Audrey L.

Because I have family members with chronic health conditions I've been going to Doctors and Hospitals with them for the last twelve years. For myself I wanted a clinic that is close to home, has staff that listens to my concerns and orders the tests and prescribes the medication that is covered by my insurance.
My first visit to the BJC Healthcare clinic in Cuba, MO was about a year ago after a hospital stay. I hate talking on the phone so I send a message (on a Friday early afternoon) explaining my situation and asking for an appointment sometime during the next week. Nothing was super urgent. Within an hour I received a phonecall from a Nurse stating that they were somewhat concerned and could I come in right away. I could and I did. This clinic is Covid compliant and I was ask to wear a mask. The chairs are either placed six feet apart or every other chair is taped off, so patients waiting can maintain social distancing. All staff wears masks.
After filling out some paperwork (the first question after my name asked for my preferred name, my gender and my pronouns) I was escorted to an exam room. A nurse took my vitals, checked my medications and within several minutes I was talking to a Nurse Practitioner. She spend almost an hour taking my health history and talking about current concerns. She ordered some tests, prescribed some new medication and send me on my way. She did ask that I call either the clinic or 911 immediately if my symptoms worsen.
I was barely home ( it's about a ten minute drive), when I received a follow up call from the clinic asking for my availability for the tests and telling me that the prescriptions had been phoned in to my pharmacy and would be available for pick up or delivery right away.
I have since been back several times and the service has been just as great. They are super fast to respond either by phone or by message through the online portal. They explain why they order certain tests or prescribe medications and are quick to change a medication if there are side effects.
Because the clinic is small they do not run certain tests such as MRIs or X-rays. For that I have to drive 17 miles to a Hospital that is also operated by the BJC group. Staff there are equally as responsive as in the clinic and I usually have test results the same or the next day as well as receiving a call from the clinic staff (who gets my results at the same time) explaining abnormal results and next steps or telling me everything is as it should be.
I've also been an inpatient in the Hospital and felt more like a guest in a fancy hotel. When I mentioned to a Nurse on the night shift that I would like to get some sleep instead of being woken up every two hours for pills, vital signs and the like, she coordinated everything to be done at the same time which meant I was left alone for six hours, which made for a good night's sleep.
I've also had a sleep study done at the Hospital the sleep lab is set up like a Hotel room with a comfy bed, bedside table and lamp, a chair for my support person that folds in to a bed and a generously sized bathroom with a walk in shower.
The only thing that is a bit of a drawback is that they don't have a cardiac cath lab. For that I have to drive over 60 miles one way.

My husband has been a member of United Healthcare for quite a few years. We've never had a problem with them paying our medical bills and they offer additional services such as goody boxes for Christmas.
At the beginning of last year he was advised that he was eligible to switch from the Silver Plan to a Dual Complete plan because he has both Medicare and Medicaid. This would not only give him the benefit of a lower deductible but would also make him eligible for the U-card. This card comes pre-loaded with a certain amount of money that can be spend on OTC products and healthy foods. He is also eligible for cash rewards (they get loaded on the U-card) for things like a diabetic eye exam, colonoscopy and other health check ups.
In order to take advantage of all the benefits United Healthcare offers I frequently have to log onto the website to either try to get information or provide info to the insurance. And that's where the problem begins. Logging in is hit or miss most times. Sometimes it takes the log in info and sometimes...not so much. Once past that hurdle it should be easy to navigate. Nope! First question asks if he has a Medicare plan, a plan through an employer or another plan. A lot of people really don't know where their plan originates, so they might be shut down before they ever get to any of the information they are looking for.
Because my husband qualifies for a free Gym membership I tried to get the information he needs to present to the Gym staff. I couldn't find it under the Benefits tab or the Wellness tab or the Health tab. I eventually came across it by clicking on every tab and I'm still not sure how I eventually found it. That alone took a half hour.
Can I get information such as the balance left on the U-card once I'm logged in to the United Healthcare site? Of course not! That involves logging in to a completely different site with a completely different password. I'm also still trying to find which tests/exams are eligible for a reward. I spent two days of several hours each and finally resorted to calling. That also took about two hours and I talked to six different people. Still don't have all the information but it's a start. And hey, I'm retired and have nothing else to do. NOT!
Today I tried to find out if he is eligible for certain benefits specific to our state. I eventually found the listing of the different States by clicking the hamburger menu on the top left of the page. I clicked on it and was presented with a list of letters of the alphabet. The only problem is that this is all that's there. There are no names of States, just the letter of the alphabet my State begins with. Clicking on it does nothing, neither does hitting the enter key. I tried five times because I'm stubborn but I've finally given up.
I have since learned that if I have a problem that needs an answer fairly quickly I will navigate to the United Healthcare facebook page an leave a message in the messenger app. Very seldom did someone not get back to me right away and give me the answer I am looking for.