Today I went to see Dr. Raj Pal Chopra (he's an endocrinologist) at the North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System(at the 68-60 Austin St., Forest Hills location) because I ran out of my thyroid medication. I have HelathPlus so I need a referral ( good for 6 months) to see a specialist. When I made the appointment two days ago I was told that the referral was good until February. So as the medical receptionist was checking my record on the computer today, she informed me that my referral expired. So why would they make this appointment without verifying if the referral was good or not? That way I didn't have to spend money to hop on the subway and come all the way here just to find this out. Not only that, she pinned the blame on me saying I should have kept track of my visits here. If patients were doing that then what's the point of doctors keeping medical records?The only thing she said I could do was take a photocopy of the prescription and have my primary care physician fill it out. So I asked to see the doctor to see if he could do something about it but he refused to speak to me. How can a physician refuse to speak to a patient?? When I called Health Plus they informed me that the doctor should have asked to talk to my PCP to fax a copy of the referral to him. That way he could give me the medication. He, of course, did not do that. Now I'm stuck with a copy of the prescription and hoping that my PCP prescribes the medication (even though it's not her job to do so).
