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Any Hints for Obtaining a Rheumatology Appointment in Rochester?
I’m stuck in a bureaucratic merry-go-round. I started in Rochester with Dr. Osborne in 2025. He has now retired and my efforts to obtain an rheumatology appointment in Rochester have been unsuccessful. A few months ago I was told I’d be assigned a new MD to take over my treatment, but now the scheduling folks have decided that I’m a new patient (the schedulers can’t find seem to find any evidence I’ve been treated in Rochester) and need to be seen in Eau Claire since there are no rheumatologists in my SW Wisconsin region. It’s a bit more complicated than this, but the bottom line is that Rochester is much closer and the schedulers have made the decision that since I have a Wisconsin address I need to be seen in Wisconsin.
After losing track of my previous treatment in Rochester, they did at one point (mistakenly) set me up with a video appointment to supposedly facilitate my assignment to a new MD in Rochester, but on the eve of that appointment I was called and told that this doctor did not do phone appointments…though they did offer to allow me to make the six-hour round trip to see her early the next day. There have been other issues, but the bottom line is that I am no longer recognized as a Rochester patient. Is there someone I can turn to who can take an honest look at my situation to get back on track? In asking that question of the scheduler I was given a firm “no.”
After years of excellent experiences with Mayo it seems like a lack of common sense and compassion have entered the equation. It’s beyond frustrating.
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Welcome @mikeboom, I had Dr. Thomas Osborn as my rheumatologist when I was diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica back in 2007 when I started my first journey with PMR and he was really great. The Rheumatology department at Rochester Mayo has quite a few rheumatologist but I'm guessing there might be a waiting list for appointments. Here's a list of the Rheumatology Doctors for Rochester - https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/rheumatology/sections/doctors/drc-20477139.
If you have a Mayo Patient Portal you may be able to go through your health records and see if you can make an appointment in Rochester. Did you ever use the Mayo patient portal?
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2 ReactionsGood day
I can think of a couple of ways it might work.
Ask your doctor to send you a referral to Rochester
You could call their appointment phone number. You could get that by going through the Mail operator.
Or you could send them a letter asking to be seen
I got a feeling they have a high list of patience, waiting to be seen so it could take 3 to 4 months for you to be. And sometimes they don’t get back To you fast.
I wish you the best
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2 Reactions@johnbishop, thank you. Yes, I use the Patient Portal frequently. In fact, Mayo’s Rheumatology Division reached out to me through the Portal to schedule a follow up in May. I requested some possible dates at that time, but for some reason that didn’t happen…as you note, there is a shortage of rheumatologists. It was when I tried to initiate that process on my end that everything went south.
In using the portal, I have been connected with their schedulers, who insist that I must be seen in Eau Claire. I’m now going back to my primary doc in Prairie du Chien, hoping he can get me on track again.
Having spent 27 years in the military, I am familiar with dealing with intransigent and illogical bureaucracy, but it’s all a bit of a kick in the pants after years of positive experiences with Mayo.
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2 ReactionsCall customer service and ask WTH is going on. When they knew Dr Osborne was retiring they should have contacted all of of his patients in advance about reassignment. Their run around is silly and unMayolike. I wonder if his other patients got the same treatment. OTOH they could have said Dr Osborne's patients will be seen by his replacement.
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2 Reactions@bajjerfan, a few months ago that appeared to be the plan, but they veered from this to the point of illogic.
Dr. Mayo established the basic institutional value of the organization, which was “The needs of the patient come first.” It’s still reflected in their public documents, but it appears that this is one instance where that concept has been swept aside. I hope it’s not a reflection of a more basic shift.