So, I spent a good chunk of my afternoon trying to figure out stuff about this particular Physician Assistant, Dan Williams. It wasn’t for anything too serious, mind you, just needed to check if he was the guy someone recommended for a specific thing I’m dealing with.
First off, I did the usual thing. Went online, punched ‘Dan Williams PA’ into the search engine. You know how it is. You get a mix of everything. Some profiles on those doctor rating sites, maybe a mention on a hospital page that looked ten years old. Nothing really concrete, like where he actually works now or if he’s even taking new patients.
It got kinda frustrating fast. I tried variations, like adding the city name, the state abbreviation ‘PA’ just in case it meant Pennsylvania, though I was pretty sure it stood for Physician Assistant in context. Still, mostly dead ends or conflicting information. You’d think in this day and age, finding a healthcare provider’s current practice would be straightforward, right? Nope.
Hitting the Phones
After clicking around uselessly for like half an hour, I decided to actually call someone. Found a number for a major clinic network where his name popped up once. Got the automated menu, pressed zero hoping for a human. Finally got someone.
- Me: “Hi, I’m trying to find out if Dan Williams, the PA, works at any of your locations?”
- Them: “Do you have his specific clinic location?”
- Me: “No, that’s what I’m trying to find out.”
- Them: “Let me check the directory… Williams… we have several doctors named Williams. Was he a doctor or a PA?”
- Me: “A PA. Physician Assistant.”
- Them: “Hmm, I’m not seeing a PA by that name listed right here. He might be affiliated but not directly employed, or maybe works in a specific department…”
You get the picture. It was a total runaround. Felt like nobody actually knew anything. It seriously reminded me of the time I tried to sort out a billing error on my car insurance. Hours on hold, transferred between departments, everyone saying it wasn’t their problem. Sometimes these big systems just feel designed to wear you down.
What Happened in the End
Honestly, after that phone call, I just kinda gave up on finding this specific Dan Williams PA. It wasn’t worth the headache. Maybe the person who recommended him got the name slightly wrong, or maybe he moved, or retired, who knows. The information trail just went cold.
I ended up just asking my primary care doc for a referral instead. Way easier. Took five minutes. But it still bugs me, you know? Why does finding basic information sometimes feel like pulling teeth? You try to be proactive about your health, track down a recommended person, and the system itself makes it a pain. Just seems backward.
So yeah, that was my adventure trying to find Dan Williams, PA. Didn’t exactly pan out. Just another day wrestling with information systems, I guess.
