Pissed off at Duke, once again!

I went to Duke in order to get to Dr. Sudan for the duodenal switch.  I LOVE him and am beyond thrilled with my experiences with him, my surgery and my results thus far.  HOWEVER (and this is a big however), my experiences with Duke's staff has completely sucked ass.  I have no problem being assertive or even crossing over to *****y if needed and it's been needed several times.  Things got better (probably due to some notes about me in my file!  LOL!)  Then today I get a bill for "patient convenience" for $130.  I call and find out that this is my bill for attending the "support group" at 3 weeks post-op.  WTF!?!  First of all, it was described to me as a support group, which there is usually no charge for.  Secondly, I was NEVER told there was a charge.  This means I didn't get to see if my insurance would cover it, so now they want me to pay the $130.  Thirdly, the group I was told I "had" to attend was a complete ******g waste of my time.  The staff know practically nothing about the DS and kept spewing incorrect information.  Good thing I had to cancel my 3 month one, or I'd be charged $260!  I'm not planning on attending anymore, that's for damned sure!

Has anyone else ever been charged for attending "group" at Duke?  I called and complained to the clinic administrator, Kristy, about it and she basically said no one has ever complained before.  I told her they need to tell people up front that they are going to charge them.  She asked that I fax my bill to her.  I did.  We'll see what happens.

I am personnally sick of the Duke COE. I have to pay my co-pay every time I step in the door. I think there post op care and caring sucks, they never call back and when your distaught the last thing you feel like doing is leaving a voice mail. My husbanb says they do not call back because they can not bill me the co-pay over the phone.

I had to go three times one week for complications and every time i PAID $50.

Good luck, I am also not going back for a while, found my own specialist to work on the complication issue.
Audra

I go to Duke as well and love my surgeon (Torquati) but feel that the clinic has a clinic management/operations problem.  I got a fast response to my emailed question, but to my two phone calls (I left voicemail) I got zero response.  I get the feeling the nursing staff are overwhelmed.

I know two former and two current nurses at DUMC and every single one says operations (eg. patient flow, time management, scheduling, etc., etc.) is a problem.  So on my last visit, I tried not to take my frustration out on the nurse - I could see she was overworked.

Having said that, as soon as I see a customer satisfaction survey that I can fill out - I will.  There is no excuse for not responding to patient calls, even if it means hiring a part-time nurse who does nothing but respond to calls from 3:00 - 5:00 daily (which is what my PCP clinic - which is also part of Duke - does). 

That is funny because at my last visit I suggested they hire a person to just answer the phone. I am not sure I love the surgeon after going to a GI specialist and hearing what he had to say. I am dissapointed that the caring stops after your procedure. I am a nurse myself and I think the post op care is the most important for this delicate of a procedure and lifestyle change.
With my complication and having been dilated 5 times I think I deserve better than I have gotten. Even with the nutrition folks they have been not so helpful and have not followed through with some things that could have been helpful, knowing how stressed and how difficult eating has been through these dilations.
I am happy to reprt that my wonderful GI specialist has finally gotten my opening to 18mm which was the goal and I am eating, drinking and taking my vitamins all in the same day finally YEAH me!

Good luck to you with the office. I am not going bac****il I have to for my final diet change.

Audra

I'm starting to think Duke nurses need to hook up for their own blog.

I work in public health and (as a team) assess our county health department clinics for everything ranging from lab work to patient registration check-in.  Mind you this assessment is only for the HIV/STD clinic services.  We look at whole clinic process: start to finish (waiting room to lab to doc to exit) .  This is why I think Duke is over burdening nurses and missing the basics of patient flow and clinic care.

I would give anything if our QATD (quality assurance and training development team) could come into the metobolic center (the one off of Duke St) and do an analysis and give feedback.

I am serious about this.  Given my QATD background in public health, I was startled when not a single person answered my call post-surgery about constipation.  I figured it was because it wasn't a medical emergency.  My emergency didn't equate with theirs.  And it doesn't matter the cause - the call should be answered.

They did answer my email about meds right away so that is a big plus.  I have to say that prior to surgery I was told that emails may be answered prior to phone calls.  My phone calls were never answered.

But please...........Duke or not.......If a patient calls, emails, texts.......
someone should answer. 

If you are a nurse, I would like you to join me at a lunch with a former Duke nurse and a current public health nurse who does quality assurance in the state  on 3-30 for lunch.

My work is 919-733-2030 x 2-6

The lunch may be changed to the 31st - so that is on hold for now....However I hope to get to the meet-up at Perkins on the 20th.  Maybe we can all talk then?

I have never heard of such a thing in my life.  That is crazy.  And I would refuse to pay it. 

I'm so glad I didn't have my surgery at Duke.

Becky

WOW!  I started out with the info session at Duke, and did apply, but something told me to keep looking. I ended up going to Greenville instead.  The drive is long, but the care I am getting is immense! I went to Duke in November 2009 and didn't hear from them again until February 2010!  By that time, I had already met with my surgeon in Greenville, and had a few tests done, and was going for the rest of the tests/exams the week Duke called me back.  I have heard that people have good surgeons at Duke, but the rest of the experiences are less than favorable.

I see commercials for Duke's WLS clinic every day.  I guess if the nurses and staff are that overworked, the commercials are working!

Many Blessing to you!

 Ok...now I'm nervous guys! Heh.

I am going to Duke (Dr Sudan, as well).

I have found that as long as I stay on top of things and am persistent, things tend to go well.  If they tell me they've sent off for insurance approval, I don't take it for granted that they did.  I call my insurance and ask if they've received it.  If I have a question or issue and have to leave a voicemail and don't get a return call the next day, I call back and leave another voicemail.  I've found that with Duke if you're not on top of them and a bit of a pain in the ass, then nothing will get done or it'll get done wrong. 

Just a warning, if you're having the DS (which your avi says you are), then avoid Applegate as your psych at all costs.  She spreads inaccurate information about the DS and doesn't like it.  Also, if you have to see a nutritionist, Patrick seems to know more about the DS than the female nutritionist there.  (I can't recall her name.)  Do your research on the DS board for information on what your post-op diet and vitamin regimine should be.  The Duke staff is not that familiar with the DS and will give you mostly RNY information, which could cause you issues. 

Another thing, Dr. Sudan does not normally do 3 month labs.  I insisted that he at least run the basics (A, D, B, iron, calcium, PTH, etc.) and I am low on A and iron.  My PTH is high and my D is almost as low as it can be.  I've adjusted my vites accordingly, but just imagine if I didn't know this information for another 3 months!  So, I recommend you either insist that he run them or you have your PCP run some.  I am having my PCP run vitalady's recommended labs and then I'm going to take the results to my 6 month appointment with Dr. Sudan.  He thinks her list is too extensive.  I'd rather have too many run than not enough.  If all is well, then I'm fine with paring the list down next time (well, maybe), but this is my body and my health and I don't want to assume anything.  Other than that, I do really love Dr. Sudan. 

Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions you might have!