Doctor, Doctor ....!

One of the most difficult things I have had to get my head around since the move is the whole Healthcare system here in the U.S.  It is SO complicated, and most of the Americans I have spoken to seem to be just as confused by it as I am!  (I say 'I' as Mr B has not even attempted to get to grips with it, kindly deferring to me to sort it all out ... cheers for that).  

I thought that once we had enrolled in a comprehensive health care scheme, it would all become self explanatory ... wrong.  It just got more confusing as membership cards arrived, not just for the Healthcare plan but another one for Dental, one for Eye Care, and one for Prescriptions ... Oh good grief ... what on earth do I do with all of these?  Right, first step as with everything else, start with the web sites ... Oh.  It appears that as these are all linked to Mr B's company HR system, he is the only one that can register and sign in.  Right ... like THAT is ever going to happen! Fast forward another few days of badgering for him to register (to be fair ... he does have a job to do ... what a ridiculous system that doesn't allow a spouse to sign into a family cover policy) and then hand over the sign in details (see? ... pointless).  Finally, I get to access the information and all I have to do is read the equivalent of War & Peace to work out what we need to do to actually register with a Doctor.  Blah ... blah ... blah ... yada ... yada ... yada...  'Check if your policy requires you to register with a PCP' .. what the hell is that? **googles PCP** ... Oh right ... Primary Care Physician - a GP.  How do I know if our policy requires that?  Another millennium later and after a fruitless search on the website and exhausting the FAQ section, I resort to submitting the 'Contact Us' form, which returns the helpful message 'Email response will be sent to main policy holder' ... **sighs**  Brilliant.  

Never mind, let's park that one for now and just assume we do to be on the safe side.  Turns out that unlike the UK, where you have to register the whole family with the Doctor nearest to where you live, here, you can register with any doctor you like as long as they are within your insurance network and you can all have different doctors if you wish.  In fact, children need to register separately with a Pediatrician.  I decided that in order of priority, I should just focus on getting this part done first.  So ... back to the website to  search for Pediatricians in Scottsdale ... oh, just the 49 to chose from then!  As it turns out our Landlord's wife works for a local hospital and he had left us a brochure with a couple of names of Pediatricians that she had recommended, one of which appeared on our healthcare provider approved list.  Hurrah!  More googling to check ratings and reviews ... doesn't look like she has been sued for anything - surely a good sign ... good reviews so far .... let's go with that.  

After calling up to enquire about next steps, I was advised that I would need to download and complete a new patient registration form and then bring Ethan in to see the doctor for a check up.  Ok.  So far so good.  After crossing fingers that Mr B would remember to print off the form and bring home from work (as still no idea which box printer is in!), I then set about determining the information required.  After filling out the expected information ... name, address, parents details, insurance info etc ... I got to the unexpected information.  Any illness during pregnancy? Medications during pregnancy? Smoking, alcohol, street drugs during pregnancy?  Was baby early/late/on time? Breast or bottle fed? Which formula? Colic or feeding problems during first 3 months?...  Bloody hell! I can hardly remember what happened last week, never mind 13 years ago!  I can see that this would be useful for a baby or toddler but is all that really relevant for a teenager?!  

Finally this week, the appointment itself.  I have to say I was really impressed with how thorough they were, although it is fair to say that Ethan was less so!  Height, weight, etc. taken by cheery Bruce, the doctors assistant, and then consultation with the doctor ... thorough medical & vaccination history (although a repeat of all the questions I had completed on the form ... grrrrr ... thankfully I remembered to get a medical record summary from the UK before we left) and a physical exam.  

There are quite strict immunisation requirements in the U.S. before a child can be admitted to school and it transpired that in order to be compliant, Ethan was missing shots for Meningitis and Tetanus.  He was thrilled to learn that these could be administered right away.  Additionally, as we had elected not to have the MMR when Ethan was a baby and had paid to haveI three separate injections, we had also refused the second MMR when he was older (although he had had another mumps vaccine) and therefore advised that his school may insist he had it before he would be admitted.  Separate injections were ceased a couple of years ago apparently.  Oh No.  Not the whole MMR dilemma again!  I was bracing myself for a chapter and verse sermon from the Dr. about how the MMR was perfectly safe and how any link to autism had been disproved etc. etc. but instead was pleasantly surprised to find her sympathetic to our concerns (valid or otherwise) and offered a blood test to test for immunity, which if positive would eliminate the whole MMR requirement.  She continued that this would also allow them to do routine checks on cholesterol etc at the same time.  It seemed like the best solution all round ... again Ethan was thrilled ... and after another two holes, (one in both arms as it appears the left one is defective as it only bleeds one drop at a time!) and two bright blue bandages, (which I thought a bit over the top) we were on our way with the promise of a call from the Doctor's office once the results were ready.  Again, very different to the UK where we would have been advised to 'ring for the results in about a week'.  Less than 24 hours later, I received a call from cheery Bruce, who confirmed that Ethan had immunity from Measles, Mumps & Rubella ... good times ... but unfortunately needed more vaccinations for Hepatitis A & B ... bad times!  (He was ecstatic in case you were wondering).   Think we might wait another few days though before going back for those though or he might turn into a human colander :D

One down, two to go .... groan.  I can't quite face going through all of that again to register with Doctors for Mr B and myself just yet, so fingers crossed we stay healthy for a bit longer!