r/sandiego • u/lyradunord • 5h ago

Anyone else having issues with doctor's offices or labs or similar never picking up the phone or returning calls during business hours (mainly UCSD)? I feel like it's gotten dramatically worse in only 6mos but can't tell if it's actually worse or I'm doing something wrong

This is independent of dept or dr and seems to be across the board that it's near impossible to get through to any dept for any reason after their really long automated phone verification. Every time I'm waiting for 15mins on hold to either be hung up on or forced to leave a voicemail that's never returned. I'm a shift worker with a chaotic schedule so maybe I just notice this more because I don't have a work schedule where I can easily call daily and constantly at different times, but i swear it hasn't always been this bad.

Anyone have this issue and have a workaround (this is everything from appointment scheduling to just calling abkut records never being released to billing to scheduling a blood draw)? Or if there is none outside of leaving ucsd for care (which I've tried and also ran into 6mos of their medical records dept not sending my own records) has anyone else noticed similar and can commiserate or has any tea on what on earth happened that made calling ucsd such a nightmare?

* I've noticed similar issues with 2 non-ucsd drs and suddenly using automated phone screening systems for all calls, so that's why part of me wonders if this is less ucsd and more of a widespread issue of automated phone systems being used lately, where jumping ship won't necessarily help.

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6

u/DoesTheOctopusCare 4h ago

Literally was on hold with UCSD while reading this and then the system hung up on me lol

It's been terrible lately. I hate their super long automated verification system. I have no advice, just commiseration.

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u/lyradunord 53m ago

yes this is what I'm describing. Every time I call these days (or close to it) it takes a half hour or more to get through the automated often pointless AI questions, and then just being on hold in a way that it's clear all numbers go to one line and not individual offices (if I'm wrong then it just makes things even crazier). But most calls I go through the endless song and dance and then after being on hold forever just get hung up on. Sometimes, like today, I'm lucky* and can leave a voicemail but usually the call just ends and something just seems really really wrong.

Not new to healthcare at all like others mentioned, but given how sudden this was I just want to know if all their numbers online are out of date (all of them is insane) or there's some new number of way of doing things that their site and help desks neglect to mention...or if just everything's going to AI and enshittified.

* I have 2 doctors outside of UCSD with the same issue starting as of January of this year. Both are private practice and in California and it's much more obvious that they switched to an automated AI voicemail/verfication system...so I know what's going on there, but they also get back to me quickly once I get through to voicemail because it's a private practice, whereas with UCSD it's a black hole and maybe??the same thing happening??

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u/DoesTheOctopusCare 36m ago

It has definitely gotten worse in the last few months. I think the automated system is really screwing things up. I've had folks try to transfer me to the right number and it just hangs up or crashes.
I don't think I've ever had anyone at UCSD actually call me back after I left a voicemail, and the automated "press 2 to get a callback" thing has only ever worked once for me.

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u/Sparklespanx 4h ago

I know Perlman Clinics have their own issues, but I’ve never had any issues communicating with them. I visit their Alvarado location and it’s been an easy experience every single time. If Perlman is an option, I highly recommend them.

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u/lyradunord 51m ago

none of my specliasts or non-dr numbers I've had to call are Perlman clinic, and not sure if that's an option (of course isn't for medical records or random labs) but I'll look into it.

I have 2 doctors who aren't UCSD but private practice who also switched to some blatantly AI phone serviced this year that's a nightmare to not get hung up on by or get to voicemail...but less of an issue because once I do get to voicemail they call back quickly (no giant bureaucracy). But that's what made me wonder if UCSD is similar where the automated system is just a black hole and all numbers go to the same place.

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u/Turbohog 4h ago

Been like this for decades. Welcome to healthcare.

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u/lyradunord 58m ago

not new to this at all - I have a rarer chronic health issue so very very used to it always being some degree of awful and bureaucratic, but specifically for *any* call it seems things (mainly at UCSD) seems to have gotten significantly worse in 6mos.

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u/Suckbag_McGillicuddy 3h ago

I never try calling on a Monday - because everyone else is trying to

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u/lyradunord 49m ago

makes sense. Just coincidental I posted today because it's my one day off this week - but most of the calls I've made this year aren't on Mondays and all end with being hung up on, voicemail that's never returned, or some general operator who doesn't seem to actually work in the dept called (this is only the case with medical records who I've found out are outsourced across the country to some 3rd party and just an absolute nightmare to deal with).

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u/Suckbag_McGillicuddy 45m ago

Yeah, UCSD medical records and ROI process is bad.

I just download records from mychart and print them out when I need to provide copies to other doctors.

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u/BetterNowThks 51m ago

That and when they finally answer, they say, "Doctor's office." that's so lame. Say the name of the doctor for heaven's sake. Oh and they take an hour and a half lunch in the middle of the day and shut everything down? Come ON.

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u/lyradunord 45m ago

Agreed, commiserating, but kind of nailing why I felt the need to ask what feels like such a bizarre question. It feels like all numbers are one number and it's an automated screening one, and if you're not hung up on after waiting forever or put on voicemail to never be returned it seems like the rare people who do pick up are....like general operators for the entire institution and completely inept at their jobs (or honestly...often feels like they're outsourced intl phone banks, which is terrifying in terms of security if that were the case).

I know for a fact (took 6mos to find out) that medical records at UCSD, at least for psychiatry but possibly for radiology, is outsourced to an east coast third party that full on doesn't do their job, and if you come at them with dates of requests and call times to say "hey it's been 6mos of getting denied my own medical records, which is illegal" you get hung up on. I only even found out that the medical records default number leads to nothing and no one a few weeks ago when I called the dept and magically got through to someone...who was brand new and maybe didn't know yet not to tell me there's a different number for records to call. It's all so shady and bricked.

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u/BetterNowThks 42m ago

you need to tell someone that UCSD because I guarantee that they don't want it to get out that somebody they subcontracted with isn't doing what they paid them to do.