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| - DOT Physical - - Don't waste your time or money! I've used this facility several times in the past, and haven't had any problems until this year. What normally would happen was they would send out a doctor who may or may not have a whiff of alcohol about their person, they'd go through the motions and I'd be on my way with my renewed physical in hand. Not this time! The doctor on duty this evening came in with an attitude, perhaps angry that he had graduated so low in his class that the only job he could get was at a piss-test mill in Las Vegas. Or perhaps upset that the Concentra dress code didn't allow him to wear his favorite national headgear, who knows!
The first indication of a problem was that they pegged my blood pressure one point over the maximum, so that I would only be eligible for a one-year card, instead of a two-year. I've since found out that Concentra doesn't even follow the guidelines for blood pressure testing (blood pressure cuff must be level with heart), so it's no wonder they pegged me as high! Then, after the completing the rest of the physical, the doctor demanded a letter releasing me for full-duty work, based on my answering a question on the form about recent surgeries with a 'yes' (I had had a surgery at the VA hospital in Reno). He insisted that I to hand-carry it in, NOT mail it, even though I explained that I lived 200 miles north of Las Vegas and that would be a major inconvenience.
I called the Veteran's Affairs Hospital in Reno, they mailed a release on their official US Department of Veteran's Affairs stationery, electonically signed. After hand-carrying the document to Concentra, they were too busy to see me, saying that they had patients who had been waiting four hours, so I gave them my cell phone number and got a room. The next morning, after NOT hearing from them, I called and they told me that the doctor had left and hadn't reviewed the release. Over the next two weeks I repeatedly called the clinic, spoke with their local director of operations, who assured me that it would get taken care of even if she had to have a different doctor review the paperwork. The issue, it seemed, was that the doctor refused to accept the form because it had been "electronically signed" (I guess he's never signed a credit card statement, or even gotten a driver's license, all electronically signed) instead of with a pen. Finally, with the expiration of my last DOT physical looming and no resolution in sight (I had even called the VA in Reno, they assured me that they had never had any problems with an electonically signed version, but that they would try and get another paper from the surgeon), I went instead to the new Minute Clinic in CVS Pharmacy (now THREE trips to Las Vegas, 1200 miles), where they accepted the form without batting an eye. Furthermore, it's questionable that the release form is even required!
Total price to get my DOT physical renewed:
Concentra: $70.50
Driving, using the IRS rate of $0.23 per mile, $276
Hotel room: $32.50
Re-do @ CVS Minute Clinic: $109
Aggravation: HUGE!!!
Grand Total: $488
Oh, and by the way, my new CVS physical is good for TWO years, due to their stress-free manner, my blood pressure was well within normal limits!
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