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

Thomas Perez5 said:Just wanted to brag—finally scored an abdominal ultrasound appointment (dealing with gallbladder issues and some polyps). Date is set for September 4th, 2018.

Where on earth did you snag that appointment?!

Does anyone know where I can get an eye exam scheduled at the earliest possible date? I was chatting with a few women—not medical staff, just civilians—and they're telling me the wait times at the hospitals in NYC are up to a year.

Is there any way to check online for the soonest available appointment?

Thomas Perez5 said:Just wanted to share a quick win—I managed to book an abdominal ultrasound (dealing with some gallbladder issues and polyps), and the appointment is set for September 4th,2018..

As for me, I've got a mole check scheduled for December, yet they're claiming I won't see an ophthalmologist for another year... God bless our socialized healthcare system!

At Rebro, you aren't waiting a whole year. I guess it's maybe a few months depending on if you're just going for a standard checkup or seeing a retinologist. For a retinologist, my grandma only waited about a month.

coastaltiger7 said:At Rebro, you aren't waiting a full year—expect maybe a few months depending on whether you're just going for a standard checkup or seeing a retinologist. My grandmother waited about a month for the specialist.

Thanks for the heads-up!

I actually just called that information line regarding the waitlists, and the guy tells me there's an opening at Dubrava Hospital in just two days. I went ahead and booked it, so now we'll see what they have to say once I get to Dubrava.

Great, but that was quick.

shadowwalker11 said:Where on earth did you manage to snag that appointment?!

near Sisak

Thomas Perez5 said:near Sisak

In NYC, they actually run ultrasounds at some of the local clinics—I managed to snag an appointment within three weeks once. But if you're looking at major hospitals for a gastric ultrasound, you're looking at a 2-3 month wait, easy. So, if they don't have ultrasound services at a clinic in Sisak, maybe you could just get a travel voucher to come down to NYC?

Does Merkur accept insurance coverage?

David Flores68 said:Thanks for the heads-up!

So, I just called that info line regarding the waiting lists—you know, the one for scheduling—and the guy tells me they have an opening at Dubrava Hospital in just two days. I went ahead and booked it, so now we’ll just see what the folks over at Dubrava have to say about it.

Well, I just got confirmation that I'm officially scheduled for October. Honestly, I half-expected it wouldn't actually be in two days—those waiting lists of theirs are notoriously unreliable.

See, this is exactly what I'm talking about:

Does anyone know where else I can find a dermatoscope (or whatever the technical term is again) besides the clinic over at
?

David Flores68 said:Does anyone know if there's anywhere else besides the clinic on Vinogradski that has a dermatoscope (or whatever that thing is called)?

Vinogradski

I finally landed an appointment at the Vinogradski clinic—scheduled for January 31, 2018. It really got me wondering about the actual records here. What’s the longest anyone has ever had to wait? I’ve heard stories about people waiting up to five years just for orthodontic work; is that actually a realistic record, or just an urban legend?

And honestly, those official waiting lists are COMPLETELY useless—they have absolutely nothing to do with when you’ll actually see a doctor at the hospital.

David Flores68 said:Just got an appointment at Vinogradski. January 31st, 2018. Honestly, it makes me wonder what the actual record is here. Like, what’s the longest anyone has ever had to wait? I heard people waiting five whole years just to get braces—is that even possible?

Man, those official waiting lists are basically useless; they have absolutely zero correlation with when you actually get seen at the hospital.

That’s weird though, my sister-in-law got her appointment at Vinogradski in just two months... Maybe it’s because of the "urgent" tag on her referral? It looked like they were worried some moles might be cancerous or something...

For what it's worth, speaking as an oncology patient myself, I can get in for all my necessary tests—even skin checks—within three weeks. I really can't find anything to complain about there...

Kate Morgan66 said:Hmm, that’s strange—my sister-in-law actually managed to get an appointment at Vinogradski within two months... It might have something to do with the "dg" notation on her referral; they seemed to suspect a malignancy regarding some moles she has.

As for me, being an oncology patient, I can get in for all my necessary screenings (even mole checks) within three weeks—I honestly can't find anything to complain about there.

Yeah, there's definitely a connection there. I know they have priority scheduling protocols, and I assume those are triggered in cases just like hers.

I hope I'm asking this in the right place, because I'm a bit confused. I ended up in the ER this past Saturday due to an allergic reaction. The doctor there gave me what she called an emergency referral for immunology and told me I absolutely had to follow up with them on Monday—which is today—and that they’d either have to see me immediately or schedule something within five days. When I called the department today, they just told me to call back at 8:00 AM to try and set up an appointment. Now I can't tell if the ER doctor was just being dramatic or if they're just blowing me off, considering she insisted I show up today specifically.

Melissa Collins95 said:I hope I am asking this in the right place, as I have a specific concern. This past Saturday, I had to visit the emergency room due to an allergic reaction. The attending physician provided me with what she termed an urgent referral for immunology and explicitly instructed me to report there this Monday (today). She stated that they would either have to see me immediately today or schedule an appointment within a five-day window. When I contacted the department earlier today, they told me to call back at 8:00 AM just to arrange a time. I am currently confused as to whether the ER doctor miscommunicated the urgency, or if the department is simply being dismissive despite the physician’s directive to seek immediate care today.

It is actually quite standard not to be seen immediately. In my own experience dealing with reactions to various antibiotics, I first had to wait for an appointment at the hospital outpatient clinic. Even after their doctor referred me directly to the inpatient department to coordinate an urgent admission for testing and hospitalization, I was still looking at a wait time of approximately two months before I could be admitted.

Grace Davis77, thanks for getting back to me. Honestly, I thought it was weird when the doctor mentioned they had to see me this week, especially since I know how long you actually have to wait for appointments around here. But hey, I'm not exactly an expert on all these procedures, so I wasn't sure if the wrong info I got was coming from someone else or what.

My doctor gave me a referral for an initial cardiology consultation and an EKG. Unfortunately, it seems like none of the major hospitals have any openings until October at the earliest. I was wondering if anyone knows which local clinics or community health centers might have an EKG machine available?
Right now, my best bet seems to be the community clinic over on Šarengradska Street, number 3.
I simply don't have the budget for private specialists right now.

I've been digging through Google and various official healthcare websites, but the information is incredibly inconsistent. For instance, some sites group EKGs under general internal medicine while others list them separately, and even the waiting lists on the Social Security Administration portal seem completely unreliable.
I tried searching this forum for similar threads to see if anyone else had dealt with this, but it tells me I don't have the necessary access permissions to view them.

Perhaps one might consider looking into their services here?

I wanted to follow up on my previous post now that I've had a bit more time to wrap my head around things. Basically, the issue was about an internal referral. On Monday, they turned me away for absolutely no reason. My primary care physician told me that an internal referral is valid for seven days, and legally, they're required to see a patient within that window. Armed with that info, I finally made it to my appointment with the allergist today.