bigheadache
03-31-2004, 11:22 AM
I have had over 15 symptoms for the past 6 years. Seen uncountable amounts of Dr. Just this past month I asked to have my ANA tested. It came back positive and I was refered to a rheumatologist. I haqve waited 2 months with still no call back from the rheumatologist. I called them and they said I may wait up to 9 months if my immune disease is chronic and not acute.
My question for all of you is. Does my doctor have the authority and knowledge to preform tests to determine what type of AI disease I suffer from? Or can only Specialists handle this sort of diagnoses?
My question for all of you is. Does my doctor have the authority and knowledge to preform tests to determine what type of AI disease I suffer from? Or can only Specialists handle this sort of diagnoses?
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Marimac
03-31-2004, 10:35 PM
I have had over 15 symptoms for the past 6 years. Seen uncountable amounts of Dr. Just this past month I asked to have my ANA tested. It came back positive and I was refered to a rheumatologist. I haqve waited 2 months with still no call back from the rheumatologist. I called them and they said I may wait up to 9 months if my immune disease is chronic and not acute.
My question for all of you is. Does my doctor have the authority and knowledge to preform tests to determine what type of AI disease I suffer from? Or can only Specialists handle this sort of diagnoses?Any medical doctor licensed in the United States can order a blood test. However, a lot of insurance companies get hot under the collar if a doctor orders testing outside his own specialty. The only way to know if this is true for your doctor is to ask.
A general practioner may not be well informed as to what medications are available to treat a certain special disease. A cardiologist would not necessarily know what medications to prescribe for a foot problem without reading up on it. A general practioner would know enough general information though to decide whether or not the situation is serious enough for an emergency appointment or not.
Most medicine practiced in the US today is preventive so that the doctors do not get sued by angry patients. But on the other hand medical science is moving forward faster than any one human being can keep up with and still see patients on a daily basis. Most of the reading up on new treatments has to be done in a Doctor's spare time. The demands of accountability to the insurance companies and the legal requirements of practicing medicine all but render a doctor incapable of learning new information unless the doctor goes away to study. Then the patients don't have any one available to take care of them and the appointments get strung out months in advance.
My question for all of you is. Does my doctor have the authority and knowledge to preform tests to determine what type of AI disease I suffer from? Or can only Specialists handle this sort of diagnoses?Any medical doctor licensed in the United States can order a blood test. However, a lot of insurance companies get hot under the collar if a doctor orders testing outside his own specialty. The only way to know if this is true for your doctor is to ask.
A general practioner may not be well informed as to what medications are available to treat a certain special disease. A cardiologist would not necessarily know what medications to prescribe for a foot problem without reading up on it. A general practioner would know enough general information though to decide whether or not the situation is serious enough for an emergency appointment or not.
Most medicine practiced in the US today is preventive so that the doctors do not get sued by angry patients. But on the other hand medical science is moving forward faster than any one human being can keep up with and still see patients on a daily basis. Most of the reading up on new treatments has to be done in a Doctor's spare time. The demands of accountability to the insurance companies and the legal requirements of practicing medicine all but render a doctor incapable of learning new information unless the doctor goes away to study. Then the patients don't have any one available to take care of them and the appointments get strung out months in advance.