One of Those Things About Living in California

I had my doctor's appointment on Monday for my back. He wrote me a prescription for three weeks of physical therapy at three sessions per week.

I called the physical therapy group to set my appointment today. The woman said, "Okay, you'll be meeting with Dr. Hoodahay tomorrow at 1:30."

"Okay. And this Dr. Hoodahay does the physical therapy?"

"No, he makes the determination if you need physical therapy." Wait a second here.

"But...I thought the doctor that referred me already made that determination." There was a long pause. "Why am I seeing a second doctor?"

"Well, he makes the determination."

"But what was the point of the first doctor," I asked.

This time, another long pause. "He was an actor."

"What?"

"An actor. He wasn't a real doctor. He only makes referrals."

"But why?"

The woman asked if I was new to Southern California, and I said I was (relatively). She put me on hold and connected me to a woman who I assumed was her supervisor. "A lot of the medical professionals you meet are actors," she explained. "In California, there are a lot of out-of-work actors, but a shortage of doctors. To reduce waits for doctors and to improve medical care, a lot of offices started hiring actors to take the place of the doctors. These actors see you, make a very general diagnosis, and then, if necessary they make a referral."

This seemed odd to me. "But my insurance company sent me to this doctor!" I said. "They told me to go and he'd fix my back."

"The insurance companies pay for these actors. It costs far less to compensate actors than to pay actual doctors. And everyone's happy--less out of work actors, less waiting for our valued customers."

I guess it made enough sense at this point. I thought about it. As I thought about it, that x-ray machine did seem to resemble a xerox machine a little too much. "Oh...So 1:30 tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Buh-bye."