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Mayo turned me down for an appointment with Endo

Posted by staylorrn2000 @staylorrn2000, 1 day ago

I called Mayo requesting an appointment with an Endocrinologist . They asked me what for. I said I have adrenal insufficiency from being on Prednisone. I was told someone would contact me to schedule an appointment. Today I received a letter saying the following:

“We appreciate the confidence you have expressed in Mayo Clinic and thank you for your recent request.
There is nothing more important than your health for you and your family. Each day we receive many more appointment requests than we are able to accommodate. The Division of Endocrinology in Rochester, Minnesota has reviewed your information to determine if we can add further value or treatment options to your care. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer you an appointment at this time.
Please know we do not make this decision lightly. If your health situation changes, we would appreciate another opportunity to evaluate whether our services can complement those provided by your current provider.
Thank you for considering Mayo Clinic for your health care needs. We encourage you to follow up with your local provider .
Sincerely,
Division of Endocrinology in Rochester, Minnesota”

I was shocked to receive this response, mainly because what information did they review given the only information they had about me was my one statement that I have adrenal insufficiency in response to the one question asked of me.
Has anyone else been turned away from receiving even a consult at Mayo?

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 1 day ago

@staylorrn2000, it looks like you received the form letter denying an appointment without having had a chance to send any records for them to review. That is disappointing. A gut punch really.

I assume that you received this letter because the Endocrinology Department is currently at capacity, meaning they have more appointment requests than appointments available. For that reason, they didn't want to put you through the arduous work of gathering medical records etc. to send if they are unable to accept patients at this time. That's just a guess on my part. I don't know for sure. You can call the appointment office to inquire.

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SusanEllen66 | @SusanEllen66 | 23 hours ago

@staylorrn2000 that is the way it works. You ask, they say either sorry no right away, or ask you to send all your records. They discuss if they can help you or not. Then, you get accepted or not.

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jc76 | @jc76 | 17 hours ago

@staylorrn2000
Are you a community health or primary care patient at Mayo?

If not I would suggest trying to become one. Not sure if you live close enough to do that. Before I moved in 2015 I drove 4 hours to get to Mayo now it is 25 minutes.

By getting into the system your Mayo primary care can refer you to a Mayo specialist based on his/her diagnosis of your condition and need his/her need for you to see an endoctronoloigst.

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2 replies
sandy8043 | @sandy8043 | 15 hours ago

Maybe you can ask your current doctor to make a referral for a second opinion. That might bear some weight and include your records. Just a thought.

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staylorrn2000 | @staylorrn2000 | 14 hours ago
In reply to @jc76 "@staylorrn2000 Are you a community health or primary care patient at Mayo? If not I would..." + (show)
@jc76

@staylorrn2000
Are you a community health or primary care patient at Mayo?

If not I would suggest trying to become one. Not sure if you live close enough to do that. Before I moved in 2015 I drove 4 hours to get to Mayo now it is 25 minutes.

By getting into the system your Mayo primary care can refer you to a Mayo specialist based on his/her diagnosis of your condition and need his/her need for you to see an endoctronoloigst.

Jump to this post

No, I’m not a patient at Mayo. I live 8 hours away.

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lilli64 | @lilli64 | 13 hours ago
In reply to @jc76 "@staylorrn2000 Are you a community health or primary care patient at Mayo? If not I would..." + (show)
@jc76

@staylorrn2000
Are you a community health or primary care patient at Mayo?

If not I would suggest trying to become one. Not sure if you live close enough to do that. Before I moved in 2015 I drove 4 hours to get to Mayo now it is 25 minutes.

By getting into the system your Mayo primary care can refer you to a Mayo specialist based on his/her diagnosis of your condition and need his/her need for you to see an endoctronoloigst.

Jump to this post

Hi, I have been trying to get into Mayo with my Complex health issues for 4 yrs now & keep getting denied. Can I ask how do you become a " Community Health or become Primary care Patient? I was told once that if I would move to Iowa I would have a better chance getting into Mayo, I live in Omaha now & thought I would be able to get a knowledgeable Dr to be able to get myself their by now, with no Dr in Omaha being able to help with my rare health issues.
I'm more than willing to relocate even to Minnesota if need be, But; then I still have the challenge of finding that Dr. to help with the referral talent. I'm 61 with several rare issues, have been told before by Colleen Young ( Director) that I, should be seen at Mayo, but getting Dr's to comply is a different challenge it seems. Thank you for any advise.

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2 replies
rfh1957 | @rfh1957 | 11 hours ago

Did you fill out the long application form online which asks you to complete questions for each health concern? I was a little surprised that they accepted me, but I told them that I didn't feel the local physicians I had seen were being responsive to my problems.

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jc76 | @jc76 | 6 hours ago
In reply to @lilli64 "Hi, I have been trying to get into Mayo with my Complex health issues for 4..." + (show)
@lilli64

Hi, I have been trying to get into Mayo with my Complex health issues for 4 yrs now & keep getting denied. Can I ask how do you become a " Community Health or become Primary care Patient? I was told once that if I would move to Iowa I would have a better chance getting into Mayo, I live in Omaha now & thought I would be able to get a knowledgeable Dr to be able to get myself their by now, with no Dr in Omaha being able to help with my rare health issues.
I'm more than willing to relocate even to Minnesota if need be, But; then I still have the challenge of finding that Dr. to help with the referral talent. I'm 61 with several rare issues, have been told before by Colleen Young ( Director) that I, should be seen at Mayo, but getting Dr's to comply is a different challenge it seems. Thank you for any advise.

Jump to this post

@lilli64
I sure wish I had the magic words and actions for you to do. Getting into a major medical facility for primary and community cares is such an advantage as your provider then does the referral to a specialist.

I used to live in Vero Beach which is about 3.5 hours from Mayo Jacksonville. I had developed heart failure (HF) and my cardiologist wanted me to see a local electrophysiologist (EP) regarding a ICD.

I had been reading about Mayo Jacksonville so I asked per their appointment forum to see a EP. I was given an appt. and spent about 1 hour with a EP. He recommended me get both a ICD and a Pacemaker device. I asked then could he do them and have done there. He said yes but wanted me to see a heart failure doctor there at Mayo and referred (same day) to a HF there.

The HF doctor changed my medcations. I then had my device implanted one month later. Since I still lived in Vero I was driving back and forth. My EP asked me to have a local cardiologist that he and the HF could work with locally.

I decided to move to Jacksonville area as I like a community here and also my wife was not going to Mayo Jacksonville and moving sure would help. It is when we moved to just south of Jacksonville that we asked to see a primary care doctor. I guess since we were patients there we both got a primary care doctor at community health division.

I know this is not your journey and you are trying like me to see a speicalist but you asked how I did it. I would try to have a local doctor try to asked for a referral to Mayo on your behalf as I think a physician doing it is seen by Mayo better.

Maybe consider asking for a second opinion route would work? Keep trying.

May I suggest each Mayo has a patiend advocacy department. You can e-mail them and or call them. Maybe they could help you with getting in.
Good luck

REPLY
Janell | @jlharsh | 2 hours ago
In reply to @lilli64 "Hi, I have been trying to get into Mayo with my Complex health issues for 4..." + (show)
@lilli64

Hi, I have been trying to get into Mayo with my Complex health issues for 4 yrs now & keep getting denied. Can I ask how do you become a " Community Health or become Primary care Patient? I was told once that if I would move to Iowa I would have a better chance getting into Mayo, I live in Omaha now & thought I would be able to get a knowledgeable Dr to be able to get myself their by now, with no Dr in Omaha being able to help with my rare health issues.
I'm more than willing to relocate even to Minnesota if need be, But; then I still have the challenge of finding that Dr. to help with the referral talent. I'm 61 with several rare issues, have been told before by Colleen Young ( Director) that I, should be seen at Mayo, but getting Dr's to comply is a different challenge it seems. Thank you for any advise.

Jump to this post

What type of complex health issues are you dealing with? You mention several rare issues?

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