Get better trained staff that know how to treat their patients. The nurse practitioner, Maya Kirim, who is located at the Advocate Health Clinic in Palos Hills, IL told me that there was no such thing as a test for flu or flu antibodies/antigens. Actually, there is a such thing as a test for flu virus, and I received one at Walgreens for only $20, and was able to use this to prove that I was sick with the virus in order to return to work. While I paid a $60 co-pay at your clinic in order to get a return-to-work-authorization/doctor's note (which I technically never received) for being absent from work for nearly 2 weeks because of the flu, and this NP tells me that she doesn't believe that I was sick and cannot write me a note because she has no valid proof. I told her to test me for the flu virus, and she told me that there is no such thing. Maybe she needs to be retrained on: 1. bedside manner towards her patients and 2. how to test for flu virus (BECAUSE THERE IS A TEST IN EXISTENCE). She asked me why I waited so long to see a doctor, and I told her that I did not have the money to go to an urgent care clinic (it is a $200 bill that I cannot afford due to being out of work for so long because I was sick, DUH!), so I purchased OTC medications to treat myself, but I was told by my job that I would need a doctor's note anyway to return back to work after calling off for so many consecutive days in a row. So either way, I still ended up having to use my insurance and spend money in the end. Then, she tells me that there was no possible way that I could have been sick for 2 weeks and not seen a healthcare professional for treatment. So I guess you're not allowed to stay home and treat yourself if you're sick??? After wasting $60 and basically being called a liar to my face, I went home and did some research and found out that I could have saved a lot of time and money by just going to Walgreens and getting the flu test done there in the first place. Maybe next time I should just ask to see a real doctor instead of a nurse practitioner, because this one obviously doesn't have the slightest idea how to treat patients.
Palos Hills 7620 111th Internal Med