Why do you have to be a bitch to get things done?

I have been dealing with a problem with some routine blood work I had done when I finally went to the doctor for the first time in a couple of years last November. I ended up getting a bill for it from the lab provider for $250 because Aetna did not cover it.

So starting in December I've been calling the physicians office as well as the lab provider. The lab provider has actually been responsive and helpful. The physicians office? Oh my freakin' gawd. Getting them to do anything and actually respond to you is impossible.

After 10 days of trying to get this resolved with the practice manager for this physicians office, I hit the roof today with her. Yes, I went very scary asian girl on her. She has had this issue on her desk for 6 weeks and doesn't do anything about it. On top of that, I've been calling every day since Monday and she does not pick up the phone, nor return my calls.

By going off on her, and explaining for the millionth time that the blood work needs to be submitted with a routine screening code, not a medical diagnosis code, I seem to finally have gotten some traction. She actually freely called me back with some more updates about half an hour after I laid into her. I think I scared her.

Why the hell does it require being a scary bitch to get this stuff done? What saddens me is that at least I have enough healthcare and some billing and coding knowledge to be able to talk to my insurance company, the lab company, and the physicians office about this intelligently.

When the practice manager first told me that well uh, it was put towards your deductible, I whipped that back around with "No, it should not be put towards the deductible because that means I have to pay for that. It should be fully paid because the lab work was of a routine screening nature". What the hell do people who can't speak healthcare terms or don't speak English or are elderly do? That makes me sad.

What I wanted to say to this idiot of an incompetent woman is that what I do for a living is assess healthcare organizations and recommend where things can be improved or where things can be cut (aka her f'in job). I did keep this to myself though. But I thought it! Damn straight I thought it!

Health Care is a mess. Top down and bottom up. This should be good for my job security, but honestly the depth of the mess in this industry makes me just plain tired.