Changing your regular doctor (thyroid meds, surgery, prescription, insurance)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been seeing the same general doctor for many years. I mostly need a prescription for Ambien every 10 weeks or so.
The doctor is rather far away so I tried another doctor near me. When I went there, they said I would have to get my medical history from the old doctor, or the new doctor wouldn't be able to write me the prescription. I have no insurance at all and they said this had something to do with the fact that I would need the history.
(I'm trying to get med insurance now which is in another thread.)
Is this what often happens when you switch general doctors if you don't have insurance?
I have this fear that my regular doctor will die or retire and I won't be able to get my Ambien and I'll go insane.
I've been seeing the same general doctor for many years. I mostly need a prescription for Ambien every 10 weeks or so.
The doctor is rather far away so I tried another doctor near me. When I went there, they said I would have to get my medical history from the old doctor, or the new doctor wouldn't be able to write me the prescription. I have no insurance at all and they said this had something to do with the fact that I would need the history.
(I'm trying to get med insurance now which is in another thread.)
Is this what often happens when you switch general doctors if you don't have insurance?
I have this fear that my regular doctor will die or retire and I won't be able to get my Ambien and I'll go insane.
You want a new prescription for a Class IV federally controlled substance. Do you know what that means? Look it up.
Yes, they will want your medical history from your previous prescriber. Look at it this way. They will want to know why and how you take this med. For all they know your previous doc wasn't prescribing it appropriately. The new doc doesn't know you. You might be abusing or selling it. They can be held accountable for improperly prescribing it. People who want to use controlled substances improperly may deliberately not use health insurance to hide that fact. A brand new patient who doesn't have health insurance but who wants a script for a controlled substance probably raises some red flags.
I have had health insurance for most of my working life but not all of it. I've moved a lot and changed doctors a lot. Yes, the new docs have always asked for my medical history. It's to protect BOTH of us. No problem requesting it from an old doc. I'm sure if you decide you don't want to drive back to your old doc anymore, they'll probably be happy to provide your medical history to a closer one.
Unless you're hoping to hide something...
Last edited by Parnassia; 10-16-2023 at 05:50 PM..
yes, we are "starting from scratch".
i had bloodwork done last week.
my wife has her first physical this week.
we did this even though our history
was send to the new practice.
I hardly ever get asked for old records, except when surgery is involved. And I've gone to...hmmm, 5 practices in the last 10 years, for a total of 9 PCPs.
But my only regular prescription is thyroid meds, which aren't exactly restricted.
Its generally considered a good practice when switching doctors to bring your current Rx bottle with you with the appropriate number of pills still in it so they don't have to take your word for anything.
Where I live about half the doctors require their patients to submit to a urine drug test before they will Rx anything other than benign things like antibiotics.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,577 posts, read 81,186,228 times
Reputation: 57818
It's not the doctor changing, it's the medical facility/practice. In my case, for example, I have a total of 5 doctors that I see on a regular basis, and all of them are with Swedish/Providence. When I changed my regular physician, there was no problem because all of my data was still in the system. Now if I were to change to Kaiser Permanente or Virginia Mason, they would require records.
I'm trying to figure out why this would be an issue, especially if a person has chronic ailments (heart disease, diabetes) or past illnesses (cancer, for one). Wouldn't you want your new doctor to be up to speed on your medical profile?
Yes, taking a list of your meds to a new doctor will give clues but no details (like if you have stents) so you'll still have to say that. Then there will be the questions of "Why" and "When".
First of all, no reputable doctor would never prescribe sleeping meds or any narcotic meds without history (from last MD) and examination. People Dr shop for drugs don't ya know?
2nd, and most important, you want (and need) any new doc to be fully aware of your history.
3rd, if you find a doc who is willing to prescribe with no history and exam, or is a telephone doc, he/she is a quack!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Unless you're hoping to hide something...
