Our conversation was going nowhere fast, so I asked to speak to her supervisor. She came on the line and seemed a bit more reasonable. She spotted a problem; it seemed that the MRI requisition was entered twice. I thought this implied an easy resolution to the problem; just delete one request and approve the other. “Well doctor, you will still need to speak to our medical reviewer. Please stay on the line for the next available doctor reviewer.” At this point (12 minutes and counting), I wanted to be assured that the reviewer would in fact be a radiologist. After all, this company advertises as being a medical imaging review company. “No, doctor, we have all kinds of doctors reviewing these cases.” I was taken aback. “You mean I might get a psychiatrist to review the necessity of this request?” I was told to stay on the line and I would soon learn the identity of the mystery radiology reviewer.
About the time it took to cruise past two more highway exits, a radiologist came on the line. He quickly approved the study. When I complained that this whole encounter had taken 18 minutes, he suggested that in the future, I use their unpublished direct line for doctors. It was his way of making amends. Somehow I failed to get excited about this wonderful offer. It felt like getting a coupon for “50% off your next purchase” when you have no intention of ever making that next purchase.
Ah, on what little things does happiness depend!
—Oscar Wilde, The Nightingale and the Rose (1891)
The Happy Docs
Nowadays, our lives are filled with these irritating phone calls and maddening faxes seeking additional information. We have come to accept constant meddling on the part of the patients’ payers as a way of life. Surprisingly, these annoyances have not dampened our spirits; we remain the happiest of all doctors. That is the conclusion of the 2012 Medscape Physician Lifestyle report, where the authors observed:
“With a rating of 4.09 (out of a maximum score of 5.0), the most cheerful physician of all, whether male or female, is a rheumatologist. She was born in the United States and is of normal weight and excellent health. He exercises 4 or more times a week, has 1 or 2 drinks a day, and doesn’t smoke. She is in great financial shape, with more than adequate savings and no debt. He is married, actively practices his faith, and volunteers for his religious organization. One of the more interesting findings was that happiness was greatest in physicians over 60 years of age.”1
