PM Check

Do you find that the St. jude representative is not allowed to tell you what they see on the report?

6 Comments

PM Check

by pacingdiva - 2014-11-07 06:11:26

I have a St. Jude Dual pacemaker and I never have a issue with them telling what they see. I get a full copy of the report for myself before I leave the office. They have been very open with me. I'm grateful for that. I just had my PM Check two weeks and the lady explain alot of this to me even the 22 Alerts it pick up.

depends

by Tracey_E - 2014-11-07 07:11:47

I've had the same SJM rep for 20 years, through 4 devices. I have his cell # and he's been to my house, so yes he's very open telling me what is in the report. I think it depends on the dr and the office policies. Honestly, most people don't even ask anything beyond "everything ok?" and "what's left on the battery?" so it's not often an issue. My dr is laid back. They have worked together forever and they both know I like to know how things work, no one gives me a hard time when I want information.

I Did

by Tinkergirl - 2014-11-07 09:11:23

ask questions today and I asked for a copy of my report. She gave me part of the report. She gave me the copy of what she did today and not the part of the report that tells you what the PM picked up on for the last 4 weeks. So I call my doctors office back and she stated my doctor will look over the report this weekend and call me if there are any issues. I told her what I wanted to know is how often I am pacing, she said my doctor is the one that needs to read it for me.

I just want some answers as the rep threw around the words AV Block(I had one while I was there today) and Pacemaker syndrome. So here I wait until next week..Also the changes she made make me feel the PM more now...

True

by Tinkergirl - 2014-11-08 04:11:40

I will have to do that. I see him again soon anyways and talk to him about it.

Ask Your Doctor

by Many Blessings - 2014-11-08 04:11:45

Hi,

My St. Jude tech tells me everything and gives me a copy of the full report as well. I'm not sure what your cardio doc's office protocol is, but you may want to ask. Maybe your doctor has a rule that the PM tech cannot give out certain information regarding what they find because your doctor wants to be able to explain it to you himself/herself, or because it would be considered giving out medical advice. I would call your doctor's office to see if there is a rule in place like that, and if so, if it would be possible for you to sign some sort of waiver or permission sheet so the PM tech can give you that information. It's worth a try.

Good luck.

Practicing medicine

by Theknotguy - 2014-11-08 11:11:30

You have to be careful about asking questions of techs where it might be considered "practicing medicine". Sounds funny but it's an area about which doctors get really sensitive. Even asking what you are pacing can be considered "practicing medicine" especially if your tech has been warned about that before.

I worked in a health plan. Had to go through the dance moves with the nurses at the health plan. So if I'd ask, "I have this problem..." They would have to answer, "You'll need to talk with a doctor." So I'd ask, "If you ran into this condition in a medical text book what would you answer?" One was practicing medicine the other was answering a theoretical question.

As stated before, you have a right to see your report. It's written into the law in quite a few States. So if they start getting huffy about it, you can start quoting law. If your EP / cardiologist's office doesn't want you to have your reports, I'd see about finding another EP/Cardiologist.

Oh, and every time they'd read my PM I'd go into afib the next day. Told my last tech that and he changed how they did the tests. So this last time I didn't go into afib. Got a good report too. If the tech won't change how they're doing the PM test, I'd raise the point with the EP/cardiologist. Once again, if they won't listen, I'd head out for another EP/cardiologist. We've got enough problems without them treating you like a slab of meat.

Hope things start going better for you soon.

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