Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Modern society is not so great

We have a new copier/fax/scanner at work. It makes great copies. It is a lousy fax machine. We therapists do most of our own faxing and I nearly lost it today. I spent my second day trying to fax out an authorization for treatment- I tried a total number of 6 times, and I cannot get it to go through.

I asked the receptionist to call the company and see if we have the right fax number- but I think maybe I was taking out my frustration on her- I suspect we have the right fax number. But what else is there to do? Put it in the mail, I suppose.

I think our old fax machine would try multiple times if it got a busy signal or such- this machine won't. And so many of my faxes just don't go through. Not just once, but repeatedly.

Anyway, I now have two patients I am trying to fax out authorizations for and I can't get them out- I just left anyway because I had physical therapy. What am I supposed to do? How many times am I supposed to try in a day? I left my eval from today for the receptionist to fax out. Maybe she will have better luck.

I am not the only one having difficulty- but I think that I do more evaluations than anyone else, so I encounter more than my share of the problem. And today I just started feeling so anxious and irritable while dealing with it. I thought it would get better after leaving work- but I couldn't let it go. I took a quarter milligram of klonopin, eventually. I think it helped.

Maybe  I need a new job. Maybe I need a place with better office support. Or at least a better fax machine.

It is the fax machine on top of paperwork on top of the new Medicare codes etc. All the things that take the joy out of being an occupational therapist. That take the joy out of life.

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