alt.home.repair added, because they have opinions about everything!

About email in general, not Eudora.

When you write to someone at his personal email address but one that
ends in a corporate domain, in this case two medical practices with 75
and more than 150 doctors respectively, what are the odds that email to
hir will a) be read as a matter of course by the network administrator
or worse yet, his medical supervisor, b) be scanned by software looking
for key words the management would wants to pursue (by reading more
emails, reviewing it with the doctor, asking why he's getting a
complaint, etc.) words like you SOB, screwed up, failed, unnecessary,
mistake, error, malpractice, and 200 others, c) be read by someone in
management whenever he had a notion to do so (like maybe someone else
had complained about the doctor and they want to see how many people
have grievances they haven't told the "management" about, or maybe
someone has a beef with one of the doctors and is looking for an excuse
to hurt him, d) any other level of company scrutiny, or e) are such
emails sometimes, usually, always actually private, between patient and
doctor.


Background: The first doctor fresh out of residency didn't ask me
enough questions and inconvenienced me, worried me, and took 10 or 20
hours of my time doing more research for 2 years, when if she'd only
asked one more question or told me one big side effect of the drug she
prescribed, I would have done things in a different order and saved all
that trouble. I read serious articles on the web about the drug before
starting to take it, but the fact that this side effect is thought to
never go away, even after you stop taking the drug, was not mentioned in
the articles. When I asked her a year later, she knew about that
though, but she tried to palm the question off on the dentist.

I'm annoyed and I want to tell her so she doesn't make the same mistake
again (though I suspect my GP who's in the same practice already told
her) but once warned, I doubt she'll ever do it again and I don't want
to get her in trouble with her practice. So I want her to be the only
one to read the email. I had planned to call her office and try to get
a truly private email, until I realized there were two such situations,
maybe 3, and I can also imagine reluctance from a secretary or even the
doctor to give out a personal email so i wanted some guide as to how
hard to push for one, or if it's not needed at all. I've considered
writing a real letter, you know, USPS, but that's a recipe for never
getting it done. It takes me quite a bit of time to write the email
correctly.

I have no complaint about the second one, but his practice has caused me
grief on 3 other occasions and on a continuing basis every time I need
any anesthesia for a procedure -- they insist someone bring me, stay
there the whole time, and take me home, about 5 hours. They won't let
the person leave and come back and won't let a taxi take me home.
I've considered having a taxi-driver pose as my friend, but then it's
about $180 iirc. I've found another very reputable practice that also
won't permit a taxi but just calls my ride when they're done and has him
come get me. 1 hour on his part, not 5. (30 minutes to get me, 30
minutes to take me home) I fully intend to explain to the doctor
while I'm likely changing doctors, but I'm not ready to tell the
practice yet. He can tell them if he wants.

There's a 3rd, come to think of it. Because of continued back pain, I
went to an orthopedist and it wasn't until after an MRI and at the end
of the second appointment before he said how much my being fat causes
this problem, and that was only after I brought it up. I knew weight
mattered but I didn't realize how much. (and after that I lost 20
pounds and half the pain went away and the half left isn't of the same
nature. It's not as bad.) I guess he didn't want to offend me, but I
know I'm fat and I know it's no secret to anyone who can see me. But
again, I don't want the practice to read my complaint.

(As to details for the first two cases, they're not a secret but I'm
trying to be brief.