Dr. Appointment rant.

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JOhnH

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I know all the reasons and excuses doctors have for being late to an appointment. I have used most of them myself in my veterinary hospital at times.

But here I sit getting annoyed and can feel my blood pressure going up while waiting for my doctor to take my blood pressure.

It is a great day for flying and my wife is waiting for me at the airport. But she has another appointment in a few hours and I am already almost an hour late. And I haven’t even seen the nurse yet.
 
JOhnH said:
I know all the reasons and excuses doctors have for being late to an appointment. I have used most of them myself in my veterinary hospital at times.

But here I sit getting annoyed and can feel my blood pressure going up while waiting for my doctor to take my blood pressure.

It is a great day for flying and my wife is waiting for me at the airport. But she has another appointment in a few hours and I am already almost an hour late. And I haven’t even seen the nurse yet.
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Go see @Shepherd ’s AME. Apparently the nurse makes waiting worthwhile.
 
I used to get this way, until I was at an appointment for my daughter at Children's in Boston. I waited 2 hours for the doc with a grumpy 5 week old. He finally got to us, apologized, checked out my daughter, said she needed an MRI, let's go. He walked us to the MRI department, told them she needed an MRI, said he wanted so and so as a tech, and sat their for the MRI, diagnosing the issue on the spot. He spent almost two hours with us and ultimately cured the issue, that's when I stopped complaining about waiting for a doc, he had no idea what was coming in but we had his sole focus until he had done all he could do for us at that appointment. This stuff doesn't fit into neat little time slots, this guy took the tough cases, which my daughter's issue was.

Fast forward 20 years, mom is in the hospital after collapse on Thanksgiving. She needs an EP study done and they can't release her until it is done. The following Monday we are getting jerked around, because of the holiday that just ended, get appointment in 4 days. Mom has dementia, and is acting up in the hospital. I go to her cardiologist office, ask to speak to him, the office staff tells me I need an appt., he hears, comes out, asks what the problem is, brings me into his office, spends 45 minutes on the phone and gets her in that afternoon. I thank him and ask how I can repay him, he says that's not necessary, but asked me if I would be willing to tell his patients why he is late. They were all fuming in the waiting room because he is running very late now. I go into the waiting room, tell the patients I was the reason the doc was late, not to take it out on him, he just helped with me with my elderly mom. They all just looked at me and I got out of there, lol.

I don't ***** at doctors for being late any more.
 
My blood pressure was up a bit, so the Dr put me in a dark room to relax for a while. After quite a while I got up and walked out into the hall. Everybody had gone home and the office was locked up!!
 
If you're still sitting there an hour after your appointment time, I'd start looking for a different doctor's office.

I'm not a doctor, just a CT tech. But, I see outpatients on the weekends, in addition to emergency room patients and inpatients. We are the only level 1 trauma center in 4 states. So, it gets quite busy. And, its quite a challenge to manage an outpatient schedule when Dr. X and Dr. Y are both breathing down my neck about their "STAT" post-op ankle CT, and the ER has just toned-out an imminent "Stroke Code" arrival, and your current outpatient is a 120 lbs 40 year old HIV+ Patient with a history of IV drug use, terrible venous access and needs an IV contrast study.

Yet, let me be 10 minutes late getting that outpatient on the table, and/or not make the door-to-table goal time for the "Stroke Code", and I'll be called on the carpet next week.
 
JOhnH said:
I know all the reasons and excuses doctors have for being late to an appointment. I have used most of them myself in my veterinary hospital at times.

But here I sit getting annoyed and can feel my blood pressure going up while waiting for my doctor to take my blood pressure.

It is a great day for flying and my wife is waiting for me at the airport. But she has another appointment in a few hours and I am already almost an hour late. And I haven’t even seen the nurse yet.
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It's because all the young doctors now try to work only part-time ;-)
 
There's simply no excuse for it. No, the doctor won't have any idea how long each case will take - I get that part and understand it. But I'm 53 years old and have never, ever, not once, ever had a doctor be on time for my appointment. And how hard would it be to let people know they're running an hour behind, 2 hours behind? They simply don't care.

Several years ago I had to take my daughter to the mediquick clinic. We signed in and there may have been 1 or 2 others there. It was 4 hours before she could be seen. I was livid and posted about it on facebook. The clinic got snotty in their response to my post and said the doctor had an unexpected delay with one of the other patients in front of us. My response: SO TELL ME! There was no reason to have us sit there that long with no idea of how much longer it would be.
 
I only get upset when I have an appointment and then find out I had to wait because the doctor was double booked. I try to be the first appointment of the day, but it is sometimes hard when I have to drive 3 hours for a doctor appointment.

A friend of mine, his dad was a doctor, and he did mostly emergency room. I remember him telling us how he would make patients wait intentionally. Also he would make patients wait for pain medication just because he did not like their attitude. I never did see him for anything.
 
I found that the best way not to have to wait to see your doctor is to go to one that no one else goes to.
 
There isn’t, but should be, a prohibition in the Hippocratic Oath against double booking, IMHO.
 
wrbix said:
There isn’t, but should be, a prohibition in the Hippocratic Oath against double booking, IMHO.
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Wife and I have that argument regularly (I'm mostly in agreement with your statement... She's a doctor who ends up double booked).

There are some valid reasons that it happens, similar to the valid, but no less frustrating, reasons it happens on flights, etc. Only in the case of doctor's, toss in some "greater good" reasoning.
 
SaltH2OHokie said:
Wife and I have that argument regularly (I'm mostly in agreement with your statement... She's a doctor who ends up double booked).

There are some valid reasons that it happens, similar to the valid, but no less frustrating, reasons it happens on flights, etc. Only in the case of doctor's, toss in some "greater good" reasoning.
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To be fair, in cases where double booking is necessary the physician should give each patient a 50% discount.
 
We can not double book her but then the next appointment we have for you is in March.

Attorneys and accountants are never double booked. The customers just pay what their time is worth.
 
weilke said:
We can not double book her but then the next appointment we have for you is in March.
.
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If that is, indeed, the case then the practice needs to hire more providers. Never an easy decision, but patient care should prevail.
Been there, done that.
 
Around here it is literally a seller's market.
Sometimes people will wait for 3 to 5 hours in the waiting room to see the Dr.
That is the only way they can get what they want.
I saw an acquaintance hoofing it into the mountains, away from the hospital last week (25mi from the hospital to his house. Found out later he was in a bed with an IV catheter, waiting half the day for a procedure. No one told him what the delay was and he got impatient - so he ripped the catheter out and fumed out of the hospital! If you want the care, ya gotta be patient here!
 
As long as it’s nkt crazy late or they are screwing up my other engagements I could care less, if it becomes a habit I’d let them know you’ll be showing up 15 min late for all further appointments
 
Can’t win. People complain because doctors won’t spend enough time during an exam, then complain when they are not taken on time.
 
Clip4 said:
Can’t win. People complain because doctors won’t spend enough time during an exam, then complain when they are not taken on time.
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What point are you trying to make? Seems like both people think the doctors should schedule more time with each patient thereby ensuring that you get in on time and get enough time with the doc.
 
I’m frankly shocked at the folks who seem to judge & convict on a single instance. If it’s a constant thing, sure, but waiting once? Really? There are so many legitimate reasons for a Dr to be detained. I agree that telling folks as soon as you can is helpful.
 
So, after all of this, who should get paid $200,000 a year: the airline pilot that got you to San Diego on time, or the doctor that made you wait 1:15, then discovered your thyroid cancer?
 
jsstevens said:
I’m frankly shocked at the folks who seem to judge & convict on a single instance. If it’s a constant thing, sure, but waiting once? Really? There are so many legitimate reasons for a Dr to be detained. I agree that telling folks as soon as you can is helpful.
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Yeah. I can probably count on one hand the number of times in my life that I’ve had to wait what I thought was an unreasonable amount of time on my doctor(s). Mostly they do a great job. But I seem to have more realistic expectations than others do.

Kenny Phillips said:
So, after all of this, who should get paid $200,000 a year: the airline pilot that got you to San Diego on time, or the doctor that made you wait 1:15, then discovered your thyroid cancer?
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I’ve had far more flights not be on time than I have doctors not get to me on time. Also, I’ve only had a couple of doctors cancel on me and it was always for good reason and they always gave me sufficient notice and rescheduling was a breeze. Airlines? They suck by comparison. But it is an apples and oranges type of thing. And you can’t really credit or blame the pilot for on time performance. It’s the overall system that deserves the blame or credit.
 
At my Doctor's office things seem to work better if I schedule with the PA or NP at the office for minor stuff... Its like a 3 month wait to get scheduled with the Primary but I can usually see either of the other 2 the same day I make the appointment...The wait is never more than 5-10 minutes after the nurse takes vitals, I can deal with that.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
So, after all of this, who should get paid $200,000 a year: the airline pilot that got you to San Diego on time, or the doctor that made you wait 1:15, then discovered your thyroid cancer?
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The weather is great in San Diego, and I don’t want cancer. Pilot wins!
 
My worst story was the time I was supposed to have a physical in the morning, and a job interview in the afternoon. The physical was delayed and I was concerned about making the interview. I thought my blood pressure would be up, but it wasn't. I got the offer, but didn't take it.

I've been excessively late for appointments, and had to wait a long time to get in, but that was my fault.

One time when I was between jobs I had a dental appointment. I guess they thought my time wasn't worth anything because I waited there an hour. After an hour, I told them I had better things to do with my time than wait forever for an appointment and left. I rescheduled, and I've never had to wait much since.
 
Being late is annoying, but having to sit in the “little room“ for what seems like forever is ridiculous.

Just let me sit in the “somewhat comfortable“ waiting room until the doctor is ready for me.

And give me updates as to how long it will be so I can make a decision as to whether I want to wait.
 
jsstevens said:
I’m frankly shocked at the folks who seem to judge & convict on a single instance. If it’s a constant thing, sure, but waiting once? Really? There are so many legitimate reasons for a Dr to be detained. I agree that telling folks as soon as you can is helpful.
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And therein lies the crux of the problem. If it were an occasional thing, or a majority of the time, I would be more understanding.

But it is ALL THE DAMN TIME! Every damn time.
And you can't just go to another doctor unless you change insurance companies. Or pay the exorbitant insurance premiums, then pay another "out of network" doctor even more.

I used to own a veterinary practice. If we made people wait, we always explained WHY they were waiting, we apologized and gave them an option to reschedule. In either case, we often gave them some sort of discount, and occasionally completely free exams.

And in the case of double booking, it is not the second person you book that you need to apologize to (as much). It is all the other patients that are delayed because the doctor or staff decided to double book. If they tell me they will squeeze me in, then I don't mind waiting. But if I make an appointment for 9:00, then at least occasionally, I expect to be seen by 9:15.

On the flip side, they offer 10 minute back to back appointments. I can't control that. But I have never (rarely) been with the doctor less than 10 minutes. He talks too much and gives me a lot of attention, once he sees me. But they should book longer appointments. Yesterday, he found out I was running late to the airport, and he found that interesting and we wound up talking about V-Tail "doctor killers" for an extra few minutes while others in the waiting room were looking at their watches.

Funny thing is; RDs (Real Doctors) made some of the best clients in our veterinary practice. They respected our veterinary doctors knowledge. Human nurses on the other hand, made the WORST clients. They always thought they knew more than our doctors and were absolutely cruel to our technicians, who usually had a wider range of knowledge and skill than human nurses (with regards to animals).
 
JOhnH said:
And you can't just go to another doctor unless you change insurance companies. Or pay the exorbitant insurance premiums, then pay another "out of network" doctor even more.
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Pay for better insurance. I work for the insurance company, but I dont buy our product. So I pay for a blue Cross 80/20 plan and like magic everyone is happy to see me or my kids.

I used to own a veterinary practice. If we made people wait, we always explained WHY they were waiting, we apologized and gave them an option to reschedule. In either case, we often gave them some sort of discount, and occasionally completely free exams.
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You can do that because you are not regulated by CMS on the minimum you have to charge for your services.
 
weilke said:
Pay for better insurance. I work for the insurance company, but I dont buy our product. So I pay for a blue Cross 80/20 plan and like magic everyone is happy to see me or my kids.
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They are all competing under the same rules. Finding one insurance company that is better than another is not as easy as it sounds. I certainly never chose and insurance plan because it was cheapest.

You can do that because you are not regulated by CMS on the minimum you have to charge for your services.
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That is true. It is also true that we gave better customer service because our clients could easily walk out the door and go to another practice. In fact they would almost always save money by doing that because we were expensive. We justified our fees by our quality (both medical and customer service).
 
I have two family members that are doctors, both surgeons.. so I feel like I have *some* license to vent.. but man, I agree with you. Doctors get away with so much crap that you would never be able to do in any other industry. They have the ultimate captive market.. because, well, you'll die without them.. so they get to be arrogant, overpaid, obnoxious, etc. Really, I have very little positive to say. If anyone is going to get credit in the medical field it's going to be the researchers, chemists, and engineers designing the drugs, equipment, procedures, etc. But the doctor who reads the manual, spends 20 minutes with you, and cashes in $500K+ per year... F 'em
 
JOhnH said:
They are all competing under the same rules. Finding one insurance company that is better than another is not as easy as it sounds. I certainly never chose and insurance plan because it was cheapest.
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The rates they pay their providers and the degree to which they torture them with random denials and unreasonable records requests are not regulated.

That is true. It is also true that we gave better customer service because our clients could easily walk out the door and go to another practice. In fact they would almost always save money by doing that because we were expensive. We justified our fees by our quality (both medical and customer service).
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And that is how it should be. If you don't like the rushed cookie-cutter service at the $99/visit clinic you should be able to go to the $180/visit internist who guarantees you 25 minutes of facetime at that price. Customers understand the value of their Vet because they are asked to pay a reasonable fee for a good service. They are not under the assumption that somehow the great payor in the sky will cover their bill and they only find out two months later when the EOB arrives how much or little it actually costs.
You have the healthcare Congress mandated for you. Want to fix the service problem in healthcare, have Congress fix how it is being paid for.
 
I used to get upset,then I started taking the first appointment,in the morning. If traffic is bad then both the doctor and I will probably be late.
 
JOhnH said:
And therein lies the crux of the problem. If it were an occasional thing, or a majority of the time, I would be more understanding.

But it is ALL THE DAMN TIME! Every damn time.
And you can't just go to another doctor unless you change insurance companies. Or pay the exorbitant insurance premiums, then pay another "out of network" doctor even more.

I used to own a veterinary practice. If we made people wait, we always explained WHY they were waiting, we apologized and gave them an option to reschedule. In either case, we often gave them some sort of discount, and occasionally completely free exams.

And in the case of double booking, it is not the second person you book that you need to apologize to (as much). It is all the other patients that are delayed because the doctor or staff decided to double book. If they tell me they will squeeze me in, then I don't mind waiting. But if I make an appointment for 9:00, then at least occasionally, I expect to be seen by 9:15.

On the flip side, they offer 10 minute back to back appointments. I can't control that. But I have never (rarely) been with the doctor less than 10 minutes. He talks too much and gives me a lot of attention, once he sees me. But they should book longer appointments. Yesterday, he found out I was running late to the airport, and he found that interesting and we wound up talking about V-Tail "doctor killers" for an extra few minutes while others in the waiting room were looking at their watches.

Funny thing is; RDs (Real Doctors) made some of the best clients in our veterinary practice. They respected our veterinary doctors knowledge. Human nurses on the other hand, made the WORST clients. They always thought they knew more than our doctors and were absolutely cruel to our technicians, who usually had a wider range of knowledge and skill than human nurses (with regards to animals).
Click to expand...

"Veterinarians are Doctors who work on more than one species." Or so says the shirt I've seen at the vet school at Washington State University (where my dad taught for 30 years, a long time ago).
 
Ghery said:
"Veterinarians are Doctors who work on more than one species." Or so says the shirt I've seen at the vet school at Washington State University (where my dad taught for 30 years, a long time ago).
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I used to use that line all the time, until my wife and I opened a cat-only veterinary practice, and she became board certified in feline medicine. Now that she is a "feline specialist" she only sees one species, and is proud of it. (yes, we sold our practice and I am retired, but she still works part time; Part time is a great option for someone that has established themselves).
 
I have the staff call me and let me know if he is running late and what time to get there. I had a doc that had a habit of scheduling patients at 8:30 and would walk through the front door at 10:00. That to me is inexcusable.
 
My GP owns/runs the walk in clinic I use. No appointments, first come, first served, period. 3 pm cutoff, lock the doors. I like it that way because I know for sure I can see him any day I want, although it may require a wait. I rarely wait more than a half hour once you figure out what days/times are best. Hint, don't go on a monday morning!
 
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