Spokane Internal Medicine

Really, ZERO stars is more appropriate. I am a retired advanced-practice nurse, recently moved to the Spokane area. I called to establish care at Spokane Internal Medicine. It took them 5 days to call me back, and the first question was what insurance I have (I have full coverage so I advanced to question 2). The second was whether I have ever been in a pain management program (code words- "are you a drug seeker?"). I do not take any pain meds, so on to #3. This next one floored me: "Do you have fibromyalgia?" to which I said, yes, I had been diagnosed with it many years ago. The scheduler instantly read from her script: "Unfortunately you are not in our scope of practice and we can't see you." Wait, what? I told her I wasn't seeking care for fibromyalgia, and would see a rheumatologist if ever I needed medical management for FMS, I was seeking a primary care provider, but her discriminatory script had no other response than to say I was not in their scope of practice and they wouldn't see me. That's like saying a patient's cardiac condition isn't in their scope of practice and they won't see me. It makes no sense- if a doctor feels a conditon is outside their scope of practice, they refer a patient to a specialist for that condition. It's standard practice, so something is fishy here. Apparently, SIM has decided a patient with fibromyalgia syndrome (or chronic pain- the question I passed) fits some hidden profile and they are using these questions to discriminate. I wonder what the next questions would have been. Perhaps a history of mental health treatment? In addition, the SIM doctors are sadly outdated in making their value judgements about patients with fibromyalgia or chronic pain conditions, which speaks volumes about how antiquated SIM medical care is. These providers would do well to consult the Arthritis Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, or the Centers for Disease Control, maybe even go to a conference to update their knowledge base. There is a wealth of information and research about fibromyalgia syndrome and the neuropathology of chronic pain disorders. Perhaps if they knew more, they would feel comfortable accepting patients with these common conditions into their practice. I'm afraid, though, that the real issues aren't the disorders, but the use of the diagnoses to discriminate. Shameful. Avoid this place if you want a doctor who cares