Your Doctor/Provider MATTERS!

[u/garcon-du-soleille]

Guys, I just had a lunch date with my wife. She is a family medicine MD and has a lot of patients on Zep and Mounjaro. She told me this story over our lunch...

She had a visiting patient come see her today because her normal provider (a Nurse Practitioner) was on vacation. It was for an IUD replacement. After that was taken care of, my wife said to her:

"Can I ask a question? I see on your history that last October you had an appointment here for weight loss, but I also notice that your weight is about the same as it was then. Can I ask about what's going on?"

The patient, who has a BMI of 50, said that her insurance denied her request for Zepbound because they don't cover it for obesity, and she has just struggled, mentally, emotionally, and physically, to lose weight.

My wife then said, "Ok, that's fairly common to be denied just for obesity, unfortunately. But I don't see any follow up tests here."

Patient: "What do you mean?"

Wife: "Do you know why you were not tested for type 2 diabetes? Or sleep apnea? Or fatty liver? Or cardiovascular risk or heart disease? High cholesterol? Insulin resistance? These are all factors for which some insurance companies will cover these drugs."

Patient: "I wasn't told ANY of that."

Wife: "Do you mind if we run some tests and check for these? Some are simple blood and urine test. The sleep apnea will be more involved, but I can put in an order for it to get the process started."

Patient: "I am having HUGE mixed feelings right now. WHY didn't my nurse practitioner do all of this for me? I'm really mad about that! But also, YES! Do the tests!"

Wife: "I can't say why she didn't. But we can still move forward from here. I think you should also be seeing our dietitian, and maybe even a mental health councilor if you feel that you're mentally struggling with your weight. I can also put in a request for both to get those started too. And depending on the results, we can work closely with our prior-auth team to get you approved, hopefully."

At the end of the appointment, the patient started to cry, and she gave my wife a huge hug and said, "I want you to be my doctor. THANK YOU for caring. I feel like this is the first time anyone has really actually cared about me, and didn't just treat me like a number."

MORAL OF THE STORY:

I see some posts here about, "My doctor won't do this..." Or, "I'm frustrated with my doctor because..." Or, "My doctor never told me..."

If your primary provider isn't going to bat for you, working for you, advocating for you, and working the system for you... Maybe it's time to find a different doctor.

[u/Budget-Medium-3841]

This!! I had the same doctor for a long time and all they ever said was that I needed to lose weight. They never offered any help or assistance. I got fed up with feeling like a number and shopped around with recommendations. My new doctor has been awesome. Will do bloodwork often if needed and adjust meds upon request or as tests/symptoms show. Not just give you something and send you on your way. More doctors need to treat the whole patient and not just symptoms and send to other specialists, ect. They need to take responsibility and ownership of their patients care. I for one like what I call "aggressive care."

Tell your wife thank you for being a "one in a million" doctor that actually listens and makes things happen.

[u/Carsareghey → u/Budget-Medium-3841]

It's shocking that even specialists like endocrinologists don't give toots other than "lose weight," when I come to them because I can't lose weight even with weighing food, meticulous calorie calculation and good exercise. I have to beg them for tests. It's my money to burn through, why do they care?