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If you were to request the next available appointment with your T1D healthcare provider, which of these options best describes when that next available appointment would be?
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Other
It depends on the urgency of what I needed to be seen for was. In my current state of health it would be 3-4 months as my Endo desires to see me quarterly.
I can call or text the hospital clinic to speak with my doctor’s team or nurse on call and receive answers twenty four hours a day. They would determine if I needed to come in right away or resolve a problem over the phone. Just calling to make an appointment without the desire of my Endo or another doctor is difficult as they are incredibly busy.
It would obviously depend on the urgency of the situation. I make my appointments 6 months ahead of time but if it was emergent my endo would make room for me ASAP.
I have my appointment’s scheduled until either July or September of 2022. If I had something come up before my next one, the office and my endo would work to fit me in somewhere. I’ve also seen her in her research lab office, when nothing else was available. One of the many reason’s I’ve stayed with her/gone back to her, for the past 30 years.
I answered “other” because I really don’t know how quickly I could get in.
3 months is usually the earliest the next appointments are available whenever I’ve called. That’s been true with both my past endo and my current one.
I’m guessing 1-2 months, because I have never tried it and I believe the clinic is very busy. I normally schedule checkups 3-4 months in advance, and it’s never an issue to find a slot. If I had a pressing need I would either contact the clinic with a question via their online portal, or see my primary care physician.
Because it is so hard to get in I make my 3 month app 6 months out. So I have an appt every 3 months. If there’s an urgent matter they make time to see me.
That’s if they don’t laugh at me.
I put “other” as I’m not sure. When I have an appointment, we always book the next one out 3-4months later. Years ago I ran into problems and they got me in same or next day after hours. Like others have said, I’m sure it depends on urgency?
I am guessing based on making my regular appointments. I haven’t had any urgent needs, I would certainly hope they would make an effort to fit me in if necessary.
Scheduled every 3 months per Medicare. On needs basis much sooner.
Depends why I wanted to talk to my doctor. I can actually make an appointment it would probably be a few weeks or so or I can do a video visit but if I just had a question I have an app I can talk to any doctor and they’ll get back to me when they can.
Said other because I have never needed an emergency appt. I know that it is best if I schedule my next 4 month appt before I leave the current one. Have never had a problem.
I said “within a month” which would be for a regular followup. However, my endo has seen me or spoken to me on the phone within a few days for an acute issue (illness with severe hypo or hyper-glycemia) or when I needed to see her more often, such as when I was pregnant.
Have only had one telehealth visit and one in person visit with current endocrinologist. She wants me to see the diabetes educator first who wants me to upload my Omnipod records. It’ll be a while.
Always read your comments, girl-friend. Yeah, upload those records. You may be surprised how good your control is!
NA as in Unknown. Depends on what the circumstance is. However, since she is booked out several months ahead I doubt if I could see her anytime sooner than later, but I may be able to see one of the newer provider colleagues that have joined the practice. I book my q 3 month appointments with her a year in advance.
I have never needed to ask for an unscheduled appointment with my current T1D healthcare provider. I would expect to be able to walk in and be seen (after waiting a while), but I have no way of knowing until I need to try it.
Donald, if it’s an emergency call your free 24-hr 365-day nurse. And/or pay $20 to taxi cab for ride to Urgent Care. Be prepared for exorbitant charge if you go to KP Urgent Care. Emergency Rooms in US are waste of your time. Take a book to read. Just speaking from my experience.
Depends on the severity of my problem.
I am guessing 2 – 3 months from now only because I know when I have to reschedule an appointment it is usually @ 6 weeks out. When I’ve had a question or a problem they call me, but they don’t schedule an appointment. I’m not sure under what circumstances they would.
I just started this week with a new endocrinologist and it took me 2 months to get in to be seen. From this point on if I stay with him I’ll be seen every 3 months with my next appointment made at the end of each visit. If my previous endocrinologist joins another local practice I’d want to go back to her.
I put 2-3 months but I am taking a guess because whenever I see my endo, she just schedules me to see her in 4 months because my control is good. If I was having not-so-good results, she would see me more often.
Within a few weeks to see my NP, 4-6 months to see MD.
I’ve never had a need to be seen on a next available basis. Insurance required every 6 months initially, Medicare requires 3 months, which is ridiculous for otherwise healthy, capable person. Oh well…
I have a very good Endo and she is very popular because she is good. Most of my Endo appointments have to be scheduled 6 months in advance in order to keep Medicare happy with the 90 day rule. Unfortunately, that has the effect of having to frequently reschedule the 4x/year required appointments because noone can predict what’s going to happen 6 months from now. Silly rules make our lives harder than necessary and create unnecessary burdens on healthcare systems.
Depends on how serious my request is. If I need next available, the ideal time would be that day or the next day. I would not request next available if not a serious situation.