DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 66-year-old female who visits her cardio-vascular physician at least every six months, sometimes more often, if tests are being performed and results reported. I have two complaints about my office visits and wonder if I am being unreasonable. First: If the test results are favorable, why do I have to make an appointment, drive for 45 minutes, wait for over an hour, then pay another co-pay? Couldn’t a phone call or a postcard have performed the same function? The receptionist informed me that the doctor preferred to report test results in person.

Second: The TV in the waiting room always has Fox news on, with pundits arguing with each other, criticizing the President and other elected officials, and generally raising the blood pressure of most of the older people in the waiting room. When I asked the office staff to change the channel, they said they could not find the remote control, [Read more...]