I would like to know what other fulltimers do if they need medical care when they are traveling.  I'm staying in Sacramento for a few months and need to find a doctor who will write a couple of prescriptions for me (refills running out).  It is proving difficult - either they won't accept Medicare as primary payer, or they don't want short term patients, or whatever.  I think it would be easier to find someone if I was in a smaller city or town, but maybe not.

Do you just walk in to a doctor's office that you pass, look one up on the internet, or what?  Thanks.

gypsy

Thanks for the reply, Charles.  By immediate medical practice, do you mean a walk-in urgent care or clinic type of place?  Also, I had no trouble transferring my rx to a local pharmacy, except that one had no refills left.  The other two have 1 or 2 refills available, so what I really need is to find a doctor who will write new prescriptions for all three meds.  It will probably make the payments from medicare & blue cross smoother if the dr. writes it up as if I'm a new patient.  I have excellent medical coverage when I've "stayed put".  I'm not sure what effect fulltiming is going to have though.

gypsy

Our doctor knows we are fulltiming. We fill our RX at Walmart. The doctors office calls the refill into the Walmart we filled it and we are able to pick up and refill it at any Walmart.

We have used urgent care facilities in the past and that was worked out okay too.

We use urgent care facilities, walk in clinics and the emergency department at a hospital. When we come to the U.S. in the Fall we have our six months' medication with us.

It sounds like I'm a dolt for not making sure I had enough left.  I got the 3 Rx refilled before I left Asheville, but they will all expire before I get back there and since it isn't my home any more, I would rather see a doctor along the way if I need one.  The thing is, whether they will write Rx for the same thing I've been taking.  I've been on HRT for a long time and want to continue it until I die, and I don't want some young twit of a doctor preaching to me.  (At my age they are all young twits)

gypsy

Sutter North is a good organization. Our doctor is in Yuba City and we are able to get our prescription refills mailed to us from Longs. So far have not had a problem after over a year full-timing.

Hi Gypsy,

You can ask people you meet, such as in the campground, and then double-check with your insurance, check online for any incidents, and also check the local BBB.

Happy Travels!
Suzanne & Brad
http://campingandtravels.blogspot.com

We use walk in clinics when we need most medical care and hospital emergency rooms when they are neccessary. It's worked well for 3 years now all over the country.

We've had all sort of medical needs during our 8 years on the road from cuts needing stiches, hives, nasty infections, strep, gallbladder attacks and surgery, prostate cancer and treatment, and symptoms ending with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.  We aren't yet old enough for Medicare (but close enough that we're now counting the months!)  If it's not an emergency, we check out the website of our insurance for a list of doctors/hospitals.  We also have done lots of research under the topic of various conditions/problems to find references to "doctors of excellence" for that topic.   We have found that many hospitals now have "urgent care" facilities apart from their ER's.  And, we ask at the campround office for a reputable DR for whatever our problem is.  When calling for an appointment or going in to the office, we always ask if they accept our insurance.  One problem we have discovered is that even if the DR or hospital is on our insurance that they sometimes 'contract out' for testing and/or other doctors that are not on our plan.  We have learned to ask about everything....how many bills we will get and from whom.  Other than a few billing messes, we have had excellent care and coverage all over the US.  The DRs have been willing to continue our prescriptions originally written by other DRs when we assure them that we continue to have annual physicals and we obtain and carry copies of all our previous testing.

In our 4 years on the road we have had to find a doctor several times.  Since my insurance carrier is BCBS, I just go on line, put in the zip code of where we are and search for a Preferred Provider physician.  It comes complete with phone no.s so I just call to determine whether the doctor will take new patients. 

As for our prescriptions, we use Walgreens pharmacies exclusively.  Their computer system is nation wide and you can go to any Walgreens in the country and get you prescriptions filled.  We have done this from Florida to Oregon and from Michigan to south Texas with no problems.  In the event that the refills have expired, they will contact the doctor for you and get new presciptions if possible.

For emergencies, we have found the walk in clinics to be the best.  Usually hospital emergency rooms take a lot longer to see a doctor and are much more expensive.

All good comments but consider the FTer who is not insured, moves frequently from job-site to job-site, isn't retired and probably won't retire for quite a number of years. First, I keep my own medical "records." Doctor's offices won't just hand you medical records when you announce that you're "moving on." So, with every visit, I update my own document that describes each visit, prescriptions, reason for the visit, any notable comments made by the MD, my BP, any test results, etc. I also include their address and phone number. While finding a temporary MD may be difficult, when I walk into their office with my own "medical history," the MD is more likely to write Rx script and treat me with more respect than just the check that I'll write for their service.

Hi Gypsy...like others have mentioned, look for a Patient First or other type of walk in clinic. There are often some in the Wal-marts and grocery stores these days. You should have no trouble getting your HRT script written....they've now decided that they aren't the vilainous drugs they were once made out to be. My Dr actually says they are now good for you, especially if you have been on them for a long time continually. I'm not giving up mine either!! You might also try looking in the phone book and calling around to some of the dr's offices to see if they will take you as a walk in. We once found a terrific dermatologist in Tampa, who had a cancellation and took me in the same day. Great Dr and charged no more that what my co-pay would be if in our "network". Or call the local hospital and see if they have a "Dr referral" system...these are great to get names of Dr's who will see you. Good luck and let us know how it turns out for you! Molly

I did find a doctor who is at the Mercy Medical Clinic near here.  I don't know much about this doctor, but was familiar with Mercy as my ex husband's oncologist was located there, and I drove him to many chemo appointments.  I can't say I'm crazy about the doctor I was assigned to - I can barely understand her for one thing.  She wrote me 3 months prescriptions and told me I have to get an exam before she will write any more, and that is set up for late March.  At that point I didn't have much choice because my ins co would already have to pay for the visit.  I'll see her once more and then never go back.

gysy

Thanks to everyone.  Lots of great information.  Wife has several medical needs plus once or twice a month needs a chiropractor to get things back (no punnnn) into place.  She has a great one in Tacoma.  

Luckily, we have not needed a doctor yet.  I'm sure the day will come.  At that time, we'll try to find an urgent care type clinic.

Our doctor's office/clinic in Wisconsin began offering an online feature for patients a few years ago.  You can set up your account and then access it anytime.  All of your test results, prescriptions, etc. are at your fingertips to show any other doctor.  Also, you can email your doctor.  When we need a new prescription, we just email the doctor and he faxes it to the online pharmacy we use.  It helps that we have had the same family doctor for 26 years.  He knows both of us well and works with us to get our prescriptions.  Once a year when we go back to Wisconsin, we'll get our checkups taken care of.

Finding places that accept insurance isn't an issue for us since our deductible is $10,000 each.  Hopefully, we'll never need it! I am grateful that under the new healthcare laws, beginning in January our insurance provider will have to pay for a checkup each year without our meeting the deductible.  At least, I think that's what will happen.

RodandGeorgia wrote:

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Thanks to everyone.  Lots of great information.  Wife has several medical needs plus once or twice a month needs a chiropractor to get things back (no punnnn) into place.  She has a great one in Tacoma.  

Would anyone share or have info about finding a Chiro when we are out of state of WA?  In the past they always want a Xray for a new patient.

Any help here.  Thanks.  In middle of getting rid of stuff.

What a job.

God Bless.  Rod and Georgia

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We go to our health insurance companie's website and do a search, which is not always an option for many.  Diane found a bunch of chiropractors recently that way, then she had to do some calling to narrow the choices.   Neither chiropractor she has found this way has needed an Xray.

 

A colleague of my daughter gave her the name of her physician here in Sacramento, with an excellent recommendation. She is at the UCDavis Med Center and took me on with no problems. She is comfortable with my traveling and showed me how to use their "MyChart" system to contact her while on the road, and to be able to see results of any tests I've had there. Since 3 of my children are in Sacramento I will undoubtedly be here often enough to appreciate having a regular doctor, and if I need a doctor while traveling it will be in my favor if I have a "regular". My oldest son is in NY and there are many excellent doctors and surgeons there, so I hope I'm covered on both coasts. Now to just stay healthy while going from one to the other! Also, I decided to use Costco for my prescriptions, and if I need a refill where there is no Costco I can simply transfer the Rx temporarily. Thanks for all the great information. Gypsy

Thanks Bill and Diane.  Good to know.  We are still about a year or more off from going on the road.  Will get with our Chiro and see if we can put her chart notes on a stick to carry with us.  Take care and thanks again.  R&G

Anyone had experiences with pain medication. Its much different than a prescription that can be called in.

Medications can be dispensed in 90 day intervals ......depending on your travel area you should be able to keep your own doctor but would have to return or get a referral.

most major chain drug stores will forward your script