I’ve written before about some of the things that waste physicians time, and how trying to be a good steward of resources can be frustrating. As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished. So here are three such things I dealt with the day after April Fool’s Day.
I prescribed the diabetic medication alogliptin, the generic of Nesina, for one of my patients on a Medicare Advantage plan. I was told it wasn’t covered, but they would cover substitutes, including Januvia (sitagliptin). The cash price is a little over 4 times as much for Januvia! I don’t mind using Januvia from an efficacy point of view, but it was a waste of my time having to make the change, and tax payers are wasting money buying a more expensive drug. After any negotiated deals it may not be 4 times as expensive for the plan, but it’s hard to imagine it would be a cheaper option than what I prescribed.
I ordered a head MRI for one of my patients. A week ago I called Molina insurance after receiving a message that they required a peer to peer phone conversation with another physician. After 10 minutes on hold I left a message explaining why I had ordered the MRI (which I had already explained in my note and on the MRI request). As they still hadn’t approved it, I called back again today. I spent 3 minutes on hold, then 8 minutes talking to a staff member before she transferred me to a physician, then 3 minutes with him as he gathered the basic information then approved it. I did not give him any more information than I had provided in the first place. He said he didn’t have any information on why I had ordered the test or he would have approved it right away.
And the third thing? I can’t remember. No fooling!
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