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Getting a Diagnosis for Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain | Last Active: Sep 13, 2021 | Replies (23)

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@colleenyoung

Hi @blueeyez, I can certainly understand your frustration at not being able to get an appointment.

Mayo Clinic accepts new Medicare patients. Mayo Clinic is one of the largest Medicare providers in the country. Unfortunately, Mayo Clinic can’t honor all requests they receive from Medicare patients who want to come to Mayo Clinic. Medicare patients are accepted in all practice areas where there is capacity (appointments available) to accommodate them and most importantly, as the medical needs of these patients require. The only exception is the small family medicine facility in Glendale, Ariz.

Since you are a returning Mayo Clinic patient, it is likely that the department where you wish to get an appointment is fully booked and is not taking any new patients at the moment.

Mayo Clinic is a non-participating provider under Medicare Part B. This means that we see Medicare patients, but do not always accept assignment for payment. In these cases, Medicare pays the patient who is then responsible for reimbursing Mayo Clinic for the services provided. I wonder if this is the situation for your husband.

Further details about Medicare and Mayo Clinic can be found on the Mayo Clinic website here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/billing-insurance/insurance/accepted-insurance/medicare

Blueeyez and @patrick17, I realize that my responses fall short of getting you an answer specific to your situations. To get help investigating the reasons relevant to each of your cases, I recommend calling the Office of Patient Experience. They can investigate further and perhaps help navigate the system with you. Here is their contact information:
Mayo Clinic Office of Patient Experience
Phone: 844-544-0036 (toll free)
Email: opx@mayo.edu

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Replies to "Hi @blueeyez, I can certainly understand your frustration at not being able to get an appointment...."

@colleenyoung Hi, Colleen, thank you for your response. It’s been over two years since I tried to make an appointment at Mayo Clinic so it’s water under the bridge now. It was upsetting to me at the time because I found it a little hard to believe that it went from being a two week wait to see a neurologist in mid-December to the schedule being full on January 2nd.

A few months later I was seen by an excellent neurologist at a nearby teaching hospital so all ended well.