If there was anymore paperwork required, I’d be working for the government.
It’s November 23rd. My appointment is at 10 AM that is good. I work at noon. Work is a solid thirty-minute drive from
Dr. Koch’s office.
Mom believes that Dr. Koch performed my
adenoidectomy in fourth grade at
Sacred Heart Hospital. There isn’t much that I remember other than I was allowed to eat ice cream for several days afterwards and I was on the fourth floor (the pediatric unit).
Anyway, since I’ve never been to
Dr. Koch’s office before; I left early allowing me to become disoriented. His office was not difficult to find after I drove by the building eight times. The location was part of a giant corporate complex with investment firms, banks, and the Lehigh Valley headquarters of
GEICO (the largest building of all). All of which were in nondescript buildings with numbers and the occupying business (in fine print) displayed in low visibility areas. Pond road, were Allen Ear Nose and Throat is located, is only about one-half mile long.
It’s nine-forty five. I finally locate
1575 Pond Road. It turns out to be the one building that looks different than all the rest. Go figure that one out!
When I made the appointment the receptionist suggest that I arrive thirty minutes early to complete the necessary forms.
“Hello, This is Teresa (all names have been changed to protect the innocent or because I simply can’t remember) calling from
Dr. Koch’s office confirming your 10 AM appointment for November 29th.
“That’s correct.”
“We suggest that you arrive thirty minutes prior to your appointment allowing for sufficient time to complete all the necessary forms.
“Okay,” I replied while thinking “What information about me could they possibly require that necessitates thirty minutes worth of forms?”
Dr. Koch’s office decorum is standard in appearance. The walls are soothing color, a pastel to make us all feel comfortable I guess. The magazines were current if the year was 2004 with the
Newseek, a couple of women’s magazines, and
Highlights being scattered around on chairs and tables. There was children’s play station with a table like this and crayons next to the television turned to either
MSNBC or
Fox News. I had
A Team of Rivals to read, but it was doubtful I would because I had fifteen minutes for thirty minutes of paperwork.
There are five doctors working at Allen Ear, Nose, and Throat, none of whom are named Allen. Why the practice is titled as such is a question I never remember to ask when I’m there. Three of the doctors are ENTs and the remaining two are allergists.
The receptionist was a large black woman, who under other circumstances may be a very cheerful woman, but for whatever reason she decided that I was problematic. I’m not really sure if I did anything to justify this.
“How may I help you?
“I’m here for 10 o’clock appointment with
Dr. Koch”
“Please complete this paperwork and return it to me using the supplied pen. May I have your insurance card to copy?
“My insurance won’t be effective until December 1st. So there is no card for you copy.”
It is at this point that her demeanor changed. It doesn’t make sense to me why my insurance problems would cause her grief unless she deals with patients and billing. Who knows?
The stack of forms consisted of contact information, insurance information, emergency contact information, and medical information. Now, my medical history is more complicated than most. But even taking my time to thoroughly complete the forms, they were completed in about ten minutes. It may be that patients don’t need thirty minutes, but a possible hypothesis for the thirty-minute early arrival is there patients may be chronically late for first appointment. So the receptionist gives new patients a buffer knowing they may be late (as I was) while still allowing sufficient time to complete the new patient paperwork. Just a guess.
Any other possible ideas?
