How Can You Keep Your Pain Doctor?

Did you know that your pain doctor could fire you? Yes, you could be fired even though you are the patient and paying for the doctor’s services. Even though you may think of this relationship as you are the customer, just like any other business, they have the right to refuse service.

So what would make your pain doctor fire you? Perhaps they believe you may be abusing the medication they prescribe. Or that you are going to other doctors for the same pain so that you can get multiple medications. These are things that would indicate you are abusing them yourself of you could be selling them.

Or perhaps the doctor doesn’t feel they are able to help you. Regardless the reason, you are still experiencing chronic pain and now you are without a pain specialist to help you. Now what? Well, you’ll need to search for a new pain doctor using the various methods we’ve talked about here before. 

How Do You Keep From Getting Fired By The Next Pain Doctor?

Once you have found a new pain doctor, here are some tips that will help you keep them from firing you:

1). Prior to your first appointment with a new pain doctor, obtain copies of all of your medical records anywhere you may have received medical care. You have legal rights to have copies, but it isn’t always an easy and fast process of getting them.  Because you are leaving your current pain specialist on bad terms, you aren’t going to have as much priority with their office. Be persistent and keep following up until you have the records.

2) Search for a pain doctor that is part of a pain management center in your area or nearby cities. This is where they see patients and perform procedures and surgeries all in one location. They also provide their additional services here like chiropractic care and physical therapy. These other treatment methods are used in an effort to reduce or eliminate your pain without medications.

3) Always be honest with your new pain doctor, even if the reason your previous doctor fired you because they believed you had lied to them. You don’t want to get started on that note with your new doctor.  Pain doctors around the country are under a close watch by the medical board of each state as well as the federal DEA. Most have very low tolerance for a patient that is lying to them.

4) When it comes to the medication your new pain doctor prescribes or any new type of therapy, you need to be flexible and open-minded in trying them. While you should share with your new doctor the medications and treatments that you feel didn’t work, be open to trying them again. They may have a different method in taking the medications that will allow them to work.

Can A Patient Fire A Pain Doctor?

Yes, just as a doctor can ‘fire’ a patient, a patient can do likewise. Where a doctor may feel you aren’t being honest with them or they have reached a limit in their ability, you, as a patient, can ‘fire’ the doctor.  They may also suggest that you find another pain doctor simply because they are no longer accepting your health insurance or the doctor is cutting back his practice.

There are some serious issues that can occur between a patient and a doctor to cause a relationship to end. There are also issues that are not as serious that call for an end on the patient’s side.

Your reasoning may be that you no longer feel they have your best interest in focus or they have taken the path of simply prescribing medications. Other reasons that you may need to fire your pain doctor can be something such as you’ve moved and they are no longer convenient.  Or your health insurance has changed and your current doctor doesn’t take your new insurance.