Mondays are actually my slower days at work, compared to the other ones. There is the usual Monday morning Rx renewals that come in all at once from pharmacies, sent over the weekend, and there are a few frantic calls, but these are predictable and soon addressed. This Monday will be more ‘exciting’ that I will be calling to renew my own prescriptions to test if my medical coverage is indeed up and running. Over the weekend a basic prescription was filled at Uncle Albertsons without fuss, so there is hope. Still, I’m not counting my chickens.
On the this week’s agenda items not typical is meeting with a nurse that got hired, which is news to me. There’s been rumors of such for some time, but no official word was given until I saw her on my schedule I am supposed to train her on using the EHR and I have an hour to do so. Fat chance of that. By the way, the last time I heard of it, The Overlords were hiring a nurse of the male-type, but the one on the schedule sounds definitely female. I wonder what happened to him.
Another Monday matter: possibly paying for a medical convention that is scheduled for June; the early bird deadline is this Wednesday. If I go, it will be the first in-person medical conference since 2019. I miss these shindings, not only for the chance to get out of Dodge but to pow-wow with my fellow wizards and earn credits in a lecture hall rather than via recorded lectures heard sitting at home. Do I dare take the chance by June it will be safe enough to travel? My license expires this July and (in theory) the State of Arizona could ask for proof of Continuing Medical Eduction credits, not just asking for every three year pound of flesh costing me 800 dollars.* Stirges.
I’ve decided this week to throw out all my journals that sit on the shelves in my office. Not once in my decades of shrinking heads have I ever pulled one down to consult them. All the latest news and updates are on line and on apps, so the paper journals mostly for something to put on the shelves so I look smart. Admittedly without the the shelves will look a little bleak, and I don’t know what else to put there. I suppose some tasteful objects d’art or clever knickknacks might be jolly, although come to think of it, the zoom appointments (still the majority of my cases) see only Urs Truly sitting in his chair. I suppose if I stare at the empty spaces long enough something will come to mind.
Otherwise it looks like another typical work week. I hope it is peaceful enough to allow some quiet time for The Muses or someone like them to enter in with more clever notions for writing than this one.
*In theory they ask for CME every time I renew my license but they never do. I need forty done by July; as of this week I have thirty. If I go to that conference I could earn 15 credits but what if the conference falls through?
34 comments
January 23, 2022 at 10:49 PM
DwightW.
The insurance will hopefully cover all the necessary prescriptions, not sure what you take but obviously it’s a burden. Hoping your new Rx/triage nurse no matter what sex will be if some value to you if they show up. Florida has CE Broker which records everything and keeps it on file , for a fee. So it actually may even be owned by the state of Florida. No benefit of the doubt here. I don’t like sitting in a room or conventions, and all my friends are in Kentucky so I do it all from home. Our licenses renew every biennium. But cheaper . I’m sure you could begin a Halloween collection if you rid yourself of the journals. I hope the muses visit too , but just the fact that you are here every day and are a cheerleader for all that come here, makes you a bargain at any price. Especially the one we pay. Happy Monday, Dr. Spo.
January 24, 2022 at 3:43 AM
Dwight W.
Am I nuts here, this came to my email last night and looks new DW
January 24, 2022 at 6:59 AM
Urspo
I made an error on the date for when to post it; it is now correct for this morning, 24 January.
January 24, 2022 at 5:28 AM
David Godfrey
Another exciting week, I hope the new person works out well.
January 24, 2022 at 7:00 AM
Urspo
It would be nice to have someone else here. The track record of RNs staying is not good so we will see what happens.
January 24, 2022 at 6:04 AM
Bohemian
Lost your Blog for a minute and had to find out where you went… I do Hope the Rx thing works out. Right now my Grandson and Partner are between Insurances and they used that Discount Program which helped a lot until they each can get Insurance again. Paying out of pocket can be prohibitive. Hope the new Employee works out well, staff shortages seem to be everywhere now.
January 24, 2022 at 7:02 AM
Urspo
Thank you for all of this.
The place where I work has always had the challenge to get/keep workers, especially therapists, who seem as transient as Bedouins. They retire, find other jobs, ‘don’t work out’. etc. This predates the pandemic and the great resignation/shift.
January 24, 2022 at 7:10 AM
Debbie W.
Sounds like an interesting week you have before you. May the new nurse be kind, efficient, and willing to stay awhile (like your men AND your readers 😉). Have a happy Monday!
January 24, 2022 at 7:21 AM
Urspo
I have mixed feelings about RN prescribers; I ought to write about this some time.
January 24, 2022 at 7:14 AM
Lori Hawkins
I’m sure everything will be fine with the insurance. I hope the new nurse will be helpful to you. Training someone on the EHR in an hour? That will be tricky. I hope you have a wonderful week!
January 24, 2022 at 7:22 AM
Urspo
The new person, if she stays, will be ‘helpful’ that when I go away on vacation I can have a proper holiday viz. someone covers that I could – gasp – not have to call in/fill Rx/return phone calls but have a complete vacation. I wonder how that will feel?
January 24, 2022 at 7:16 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
You only pay $800 for a 3-year medical licence? (Clearly that doesn’t include the cost of malpractice insurance). In my last year of legal practice, my professional licence cost $2600 plus $130 in tax for one year (excluding malpractice insurance). You’re getting off cheap, man!
January 24, 2022 at 7:25 AM
Urspo
I am surprised to read 26K ! Is this because where you work? What you do? A Canadian thing? My 800$ is the license; it doesn’t include the medical societies or the license for prescribing medications or the insurances. All the same what a fascinating comparison between your fee and mine.
January 24, 2022 at 7:35 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
No, that was the standard annual legal practising certificate fee charged by the Law Society of Alberta at the time for all lawyers in the province. Other province’s fees would be in that ball park too, perhaps slightly lower or slightly higher. Of course, that was 5 years ago now. Today the fees are undoubtedly higher.
January 24, 2022 at 7:39 AM
Urspo
talk about reasonable attorneys fees !!
January 24, 2022 at 9:21 AM
Anne
How is your decluttering plan going at the house? I’m thinking a guy like you, with so many interests, will have no trouble filling his office shelves with some tchotkes that make you smile when you see them.
At my last doctor’s office we all decorated somewhat for the holidays and I brought in a nice selection of Halloween stuff. Two of them were really nice witch dolls with beautiful dresses. I came in the next morning and my Halloween stuff had been taken down and replaced with autumn stuff. Apparently I had offended one of the more religiously fundamentalist doctors. I was pretty miffed but I was without power so I kept most of my grumbling to myself.
January 24, 2022 at 11:27 AM
Urspo
That’s a good idea for a blog entry: the knickknacks and tchotchkes on my office shelves! Thank you. I hope your reasonable attorneys fees are less than Travel Penguin’s and Debra Seeker’s.
Several incarnations past The Medical Assistant was of that ilk she would not even touch orange-colored cookies at Hallowe’en.
January 24, 2022 at 9:54 AM
Linda Practical Parsimony
Keep the journals for the cachet.
January 24, 2022 at 11:28 AM
Urspo
Alas, they are already in the recycling bins
January 24, 2022 at 9:59 AM
johnmichael42003
Hmmm…I say go to the conference? Get out of Dodge even for a few days. You know, once you throw those journals out, you will suddenly come upon a malady that you swore was in one of them…
January 24, 2022 at 11:40 AM
Urspo
Any malady I need help with I go to Medscape or my apps hohoho
January 24, 2022 at 10:13 AM
BadNoteB
I would think a newly emptied office shelf might be the perfect platform to display smaller yet representative selections from the spectacular Spo Painted Rock Collection. Display pieces could be refreshed on a seasonal basis, with appropriate Gallery Galas scheduled for each unveiling. The promotional opportunities seem endless!
It is very encouraging that Uncle Albertsons filled a prescription over the weekend. Of the many shortcomings in our health insurance system, removing benefit eligibility from computer data bases is NOT one of them! And you can bet Pharmacist Friendly would not have released the pills without full payment had the system responded “tilt” upon entry of your name.
January 24, 2022 at 11:44 AM
Urspo
There are no lack of rocks on the office shelves; patients see them and like to bring in more, and how do I say no?
I call the main pharmacy today for my more vital meds; fingers crossed.
January 24, 2022 at 10:22 AM
Moving with Mitchell
Clearing the shelves of those old useless journals would make me so happy!
January 24, 2022 at 11:45 AM
Urspo
Yes, it feels good to be rid of the rubbish and see clean empty places.
January 24, 2022 at 11:27 AM
jefferyrn
Go to the conference. I am a firm believer that if we plan our lives things will happen as expected. If we wait we miss out.
January 24, 2022 at 11:45 AM
Urspo
It is hoped by June a conference in person is possible.
January 24, 2022 at 12:28 PM
Parnassus
I’ve been meaning to ask you this. You and your commenters often use the word “stirges” as some sort of emphatic remark. I have no idea what this means–my best guess is something like “drat.” (If meant humorously, I assume you would spell it Sturges, as in Preston.) When I look up the word, I see it is some sort of character from a game, but that doesn’t explain why you use it as a one-word commentary.
–Jim
January 24, 2022 at 12:54 PM
Urspo
A stirge is a mosquito-like blood-sucking monster in the game Dungeons and Dragons. It is sort of the equivalent to “Skunks” or ‘leech” or “Bastards” to denote a draining person or situation, like the every 2 years license renewal fees of 800$.
January 24, 2022 at 3:06 PM
Betty
I also think that you should plan to go to your conference in June. And I do hope that your health insurance has been settled and that you don’t have to worry about the cost of your healthcare this year.
I agree with Debra above, in Ontario paying $800.00 every three years, for renewing your license to practice, would be a very good deal.
I’m lucky that my office, for the most part, has cuboards so that I can put my shoes, extra mugs, etc. away and no-one sees them. But, I am also a huge classic movies/broadway fan and have 2 small framed film posters and 6 of my favourite PlayBills also framed and hanging in my office. I had a difficult time choosing which 6, out of the many PlayBills that we have collected over the years, should have the place of honour, but I think that I chose well. They bring me pleasure everytime I look at them.
January 24, 2022 at 4:00 PM
Urspo
I wish I had saved all my playbills – or at least a journal of all I have seen. By now they are all a blur and I only remember a tip of the iceberg what I’ve experienced. Your playbills in sight sounds a lovely way to remember a nice night out.
January 24, 2022 at 6:18 PM
Betty
We kept all of the PlayBills because I always knew that one day I would frame them, and I finally did. I have 18 other PlayBills framed at home and then had 6 others framed and brought them to the office. I will tell you that I have a PlayBill from a play that we saw in 2009 with Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig which brings me no end of joy whenever I look at it. It was a great night and the PlayBill is a great reminder of how much fun we had that night.
January 24, 2022 at 5:45 PM
Pipistrello
Book the conference, dear Wizard! There are so few opportunities to wear bow ties and capes any more, it will be jolly to dress up. Re clearing out your journals, think of the colonies of paper lice you no longer need to house. Too much responsibility lays upon your shoulders already.
January 24, 2022 at 6:40 PM
Urspo
The main fellow who runs these get-togethers always wears bowties. In every occasion someone mistakes me for him simply because I am wearing one as well.