Appointment Confusion

August 20, 2009
Sometimes all this automated hospital stuff is nice. I'm one of those people who dislikes calling places, scheduling appointments, and talking to random strangers. If I can do something online, I'm on it!

I attempted to transfer my medical appointments to closer to my work for transportation reasons. My last doctor told me I needed to schedule an appointment with them, and that I could do it online. I filled out all the information and set up an account. After spending who knows how long navigating the webpage, I could not figure out how to transfer facilities, so I broke down and called. I was connected to quite a few people who were not able to do what I wanted, until finally one told me to go online and do it. I asked for explicit directions on how, since I was unable to do so previously, and she kindly gave them to me. It turns out that I had to request a new doctor at a new facility, and then I would be able to switch. So I did.

The next step was to schedule an appointment. I had received a generic welcome letter in the mail and there was a number to call. It said it was available twenty-four hours a day. I called, since Husband has been bugging me to schedule as soon as possible. Well, that was confusing! I decided to go online instead. That was a little better. I randomly scheduled an appointment for late September. Then I noticed I could look up the notes from my old appointments. I did so, and the note from my last appointment said to schedule my next one for early September. Oops. I tried to go back to reschedule, but it said it was unable to do so at the time. Hmm... I'll have to attempt to figure this one out. Should I schedule another appointment for earlier in the month? Or try to reschedule later? Or call the advice nurse? I think I'll sleep on it.