I\u2019ve found them to be remarkably annoying!<\/p>\n
Who they are is a 3rd party vendor that works with many of the major health insurance companies.<\/p>\n
They seem to be a bunch of paper pushers, whose job is to arrange things like in-home nurse assessments. Yeah, their name says it all. Complex Care Solutions, indeed adds<\/strong><\/em> complexity to your medical care.<\/p>\n In my case they forced me into some bullshit video assessment with a nurse practitioner.<\/p>\n After that one contact. Then they embarked on a campaign of twice weekly phone calls asking for me to review their service, or their nurse practitioner. They said they were gathering information for the insurance company. But I ask \u201cWhy?”<\/p>\n Surely that information was provided by my \u201cDoctor\u201d during our appointment, wherein he played on his computer for the entire appointment, but didn\u2019t really examine me as a patient. In truth the entire appointment could have been handled on a video call and honestly the level of actual \u201ccare\u201d I got, was about as impersonal or useful as WebMD.<\/p>\n They called again today mid-morning asking when my next Doctor\u2019s appointment is.<\/p>\n Okay\u2026 That\u2019s it!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Why do they, a third party, need to know that bit of information?<\/strong><\/p>\n The insurance\u00a0company will find out when they\u2019re billed.<\/p>\n I called the insurance provider and asked what this was about. More importantly, I asked if this bullshit was necessary to the continuance of my policy.<\/p>\n Turns out, Complex Care Solutions can be cut right out of the equation. Which I did!<\/p>\n I explained that I was talking to Complex Care Solutions more<\/strong><\/em> than I talk to my own family. Every time I spoke with these people it was like I was talking to \u00a0my own personal mother hen. There may come a time when I\u2019ll need their services but not today!<\/p>\n A) I\u2019m not keeping my current Doctor I may be over-reacting but it\u2019s like they\u2019re trying to rope me into some endless bullshit loop of living my life around the medical profession, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies.<\/p>\n Again\u2026 I\u2019m not to that stage of the game.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s another aspect to all of this. It\u2019s billing.\u00a0<\/p>\n I said it to the insurance company. \u201cJust because I\u2019m insured, doesn’t mean that I as The Insured<\/em> should abdicate my responsibility to control costs.”<\/p>\n I don\u2019t need their service or the attendant annoyance or billing from their phone calls. Believe me when I say, for each time they call me, they\u2019re getting paid.<\/p>\n I also mentioned that I was less than pleased with my (Doctor of record) billing the insurance company almost $1000 for that single appointment. That\u2019s obscene especially since the \u201cphysical exam\u201d wasn\u2019t in any way physical.<\/p>\n I mean, what happened to the days when the doctor looked at your eyes, ears, throat, felt the glands in your neck, did a cursory exam of your skin, listened to your heart & breathing, in the case of men, had you drop trou examined your naughty bits, maybe did a DRE, ordered up your blood work, asked if there was any concern you had, then took a look, made some suggestions, told you if there was any issue the blood work uncovered he\u2019d call you, then swatted you on the ass and said, \u201cGo Play!\u201d<\/p>\n (Okay, maybe they didn\u2019t swat you on the ass,) but it was personal and when you left the place you at least felt like you\u2019d been seen<\/em>. Maybe you felt a little violated, but you at least had some reasonable confidence that a professional who\u2019d seen thousands of bodies, had in fact examined you and didn\u2019t see anything glaringly obvious that needed immediate attention.<\/p>\n Personally, I didn\u2019t mind being buck naked in the exam room and didn\u2019t bother with those silly paper gowns or any pretense of modesty. It was the same mindset as being in the gym locker room. Who cared? The Doc was doing his job and that meant he was gonna see ya, all of you, including parts of your body you probably haven\u2019t seen.<\/p>\n Today What passes for an \u201cexam\u201d might as well be done in a freaking board room.<\/p>\n Human bodies are messy, organic, and sometimes downright disgusting. I think that\u2019s why, when I wrote the check for a yearly exam, I didn\u2019t mind the expense.<\/p>\n That Doctor probably didn\u2019t want to see another naked body by the end of the day. But it was his job, and his education gave him the baseline normal to compare against. The fee I paid was exchanging value for time spent & experience.<\/p>\n My favorite Doctor, spent our first appointment asking me about every scar on my body. \u201cHow\u2019d you get that? When?\u201d If I showed up with a new scar, he\u2019d ask what that was about and if I\u2019d had appropriate care when it happened.<\/p>\n That\u2019s an intimacy that\u2019s been lost, it was being seen<\/em> and it felt like he gave a damn about me, the human standing naked in front of him or his nurse. Granted, if his nurse didn\u2019t need to see me completely nude, he\u2019d say something like, “Pull your boxers on, I\u2019m going to need my nurse to…” do whatever needed doing.<\/p>\n Admittedly, I was comfortable putting my life in his hands because we had a relationship that was personal, and not based on how many billing codes he could tic on a form.<\/p>\n I knew he was a \u201cCookie Monster\u201d with a fondness for home made chocolate chip cookies, well anything chocolate. I knew he performed in the Pagent of the Masters<\/em> in Laguna Beach. I knew he was an avid bicyclist, and that often he\u2019d bike to work. I knew he took his profession very seriously and when he lost a patient to illness it was personal to him. I knew his first whole name, and if I encountered him outside his office I never introduced him as \u201cDoctor\u201d. He was Tom. Why? Because if anyone knew he was a \u201cDoctor\u201d there were always people that tried to get free medical advice. If we happened to be at a social event I, among others kept an eye on him and would be rude to someone that had him \u201ccornered\u201d talking shop. He was respected, and he took care of a lot of my friends too. The man referred me when necessary, to other doctors that worked on him. If he trusted them, then so could I.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing quite so comforting as coming out of anesthesia and seeing \u201cYour Doctor\u201d at the foot of the bed conferring with \u201cThe Doctor\u201d that did a procedure on you. I remember snippets of their conversation. \u201cWow he\u2019s got a mouth on him!\u201d, \u201cYeah, but he\u2019s a good guy, anything well need to follow up on?\u201d, \u201cNah, he\u2019s good, you might want to make a note that he\u2019s cranky with this type of anesthesia.\u201d, \u201cOkay, thanks. I\u2019ll hang out for a few minutes to see he comes out of it okay.\u201d, \u201cHey thanks, I\u2019m going to check on my next patient, we still on for\u2026 RIY&#%*^@ this Sunday?\u201d, \u201chuadiry7%$#3\u201d<\/p>\n Then \u201cMy Doctor” prying one of my eyes open, \u201cHey, there you are\u2026 They\u2019ve got you on O2, it\u2019s the good stuff so breathe deep. There you go, nice & slow, trust me it\u2019ll help clear your head. Apparently you were searing like a sailor at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMuff uhh, probably like a Marine Doc. My friends\u2026 all Marines.”<\/p>\n I still remember his chuckle and the warmth of his hand on my forehead telling me to take it easy before I started moving around.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was a healer, a man I trusted and no matter what, I knew he\u2019d see me through.<\/p>\n That bond of trust, and confidence is missing these days. The humanity has been bled out of medical care.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s about how many different Doctors can get their finger in the insurance scam. How much can be billed and that\u2019s dependent on sheer numbers of patients. At the same time the rates keep going up for less time spent with a patient the insurance companies keep jacking their rates, and plugging in more \u201cservices\u201d that add nothing but opportunities to bill.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve digressed, but I think it\u2019s really important to remember what the title \u201cDoctor\u201d once meant. The profession was once about humanity, care, respect, and dignity.<\/p>\n When was the last time you felt like baking, individually wrapping, and labeling 2 dozen cookies with ingredients, then delivering them to your Doctor\u2019s office before a holiday?<\/p>\n When was the last time you had your Doctor compliment you on weight loss, increased musculature, quitting smoking, your baking skills, or a custom holiday card made up of a photo you\u2019d taken?<\/p>\n When was the last time you felt you\u2019d been seen<\/em>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve found them to be remarkably annoying! Who they are is a 3rd party vendor that works with many of the major health insurance companies. They seem to be a bunch of paper pushers, whose job is to arrange things like in-home nurse assessments. Yeah, their name says it all. Complex Care Solutions, indeed adds … <\/p>\n
B) I\u2019m actively researching and investigating new Doctors
C) I\u2019d like to keep my private medical information, oh I don\u2019t know… private.
<\/strong><\/em>D) They got real quiet when I mentioned privacy and cited HIPPA rules. Which thankfully I know due to previous employment (quarterly training will do that). They haven\u2019t violated HIPPA, but as a patient, I have the ability to exercise at least some control over my personal information and who has access to it.<\/p>\n