a virus you may, or may not, contract because there are hundreds of different flu viruses, is a good idea.

Personally.

Again, relax. If you choose to get the flu shot, it’s your body, go for it. But for me? Or my family? No thank you. I’ll endure the disapproving frowns and deal with the suspension IF it happens.

At any rate, my arms feel heavy but I’m okay. The nurse did a really good job sticking me and I hardly felt a thing. I’ve been hopped up on Ibuprofen all day so hopefully I avoided any headache I might have gotten. She gave the Tetanus shot in my left arm because that’s the arm I use the most (I’m a leftie) and the more you use your arm, the faster you get over the effects.

We’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Tomorrow, we have a little over 100 patients. The same on Wednesday and then just a little under 100 patients on Thursday. Thankfully, we only have one doctor working Friday so I’ll be able to get some stuff done.

I held my own today, I think. I didn’t have to ask for help as many times as I have so I think I’m making progress. So far (*FREAKING KNOCK ON WOOD*) I haven’t had anyone call me up and say, “What the HELL? Why did you order this for this patient??” so I take that as a good sign.

Or maybe they don’t want to scare off the new girl because apparently? They have a hard time finding, and keeping, people for this job because it is a higher stress job. (For a clerical job, that is).

We’re having some sort of bake/craft sale right now. One of our own is needing to raise money for … something. (Honestly. I started to read the email about the event, but got sidetracked and have never made it back to that email). I’m looking forward to buying some sweet stuff and looking at crafts tomorrow at lunch.

If I can get away for lunch. I see why the other girls eat at their desks now.

It’s crazy but MAN, I’m having fun.

ADDED: UGH. Today, my arms are S..S..SORE. I can barely lift them. Looks like I’ll be popping Aleves today. Even though I understand vaccinations are really to protect you in the long run, the short run SUCKS. It’s gonna be a looooooong day.

This is what my world looks like right now.

Everything is out-of-focus – colorful, but fuzzy.

I’m talking both metaphorically and literally.

My time is no longer my own. I charge for my time at work, then I come home and donate my time to my family. I’m not complaining, mind you, it’s just an adjustment.

My days are one big furry mass of colorful snippets of conversations, expressions, impressions, thoughts, jokes, stressful moments … I spend most of my days desperately trying not to look like a fool.

No small feat, I assure you.

I’m getting better it, I think. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit (or I’m MAKING them fit), and I sort of “get” it now. Though I don’t handle NEARLY the number of patient check-outs that the other gals do, I am starting to help more and more and they assure me I am helping them not feel so overwhelmed themselves.

Every patient is different. Every patient needs something different. So every patient is a challenge and I learn something with each patient I help. I’m getting the hang of the software though and am getting faster navigating the different areas.

In case you’re wondering, or in case I haven’t told you, I’m a scheduler. I work at a clinic that houses ten neurosurgeons and it’s my job, along with three other gals, to make sure that these patients are scheduled, and set up, to take tests the doctors have ordered for them. It sounds simple, but I assure you, IT’S NOT.

It’s very involved and detailed. For instance, there are FIVE steps to checking out a patient. In fact, one of the gals I work with gave me this acronym to put on each patient’s chart so that I won’t forget to do something. PSNOB. Pronounced: P-SNOB.

P = pre-certification. I schedule patients for MRI’s, Cat scans (plain or with injections), injections and physical therapy. The MRI’s and Cat scans are EXPENSIVE tests and a lot of insurance companies require pre-certification for these tests. Since our doctors like to get paid (funny that), I have to contact the patient’s insurance company and go through the process of pre-approving the procedure before the patient is scheduled to come back and have the procedure. Sometimes this is easy and I can do it online – most times it’s time consuming and I end up spending 15 minutes on the phone with a company before I get what I need.

In short – they are time sucks. But necessary time sucks.

S – schedule. I have to schedule the patients not only for their procedures, but for their follow up appointments with the doctors. This could include follow up appointments to discuss their test results, or a post-op appointment to see how they are doing after surgery. (Thankfully, the nurses schedule surgeries).

N = notes. I have to make notes on every order I place or every appointment I schedule to remind the nurse and/or doctor what the patient is coming back for and what they need. A lot of times, I simply copy and paste the doctor’s orders into this area.

O = order. Whenever I schedule a patient for a test or a procedure, I have to place the order for that test or procedure. This means, I fill out the order with the patient’s diagnosis – which consists of codes that the doctors list on the patient’s summary. This has to be exact. Putting the wrong diagnosis on the order could be disastrous. I then fax the orders to a centralized “hub” at the main hospital and they farm the orders out to the correct facility. (We have an imaging facility right next door, but sometimes the procedures require medical intervention, so I have to schedule the procedure at the hospital. Or, the patient lives out of town and I have to schedule the procedure at a nearby facility or hospital. It’s NEVER cut and dried).

B = book. Every doctor has a black book. And every procedure that is scheduled has to be written in the black book so that the film guys downstairs can get the results of those tests together and ready for the doctor to look at before they have contact with the patient again.

Then, and ONLY THEN, am I done with that patient. In between making sure all of these steps have been done, I’m constantly being interrupted by patients checking out, voice mails that need to be answered (patients call in to cancel appointments), or faxes need to be sorted or I’m answering flags from the nurses (which is basically like an instant message system that is tied to the patient’s chart).

And did I mention I have to document EVERYTHING to cover my butt?

I do.

It’s crazy. But I love it. I honestly do. It’s SO FUN to shuffle all of those papers around and I’m kept so busy that I look up and what I perceive as fifteen minutes going by is actually HOURS. Time FLIES and I love that. I hate jobs where I’m twiddling my thumbs and watching the second hand on the clock.

I also really LIKE my co-workers. I was a little worried about getting along with them at first, but so far so good. *knock on wood* We seem to be bonding and though they’re all very different, I can handle the differences.

I only get 30 minutes for lunch and it’s all I can do to scarf something down and grab some coffee in that time period. I usually put my lunch box in the fridge and when it’s my turn to go to lunch, I grab my lunch and eat in my car. It gives me a chance to stretch my legs, listen to the radio and sort of decompress before I have to return to work and jump back into the crazy.

Tomorrow, I have to report to the main hospital to get a general check up. UGH. I have no idea what that will entail, but I will be late getting to work in the morning because I have to report there first. (Which reminds me, I need to send a reminder email to my boss about that).

In addition to all of this craziness, my eyes have been driving me NUTS. Because I’ve been so tired and it’s allergy season to boot, I’m having a little trouble seeing even WITH my reading glasses. And since I only need my reading glasses for the computer, I’m constantly putting them on, taking them off, or looking over them like a little old lady.

It’s really QUITE annoying.

I would love to go without them entirely, but that’s just not an option. I do think, because they are giving me such a hard time right now, that it might be time to get my eyes checked again.

Swell. Something else to add to my to-do list.

I feel like I’ve been sequestered from my family. I’m so busy that I don’t have time to check for text messages and though my family can call me at work and leave a voice mail, there’s really no telling when I’ll actually get around to listening to it. (Voice mails are pretty much the least of my worries). I think they’re handling the separation okay, but I do miss them. I still take Jazz to school in the mornings (My shift starts at 8:30), but Kevin picks him up every day. And if Jazz is going to tell us anything about his day, it’s going to be after school. I miss those “talks.”

I hope this job doesn’t drive a wedge between me and Kev. We’ve been pretty much inseparable these past several years and it feels weird not having him around. Though he swears he’s okay with it, I think he misses me. We’ll just have to make sure we spend time together.

It’s all about balancing the sacrifices we have to make. Right?