Info Desk [Paperwork, ordering, wait times, procedures, booklets, prescriptions...]

So, look, I'm not actually in the States right now, but I'm guessing the process is probably identical or at least pretty similar here.

What exactly do I need to do to switch from the pediatrics department over to family medicine? I mean, I assume it's a pretty straightforward thing, but honestly, I really don't feel like dealing with those three grumpy ladies behind the front desk, thanks. 😁

I’m hoping some experienced folks here might be able to help us out. I apologize in advance if I don't use all the right medical jargon—I don't have the actual reports in front of me since they're with my dad, so I'll just try to explain this in plain English. Back in July, my dad had a coronary angiogram, which showed an 85% blockage in one artery and a 60% blockage in another. The surgical team at the Mayo Clinic decided he was a candidate for surgery. In October, he met with his doctor, who told him his condition is actually quite serious and promised to put him on a short waiting list for a procedure within about two months. My brother and I tried looking up their waiting lists online, and at first, things looked promising—it seemed like people were getting called in just three weeks after being added. But the further we look, the more confused we get; the lists seem to shift constantly and nothing makes sense. To make matters worse, he wasn't given any patient ID code to track his status. A nurse just told him over the phone, "You're on the list starting tomorrow, and we'll call you eight days before the procedure," adding that we shouldn't bother obsessing over the online lists anyway. Now, my brother's school friend went through the exact same thing—he was told he'd be seen in two months, but ended up waiting six! So, I guess my question is: is it actually possible for them to tell you it'll be two months, only for it to turn into several more?

Specifically, we’ve been trying to follow the Mayo Clinic's cardiovascular center waiting lists. Could someone explain how those patient codes work? Are those letters in the codes just initials? If so, is it first initial and last initial, or last then first? We have so many questions, even if they seem a bit silly. We know there's nothing we can do to speed things up and all he can do is follow the doctor's orders and wait, but we're just incredibly worried.
Thanks in advance.

Hannah Garcia92 said:Look, I'm not in America, but the process is probably identical or very similar.

What’s the move if I want to switch from school medicine over to family medicine? I assume it's straightforward, but I really don't have the patience to deal with three grumpy ladies at the front desk, thanks. 😁

Unfortunately, here in the States, school medicine practitioners mostly just handle routine physicals; they don't actually prescribe medication or write scripts anymore. That falls to pediatricians or family medicine doctors.

In our system, school doctors aren't something you choose—they are assigned based on which school a student attends. One specific doctor handles the physicals for a particular school or grade level during enrollment and throughout the school years. If students get sick, they see a pediatrician or a family practitioner, not the school doctor, who operates under the CDC.

Sandra Wells5 said:More specifically, we're looking at the waiting lists for the Mayo Clinic. Can someone clarify how these patient codes work? Are those letters just initials?

The patient code consists of the first letter of the given name, the first letter of the surname, and then the 11-digit number from the individual's Medicare ID.

Whether it’s first name then last name, or vice versa for this specific Mayo Clinic list—I’m not entirely sure. I don't have much insight into how they structure their data there. Hopefully, someone else with experience in this can weigh in.

Best regards. 🙂

Thanks so much, Nicholas Myers,

So, we figured out the format—it’s last name followed by first name now. If you could just clear up what "lass=S>" actually stands for in the Admission date field, that would be amazing. Thanks a million.

Hi there!

I hope I've landed in the right spot—I wasn't quite sure where else to go with this.

So, my Gynecologist gave me a referral for some lab work at a primary care facility to get a full blood panel done. They told me I should just head to "my" Community Health Center to get it handled. Now, I'm a little confused—what exactly does "my" mean in this context?😬 Does it refer to the place where my primary care doctor is located?

I'm inclined to say yes.

thanks 🙂
I’m assuming it won't be an issue that my medical records are located in a different city?

Sophia Kern43 said:Hi there!

I think I'm in the right place, but I wasn't quite sure where else to ask.

My Gynecologist gave me a referral for some blood work at a primary care lab. They told me I should get it done at "my" Community Health Center. What does that actually mean? 😬 Is it just wherever my family doctor is located?

If you have a standard insurance referral, just head to the nearest Community Health Center based on your current home address.

swiftbear86 said:If you have a red referral just head over to your local Community Health Center based on where you're living right now.

I don't have one—I just have some kind of printed A4 sheet of paper here.🤔

Eric Gray2 Asks:
I don't have a digital version; I just have some papers printed out on standard letter-sized sheets. 🤔

To be honest, I’m really not sure how this whole electronic prescription thing is supposed to work now.
Honestly, your best bet is to just give the doctor who gave you that referral a quick call. Once you have that sorted, you should be able to head into any LabCorp or similar facility that accepts Medicare.

Sophia Kern43 said:Thanks 🙂
I'm assuming it's not an issue if my lab is in a different city?

Nicholas Myers hit the nail on the head. Your "main" lab is just wherever your primary care doctor sends your samples. Wherever your doctor is located, that's where your affiliated lab is. You go there for bloodwork, and then when your gynecologist sends you for something else, it doesn't matter what city the gynecologist is in.
If your GP is in Washington, D.C. and your lab is in Washington, D.C., your gynecologist could be anywhere in the US.
Standard referrals won't work here, so I'm guessing your gynecologist gave you a solid printed referral, and they probably made sure the e-referral was addressed to the specific lab they wanted you to use—hopefully with a little help from you.

swiftbear86 said:To be honest, I'm not really sure how the whole e-referral thing works now.
Your best bet is to call the doctor who gave you that A4 sheet; I think you can actually go to any lab that takes Medicare.

That’s not quite right.
If you're going to call someone, you might as well call the lab directly and double-check.
🤷, that's what I'd do.

Thanks a lot, I’ll go ahead and check with "my" LabCorp then 🙂
The Gynecologist didn't ask me a single thing.

Karen Lopez4 said:Nicholas Myers made a great point. Your "go-to" lab is simply the one your primary care doctor sends your samples to. Wherever your family doctor is located, that’s where your affiliated lab is. You go there for blood work, and then when your gynecologist refers you for something else, it doesn't matter what city that specialist is in.
If your primary doctor is in Washington, D.C., and your lab is also in Washington, D.C., your gynecologist could be located anywhere in the US.
The red referral slips don't really apply here. I assume your gynecologist gave you a solid printed referral, though they should have technically labeled the electronic version for the specific lab they were sending you to—which, I'm guessing, you helped them sort out.

That's not quite right.
Honestly, if you're going to make a phone call, you're better off just calling the lab directly to double-check everything.
🤷, I'd do exactly that.

So, does that mean if a student is staying in San Diego, she has to use the local lab there because that's where her primary doctor is based, even if she isn't living in NYC?

Either way, it's still unclear from the question whether the gynecologist actually sent an electronic referral or if they just suggested which tests you might need to get done.
In my opinion, it's probably best to just give the doctor who wrote the referral a quick call.

Sophia Kern43 said:My gynecologist didn't even ask me a single question.

Every single lab report from... the The lab should have its name and phone number listed right there in the header.
It could be that they’re using the Community Health Center lab or maybe a LabCorp location on lease. The doctor sending the e-referral needs to select the right name in the app so it actually hits the "right address"—otherwise, it just gets stuck on the server. Your gynecologist really should double-check that before hitting send, but honestly, they might already have that info saved in your electronic file.
I don't know, maybe I'm just talking out of my neck. 🤷 Mine just went through everything with me and explained exactly why.

swiftbear86 said:Does that mean, like, if a student from San Diego breaks something, she has to go all the way to that specific lab because her injury happened there, even if she didn't pick a doctor in NYC?

As far as I know, that’s how it works. A LabCorp in San Diego gets the funding for a student if her primary care doctor is based there and she goes there without reimbursement, while a lab in NYC gets the money if she picks a doctor in the city. For students, it might be simplified through the university clinic—if that's still how they handle it—and then they just head to whatever lab is assigned to them.

Either way, I’m still stuck wondering if the gynecologist actually sent over the electronic referral or if they were just suggesting which tests to run.
Honestly, I think it’s probably better to just call the doctor who wrote the referral.

Eric Gray2 mentioned in her first post that she got her referral for the Cardiovascular Center, so I just assumed she actually had the official referral in hand, not just some written instructions. If she only has the notes, she’ll have to head back to that city where her doctor is located anyway, just so he can officially write up and send over the actual referral—plus, that's where she is right now. the Lab. 😉

So, @Rosey, you got a referral or some instructions for me? 🙂 And don't even get me started on those electronic prescriptions. 😁

I want to apologize 🤦 for any confusion I might have caused.

On the referral—it’s an A4 sheet, likely just a printed e-referral—it lists the name and code of the medical biochemistry Lab, which is located right in the city where "my" local clinic is based. Everything makes sense now; I see what happened.

Thanks again to everyone, and sorry for my oversight 🙈

I hope I’ve picked the right thread to ask this question...

So, the thing is, I’ll be moving to Washington, D.C. permanently very soon, and naturally, I really ought to transfer my medical care over to a doctor there in the city. Does anyone know how that actually works? Should I just head down to my local Community Health Center in my current neighborhood, ask them which specific forms I need to grab, and then what happens next with all that paperwork? I have to admit, I feel incredibly clueless when it comes to navigating all these administrative hoops 🙈 so I would be so grateful if someone could walk me through the whole procedure, almost like you're explaining it to a small child 🙈

Thanks 🙂

I have a question regarding supplemental insurance coverage 🙂 I’m not entirely sure if this is the right forum for this kind of thing...
As a full-time student, do I actually need to renew my supplemental insurance? I’ve been using the same card for two years now—it only lists a "valid from" date on it—and I can't quite recall if I had to bring a verification letter from my university to the CDC last year to prove my status, or if the whole thing just renewed automatically. Is there even a process for this?

placidpilot said:I hope I’m asking this in the right place...

So, I'm moving to Washington, D.C. permanently very soon, and obviously, I need to switch my doctors there too. How does that actually work? Do I just head to the local Community Health Center in my new neighborhood, ask for certain forms, and then what? I'll be honest, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this kind of paperwork 🙈 so if someone could walk me through the process like I'm five, I'd really appreciate it. 🙈

Thanks! 🙂

First thing you'll want to do in NYC is find a doctor who is actually accepting new patients.
Once you find one, they’ll give you a statement to sign, which you then take to the local Medicare office—you can find all the addresses on this site:
http://www.medicare.gov/info
That's where they'll officially register you under that doctor's care.
I'm not entirely sure if you need to bring over your physical medical records from your old doctor, or if they handle everything via mail.
It’s probably best to just ask at the Medicare office when you hand in your change-of-doctor form.
Just remember, until you get that paperwork turned in at Medicare, you can still use your old doctor's services.

swiftbear86 said:For more details on supplemental insurance, check out this thread

.

I suspect you have to submit a new verification from your university every single year.
The card itself doesn't change, but don't let that fool you into thinking your supplemental coverage is still active. Once you've successfully renewed it, you just go back to using that same old card.

Thanks, I just double-checked—it’s valid through January 1st.🙂