OverExtended?

[Dr_Rosario_Trifiletti]

I feel I have to clear the air a bit -

 

1. Since I "advertised" here in early November, and especially since the Today Show, I have been BUSY. but not overwhelmed.

 

I count 150 new contacts in the past month. Almost all have or may have PANDAS. To put this in perspective, this is about as many as I would normally encounter in about 5 years time.

 

2. Those that have been nice enough to visit me know that, at the moment, I work alone. I am the secretary, I make the charts, do the billing, and yes I clean the bathrooms. This doesn't bother me at all, but does take away from the time required to be a doctor.

 

3. It is true that my voice mail is frequently full (do you wonder why?). However, I spent the afternoon yesterday clearing out 75% of my messages and personally responding to most. I promise to get to everybody.

 

4. I do try to make everything as easy as possible for the patient and parents - I see one patient at a time, so you will not have to have your child exposed to more strep in a waiting room, have a little playroom in which to examine younger children naturally. I try to minimize paperwork and spend at least an hour and a half with parents. I try to explain all the options. I've even picked up patients at the local train station and then back after the consult. I have a scheduled opened to see patients M-F 8am-9pm have Sat PM and Sunday hours. How much more accommodating can you be? ...

 

5. I have been accepting insurance. As you might expect, I am very behind on billing. There are people I have seen for less than you would pay for a pizza dinner with your child and I have tried to provide the same care to everyone. I'm going to try to keep this going as long as I can, but may have to modify things to stay afloat. I will be updating my website soon to clarify matters.

 

6. I now do phone consults. My philosophy is a phone consult should be just like a face-to-face with the only exception is that I can't examine your child. Once we do a consult, I am your doctor with respect to PANDAS management. I have to charge up-front for this, because there is almost always no insurance coverage for this.

[melanie]

I feel I have to clear the air a bit -

 

1. Since I "advertised" here in early November, and especially since the Today Show, I have been BUSY. but not overwhelmed.

 

I count 150 new contacts in the past month. Almost all have or may have PANDAS. To put this in perspective, this is about as many as I would normally encounter in about 5 years time.

 

2. Those that have been nice enough to visit me know that, at the moment, I work alone. I am the secretary, I make the charts, do the billing, and yes I clean the bathrooms. This doesn't bother me at all, but does take away from the time required to be a doctor.

 

3. It is true that my voice mail is frequently full (do you wonder why?). However, I spent the afternoon yesterday clearing out 75% of my messages and personally responding to most. I promise to get to everybody.

 

4. I do try to make everything as easy as possible for the patient and parents - I see one patient at a time, so you will not have to have your child exposed to more strep in a waiting room, have a little playroom in which to examine younger children naturally. I try to minimize paperwork and spend at least an hour and a half with parents. I try to explain all the options. I've even picked up patients at the local train station and then back after the consult. I have a scheduled opened to see patients M-F 8am-9pm have Sat PM and Sunday hours. How much more accommodating can you be? ...

 

5. I have been accepting insurance. As you might expect, I am very behind on billing. There are people I have seen for less than you would pay for a pizza dinner with your child and I have tried to provide the same care to everyone. I'm going to try to keep this going as long as I can, but may have to modify things to stay afloat. I will be updating my website soon to clarify matters.

 

6. I now do phone consults. My philosophy is a phone consult should be just like a face-to-face with the only exception is that I can't examine your child. Once we do a consult, I am your doctor with respect to PANDAS management. I have to charge up-front for this, because there is almost always no insurance coverage for this.

 

I would like to chime in on this Dr T

 

If it wasnt for your concern for Danny I wouldnt be waking up today with a smile and hope! We did get the approval last night and I will call you today.I want everyone to know that I have been going through this PANDAS thing with my son for 2-3 years and it is utter ######!!Dr T always calls back when he can.He has done what he said he would do . I hope that you can continue to grow your practice and help heal our children because we are all just here for the same reason,We love and adore our children and want them to be well again.This forum is sooo important to me if it wasnt for the people here I dont know what I would do.I wake up every morning to see how everyone is. I hope everyone has a nice day and Ill let everyone know whats going on here

 

Melanie and danny

[dcmom]

Thank you Dr T-

 

I wish you success in your practice- we need you to stay afloat- so please do what you must!

 

Unfortunately it isn't your fault (or Dr L's) that you both are overwhelmed with pandas kids- it is the fault of all the other neurologists and immunologists who continue to refuse to help families struggling with this.

 

Please keep up the good work, and have a Happy Holiday! Will be seeing you again soon!

[Ellen]

Dr. T, Thank you for all that you are doing to help our kids. You are clearly going above and beyond and we need more doctors like you. You were very helpful when we met with you last month, and I feel fortunate that we have someone with your level of expertise on my son's case. Best of luck with your practice.

 

Ellen

[Suzan]

I can attest to all you have said, the appt was personal, confidential and accommodating! Thank you Dr. T for all you did for us to get up there to see you. I am very glad to have you as a dr. for my girls.

 

Susan

[nevergiveup]

Wow Dr. T,

 

Your post created many thoughts and memories for me. It reminded me of my grandfather whom I did house calls with on the weekends in our small town on the east coast. He ran his practice the same way you are and cared for each of his patients based on need. He also even offered to help with logistics for out of town patients. He was a great diagnostician and didn't have to make all his decisions based off of insurance. Knowing your available for us is a relief after years of not having one doctor acknowledge or offer trtmt for my dd. After the lack of treatment my dd had received in the past, the psychiatrists whom so happily charged 200 dollars for a 50 min session claiming they understood this illness, neuro's offering up haldrol and attacking me as a mother because I wanted the autoimmune component treated, calling my dd in for blood studies but sending us home with no hope. I am glad you and Dr. L are available and fighting for our children's future.

[memom]

I am glad you and Dr. L are available and fighting for our children's future.

 

 

I agree. Do what you need to to stay sane,afloat and balanced.

 

Memom

[P_Mom]

Dr. T,

 

After a phone consult...are you able to manage care for the children and prescribe meds. over the phone?

How much for a phone consult....I am thinking of setting one up with you.

 

Thank you,

 

Kelly

[matis_mom]

Dear Dr. T.

Wow, I don't know how you can manage it all! I hope and pray you will soon be able to find some help so you can give 100% of your time to patients. There are so few doctors both capable and willing to deal with this thing, we need you to stay healthy! I do appreciate the fact that you are willing to see people no matter what, especially in these tough times.

 

May God bless your work. Merry Christmas!

 

Isabel