Opinion: Letter
UHS a UH-Mess
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A few weeks ago, a friend related a troubling story to me. She had gone to University Health Services for her third dose of the HPV vaccination (which is designed to be given in three shots over six months) and was informed that at her previous visit, she had accidentally been given a tetanus shot instead of the vaccine and would need to come back for an additional HPV shot.
Horrified, I repeated this story to a number of female friends in the coming days. Each responded similarly — with their own UHS horror story. One had an ovarian cyst misdiagnosed as menstrual cramps (the cyst later ruptured, leaving her hospitalized for a week). Another was given three days’ worth of antibiotics that, as a Community Pharmacy pharmacist later informed her, was actually a medicine that required 10 days worth of dosage. I could list many more examples, but needless to say, I had been thoroughly warned. Or maybe, to put it more ominously, I should have known.
Early in February, I scheduled a Friday afternoon appointment for a massage at UHS. I had heard great things about their massage therapists and was looking forward to relaxing after a very stressful week. When Friday rolled around, to my dismay, I was called into work, meaning I would need to cancel my massage.
I referred back to an automated e-mail I had received the previous day, and was relieved to discover I still had sufficient time to cancel the appointment and avoid being charged a cancellation fee. However, when I called to cancel, the receptionist told me that they had a 24-hour cancellation policy, and I was going to be charged $25. Frustrated, I explained the e-mail I had received clearly stated that their policy said, “If you are not able to keep your appointment, please call to cancel at least 1 hour prior to your appointment time or you may be charged a missed appointment fee.”
The receptionist instructed me to forward the e-mail I had received to a UHS administrator and explain that I should not be charged for canceling. I expected my dilemma to end there.
Then, last week, I received a statement with the $25 “missed appointment fee.” At this point, I was beyond frustrated, but tried to remain calm, even when, after calling UHS to discuss the bill, I was transferred to three different people to speak to about my issue. I ended up leaving a voicemail for an administrator who was “gone on vacation.”
This morning, the administrator finally returned my call. In a rude tone, she explained that while I might “think that I know what the e-mail said” regarding their cancellation policy, I actually didn’t. I had her stay on the line with me while I forwarded her the initial automated e-mail I had received. To my shock, she then inferred that I had somehow forged the automated e-mail, presumably to get out of the $25 fee.
Look, I still have trouble uploading photos onto my laptop, and even as a senior, I can barely read my DARS. The fact that this woman, who has never met me, would insult my integrity and intelligence by suggesting that I would forge an official university e-mail is beyond comprehensible.
What more, I sadly consider myself lucky that my UHS horror story is one that has cost me time and energy (and sanity), rather than threatened my physical health, as in the case of too many of my friends. While UHS has upgraded to a new, flashy building, they might want to consider putting some of that money into their administrative, communications and heath care systems, which at this point, could still use a serious renovation.
Sophia Pogoff
Senior, Journalism
pogoff@wisc.edu
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That's typical. How many of us have gone there because we were sick only to be told "I think you're sick" or "it's probably either viral or bacterial"?
Yeah, no kidding doc. Did you get your medical degree in a cereal box?
I know! They screwed up my massage appointment, and wanted to charge me the $25 for "missing" my appointment. It took an e-mail to the head of UHS to get it fixed. Like they would give me the $25 for their screw up! What a mess.
So I'm supposed to believe UHS is horrible because of some horror stories that can't be verified and a mix-up about when you have to cancel appointments?
Your story is unfortunate, yes, but I believe that UHS has done a lot of good for a lot of people, myself included. Rather than ever putting my health at risk, I'm pretty sure having UHS to go to saved my life at least once, not to mention saved me a hell of a lot of money in doctor's fees when I didn't have health insurance.
Sophia--Keep fighting this battle!
I went to UHS for a 'bump' on my forehead that they misdiagnosed as an abscess only to rush to the Meriter ER that same night with my eyes swollen shut. I was then hospitalized for a week with MRSA - a DEADLY staph infection.
Meriter probably wouldn't have diagnosed MRSA right away either, 1:44.
My dad is a doctor who lives back home and he can usually diagnose things over the phone but I always go to UHS just to get a second opinion and see if I can get free treatment for it. UHS has been wrong twice I've gone in, and on several other occasions I've been given a vague answer. It's not a good sign if someone can diagnose a condition over the phone and someone in person can't make the same diagnosis.
In November I went to UHS for a broken toe that caused a Subungual Hematoma (blood trapped under the nail) under my big toenail. The procedure to drain it was supposed to be pretty simple, essentially a pen with a red hot wire tip is burned through the nail to release the pressure while avoiding the nail bed. Simple right? No. On the first attempt the words "well I've never seen this before" were used referring to the pen malfunctioning. The wire is supposed to glide through the nail easily but instead this one was just singling the surface. So, instead of getting a new pen the doctor just kept pushing harder and harder until what was initially a severe fracture turned into a full break. The doctor then came to the conclusion that maybe he should try a new pen (and tada, the new pen actually worked like it was supposed to).
Last year the practitioner who saw me said that the pain in my stomach I had was Acid Reflux Disease. I had done some research and didn't believe her so I made her give me an order for an ultra-sound. Turns out I was right and had gall stones which required me to have my gallbladder removed. If I would have listened I would have ended up in the emergency room instead of a surgeon's office scheduling an appointment. Not my first recommendation, but if you don't have good health insurance it's better than nothing.
Me too - last year I ended up in the hospital for a week because a UHS nurse told me that I had a virus, when in fact I had an infection that had ascended all the way to my kidneys. In retrospect, given my symptoms, it is painfully obvious what was happening and the emergency room doctor was aghast that it hadn't been recognized. If I had "waited it out", as she advised me, there's a good chance the infection would have gotten into my bloodstream and killed me. Never again will I trust UHS.
The policy is to give at least 24 hours notice to cancel or there will be a $25.00 charge. Although you are not the first student to say they have received an email stating you could cancel your appointment 1 hour in advance with out being charged. This has been brought to the attention of the office manager on at least two occasions. I am sorry for the frustration you must have felt.
I am a mother of a UW Senior. For the past four years, I have heard horror stories from other students and other parents when we visited together up in Madison. It's too bad that the Administrators at UHS there can't own up to their errors. My own daughter was sent home telling her that she had constipation, without even doing a hands on examination. I drove up there the next day, brought her back to our hometown and after them doing a scan/xray, discovered her appendicts were about to rupture. Therefore, it is not a stretch at all to believe the students. Between how the girl that was raped at Sigma Chi and the treatment (or I should say lack thereof) by the University, this UHS problem certainly is believable as well. UW Administrators - you need to take a walk, walk the talk, and talk the talk to your sub-ordinates all the way down the line and explain they need to treat the women on campus with more respect and all the students with more sincerity and treat each person individually. To make all the students pay the price for what a few do. One more thing, have you ever thought there could have been a typo coming directly out through the UHS office. Human error does occur in typing; spell check would not have caught that time difference!