WTH treehouse nurse line?

amyinaustin

I called today b/c DD's had a fever since last night and though I KNEW we'd probably take her in, I feel better talking to a nurse and explaining the situation before just making an appointment b/c of a fever - since this is how we've handled her other fever incidents in the past, I thought nothing of it.

They said, rather curtly "well, it will probably be at least 24 hours before you get a call back from the nurses, and they'll probably tell you to bring her in b/c she has a fever."

Um, okay.  Like I said, I knew we'd probably bring her in and I am totally willing to whenever needed - but I guess I was not expecting their snippy attitude about it.   Up until now, I'd get a call back from the nurses w/in an hour and they'd even say that if I did NOT hear back w/in an hour to call them back.  Anyone know what's up?  Are they super short staffed these days?  Are they automatically triage-ing all fever calls or something?

Totally made me think of MC's recent experience. 

 

BoxerMomma

that's craaazy to me. we called our doctor on saturday morning, left a message with the medline, and talked to the doctor herself within five minutes. we went to a nearby walk-in clinic (to avoid the $100 ER copay) and ruby's now on antibiotics for her first ear infection. 

poor little J. did her fever break today? i hope she's feeling better soon. 

brideonjuly8

Waiting for a nurse to call back at the peditricians office is something new to me.  At our office you talk to a nurse right then, you don't have to wait for a call back, and definitely not 24 hours later.  If you need to be seen that day they have a computer right there with them that can tell them who has the closest appt time, and if your doc is full you can see someone else.  Now I'm totally thankful for the all-the-time nurse line and the all-night hours nurse line.  I can't tell you how many times I've called just to ask if he should be seen (thinking that he didn't, but wanted to reassure myself).  I'd be a poor woman if I HAD to bring him in, just to ask if he needed to be seen.   

mcgee

My guess is that they're short-staffed. I took Alex for a well-baby visit last week and had to wait almost 20 minutes to be called back for the appointment. I heard that Dr. Chang is no longer accepting new patients, and my guess is that other doctors in the clinic are also increasingly popular. More patients = more difficulty getting an appointment, longer waits, and more people calling in to the nurse lines. 

fjaril

I had to call treehouse about H getting abump to his head friday and they put me on hold to talkto the nurse. She was swamped and some test results had come in and she had to get them to te doctor, but she caked me right back I'm thinking maybe someone or two left recently.

Taytee

fjaril:

I had to call treehouse about H getting abump to his head friday and they put me on hold to talkto the nurse. She was swamped and some test results had come in and she had to get them to te doctor, but she caked me right back I'm thinking maybe someone or two left recently.

You're supposed to be in bed =P

libbyann

I'm really shocked to keep hearing all these bad things about Treehouse. Will had a fever on Thursday last week. I called, left a message, and was called back within the hour. They were super nice (as usual). We were the only ones on the sick side...they got him back within 5 minutes of us being there, checked him over completely, even did a flu test and we were still out of there in 45 minutes.

I can't believe they're giving crappy service to some and wonderful service to others. It just doesn't make any sense to me!

Angie&Doc

I am shocked too. When I called last week the girl was very nice and the nurse called me back within an hour. I think it is unacceptable that they may not call back for 24 hours. You need to ask who it is you are talking to and speak with the office manager. I would want to know why it is taking so long.

amyinaustin

Yeah, what really miffed me was when I asked "okay, so do I just need to make an appointment?" She replied w/ "Well, I can't tell you what to do, I can just tell you that it will take at least 24 hours for you to get a call back and they will probably tell you to come in".  All in the same short/choppy tone.

 

I am hoping it's just a temporary glitch and a sign that they're short-staffed. We ended up seeing Dr. Addy instead of Chang - and she was great, great w/ DD and it was a quick efficient appointment.  Double ear infection (poor DD's fever got up to 104.2 yesterday!), got our meds and we were done.

We DID see Chang in the hallway and he said "heeeey, what's going on, why are you guys here today?" he was obviously very busy and we were not the only one of his patients that had to see another doctor (bc I overheard another conversation of his in the hall).

I just really liked that they were so prompt before - so I hope this is short-lived.  

Bride - at Treehouse, the nurses don't answer the nurse line - it's just a receptionist of sorts that gets your info and has a nurse call you right back, USUALLY w/in the hour.

Overall, we're still happy w/ Treehouse, but if this continues, I'll need to investigate other pedis.  I plan on asking about this next time I am in touch w/ them.

Thankfully Dd's fever is in check now and she's feeling MUCH better.