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

And honestly, even a doctor at a private clinic can just write you a private prescription, which lets you pick up the medication and just pay the full retail price out of pocket.

swiftbear86 said:Even a doctor at a private clinic could just write you a private prescription—then you'd just pay the full retail price for the medication.

Thanks, that’s exactly what I was wondering.

I need some information. If my doctor at a private clinic writes me a private prescription and I take it to a pharmacy to pick up my medication, will my primary care physician be able to see that in some sort of online database—or wherever they track this stuff—and know exactly which specific drug was picked up under my name?

Thanks

Nathan Cox66 said:If a doctor at a private clinic writes me a private prescription and I take it to a pharmacy to pick up my meds, will my primary care physician see that in some sort of online database or registry? Will they know exactly what was picked up under my name?

No. And let's be clear—when you say "pick up," you mean "buy." If there’s no connection to Medicare, there is no interconnected database.

But look, you need to consider side effects, contraindications, and how different drugs interact. It isn't smart to hide that kind of info from your own doctor.

I’m getting ready to pack up and move abroad soon, and I’ve been losing sleep over one specific headache: what on earth am I supposed to do if I run out of my prescriptions before I actually get my paperwork and residency sorted out?
Can I just ask my specialist to write me a hard-copy prescription that I can take to a local pharmacy, and will I need to go through the hassle of having those documents officially translated into English?

I’ve been wondering—do I actually have a right to know the specific details regarding a medical condition if my primary care physician writes something down in an official medical certificate? I'm talking about those documents you get handed when you have to go in for occupational health screenings...

The thing is, mine wrote something in there that I have absolutely no idea what it refers to—it's completely foreign to me—and it ended up causing a massive headache during my follow-up exams. So, now, I want to dig into this and find out exactly what happened.

fadedrider17 said:I was wondering if I actually have the right to get more details about a specific condition mentioned in a medical certificate issued by a primary care doctor? You know, those forms you get when you're doing occupational health screenings or something similar...

Because mine included some mention of a condition I don't even recognize, and it ended up causing me nothing but headaches during follow-up exams, so I really want to look into what's going on.

Of course you have the right to know. Your family doctor should be able to walk you through it if you just ask them directly. Otherwise, you can always take that ICD code they used and do a little digging on the internet to see what it actually means.

Hey there,

Quick question—do I actually need to book an appointment if I have a C2 referral (the emergency one)? The specialist I’m seeing tells me I should schedule it, but says I shouldn't be stuck waiting nine months—that I could probably get in within a month. My primary doctor is just playing it vague, basically saying, "I don't know, but they should probably see me within a week." Of course, Medicare has zero clue about how these referrals work, and the clerk at the hospital told me they don't even have an urgent care track, so I'm looking at a nine-month wait unless I try a different facility.😵

Also, does anyone know how diagnostic procedures work abroad through Medicare? If my request actually gets approved, am I expected to pay upfront and then get reimbursed, or how does that whole thing play out?

The C2 is up. It's meant for the ER, though in practice, they're usually quite useless. I suppose if you don't have a referral, there's really no point in even bothering to show up at any emergency room.

So, I finally sent off my referral to get scheduled, and they actually gave me an appointment for tomorrow. Since we’re looking at a possible melanoma here—it’s definitely not something I wanted to leave to chance or wait around for. 🤷

I'm not entirely sure if I've landed in the right thread, so if I'm off base, please feel free to move this.

I need to get an ultrasound on my thyroid. Since I haven't lived in Washington, D.C. for a while now, could anyone point me toward a hospital where I can schedule an appointment?

Thanks! 🙂

Dr. Phil mentioned that my little one needs to get an OCT, PNO, macula scan, and a consultation with Goldman Sachs. Does anyone happen to know what the typical wait time is for these tests? Also, which hospital in New York City would you guys recommend for this kind of thing?

Kate Williams68 said:Dr. Phil mentioned that my kid needs an OCT scan for the optic nerve and macula, plus a Goldman visual field test. Does anyone have a clue what the wait times look like for those, and which hospital in Washington, D.C. would you recommend?

If you're looking to get an OCT covered by insurance, you're pretty much limited to Johns Hopkins Hospital or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Between those two, you’ll likely find a shorter line at Johns Hopkins. However, if you have the budget to go the private route, I'd suggest heading over to Light instead.

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Has anyone here dealt with getting checkups done at the Cleveland Clinic? One thing I noticed right off the bat—which is actually pretty different from how they do things over at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center—is that you can actually book everything online, and they sent me an email confirming my appointment. But I was wondering, do they actually send out reminders about the date, or am I going to have to be the one constantly bugging them to stay on schedule? I did make sure to let them know when my period starts, too. It’s just for a routine gynecological vaginal ultrasound.

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Hey there,

I have a quick question about switching up an appointment—is that even a thing? My grandfather actually scheduled an MRI for his spine about a year ago. Of course, he ended up going to a private clinic because let's face it, expecting someone to wait a whole year is just ridiculous. However, the slot he was originally assigned is coming up this month, but now my grandmother is actually the one who needs the MRI. Do you think they’ll let us swap the appointment to her, or does she also have to sit around for a full year just to qualify for a "free" MRI?

Hey there,

I don't have supplemental insurance, so I might find myself needing to hit up the ER every once in a while.
What does the damage usually look like—is there a standard fee just for walking through the door, or does it all depend on which tests they run on you?

Rebecca Kelly27 said:Hey there,

I don't have supplemental insurance, and I’m starting to think I might actually need to roll into the ER at some point.
What’s the damage look like? Is there a standard fee just for walking through the door, or does the bill depend entirely on how many tests they run on you?

https://www.usa.gov/health-services/costs/...index.html

The costs are laid out pretty clearly on this site. If you're just seeing an on-call family doctor, you're looking at a minimum of $3.25 but if you end up heading to the hospital emergency room, it'll be closer to $8.25—just keep in mind those are really just the baseline figures. Hope that helps...

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thanks

Are long-term prescriptions—you know, the ones that stay valid for six months—still a thing? I'll be on Synthroid for the rest of my life, but my primary care doctor insists they don't exist anymore. Now I have to scramble for a new prescription every single month.

frozenmoose19 said:Are there still such things as permanent prescriptions—you know, the ones that stay valid for six months? I’m on Synthroid for life, but my primary care doctor insists they don't exist anymore, so I have to deal with the headache of hunting down a new prescription every single month.

The old-school "permanent" prescriptions aren't really a thing anymore, but they did introduce recurring prescriptions. Basically, the doctor sends one over, and then that exact same script can be refilled three more times. It saves you from having to drag yourself to the clinic just to ask for the same thing repeatedly, but there's a catch: Medicare has to approve the specific medication for that kind of setup. My mom takes Synthroid herself, and from what I understand, they won't let you do those automatic refills for that particular med.