Doctor Appointments

[andrewg]

How many of you have experienced having to always wait PAST your appointment time until you get called back into the exam room? I am absolutely FED UP with doctor offices doing this! Yesterday, my wife had a 2:15 appointment with her doctor. We had arrived, promptly, and even a little early. We both do this to make sure we never miss our appointment time, and because we are the type of people that are never late unless unforeseen circumstances occur. Upon arrival, the desk person says..."Oh, you're early". We said we knew that but would better be a bit early than late. Then, as our appointment time came and went.....I knew what we were in for. Fifteen minutes....twenty minutes....30 minutes.......then, FINALLY, 45 darn minutes later she gets called back!!! As I've not been with her before to this doctor she told me this ALWAYS happens here! I was very upset. I spoke very loudly so the desk people could here me and said that OUR time is just as important as the doctors and this was ridiculous! You know what though? I have found that no matter what doctor I go to, this is the norm! At least fifteen to twenty minutes past my appointment time IS normal. Why is this? The doctor offices sometimes warn you that if you miss your appointment time they will CHARGE you an office visit! Yet....they can make you wait WELL past your appointment time and think nothing of it! I'm darn tired of it!!!! Last year I was so ticked that I walked out of two appointments because they didn't see my at my scheduled time. I told the desk person that my time was important to me and that I can't sit around past my appointed time. They didn't care. Anybody else have this problem? Are doctors GODS or something? This needs to stop.

 

[Whipcitywrencher]

Used to happen to me all the time...Now I try and make my appointments early in the morning around 8am to 9am doesn't happen anymore...

 

[SZR48207]

I'm surprised you aren't just seeing a PA instead of a doc. Also the doctors can get delayed by drug rep meetings. Blame the pharmaceutical industry for some of it.

 

[millerbl00]

No excuse but doctors are swamped with patients. They over book because of insurance they sometimes only get paid very little or none at all. Just a broke medical system....

 

[jeepman3071]

 

[raytseng]

its not that the doctors are gods, they are getting behind schedule. They are getting behind schedule partially because some insurance or administrator has specified they should be seeing like 10patients per hour so should only slot 6mins per patient, for which they dont feel is enough time to properly practice medicine. If you put yourself in their shoes you can see why they seemingly don't care about being late when they're helping someone else who needs more thn the 6min cause they might be sicker. If you're well enough that you literally are walking out, obviously you are not that sick. They aren't really scrounging to get your 10 out of 10 on the customwr feedback form or to see you every 6mo for a service like a car dealership. If you were paying fully out of pocket for the cost of a doctor at concierge or private doctor that doesn't have to deal with insurance or hmo, I bet you will not have this issue. Don't hate the doctors, hate the game. Your option is to schedule your appointments first thing early in the morning before they get behind.

 

[AZjeff]

Have to ask, did you just notice this? I can remember my mother being unhappy about it 50 years ago. Gotta stop? Right. The problem with walking out mad is you've already invested that time in that appointment so you have to do it all over again. As you said it didn't bother the staff so what do you gain? Agree with early appointments. You get to be the one to start the back-up!

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: raytseng

its not that the doctors are gods, they are getting behind schedule. They are getting behind schedule partially because some insurance or administrator has specified they should be seeing like 10patients per hour so should only slot 6mins per patient, for whixh they dont feel is enough time to properly practice medicine. If you were paying fully out of pocket for the cost of a doctor at concierge or private doctor I bet you will not have this issue. Dont hate the doctors hate the game. Your option is to schedule your appointments first thing early in the morning before they get behind.

This. Our medical system is very out of whack. A family friend is a surgeon in Miami. He has recommended surgeries to patients that the insurance company has denied because of some book they have telling them what is needed. This usually results in said patient needing a more serious, invasive, and expensive surgery down the road.

 

[Malo83]

Originally Posted By: rollinpete

Used to happen to me all the time...Now I try and make my appointments early in the morning around 8am to 9am doesn't happen anymore...

Yup! always schedule for 8am, usually the first or second one in line.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Mostly it's due to overbooking and urgent care patients. I hate it.

 

[EdwardC]

Originally Posted By: rollinpete

Used to happen to me all the time...Now I try and make my appointments early in the morning around 8am to 9am doesn't happen anymore...

Yeah, I think it's become common for doctor's offices to get behind. I always try to book the first appointment available for the day, usually moves quicker that way. Some times I have to wait for the doctor to arrive!

 

[javacontour]

Ditto, Now the Dr can still be running late. But it's less likely that he will be getting behind on his patients if you are the first visit of his day.

Originally Posted By: rollinpete

Used to happen to me all the time...Now I try and make my appointments early in the morning around 8am to 9am doesn't happen anymore...

 

[opus1]

My PCP once was 40 minutes late for me and I was the first one of the day, so that's no guarantee. Although usually that works for me. My dentist, on the other hand, is like clockwork. Never had to wait past time even if I was an emergency at end-of-day.

 

[Alfred_B]

To make money, they have to make sure they overbook the day (to account for any last minute cancellations or no-shows). Also, they cannot spend too much time on a patient -- 3-4 minutes per patient is the ideal time to diagnose the problem and prescribe medication or refer to a specialist. If there were no shows, they would see 12-15 patients an hour. To account for no-shows, make it 16-17 appointments per hour. So by the end of the day, the delays are inevitable. Irritating to the patient but $$$ in the bank. ALSO -- patients are the least important factor in our healthcare industry.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071

Originally Posted By: raytseng

its not that the doctors are gods, they are getting behind schedule. They are getting behind schedule partially because some insurance or administrator has specified they should be seeing like 10patients per hour so should only slot 6mins per patient, for whixh they dont feel is enough time to properly practice medicine. If you were paying fully out of pocket for the cost of a doctor at concierge or private doctor I bet you will not have this issue. Dont hate the doctors hate the game. Your option is to schedule your appointments first thing early in the morning before they get behind.

This. Our medical system is very out of whack. A family friend is a surgeon in Miami. He has recommended surgeries to patients that the insurance company has denied because of some book they have telling them what is needed. This usually results in said patient needing a more serious, invasive, and expensive surgery down the road.

It's called Milliman Care Guidelines. It's there to reduce the cost of healthcare b preventing unnecessary procedures. I.e. denial of care to make sure the bottom line of the commercial insurers is not harmed. Down the road means it will be Medicare's problem, not theirs.

 

[Kestas]

I always prepare for visits by bringing reading material. That way I don't feel like my time is wasted. I understand they need to fit in the unscheduled sameday visits from people who develop fever - sometimes myself. My dentist too is always promptly ready for me.

 

[PimTac]

This has been going on since the beginning of time. People had to wait when the doctor was doing house calls with a horse and buggy.

 

[cjcride]

Originally Posted By: rollinpete

Used to happen to me all the time...Now I try and make my appointments early in the morning around 8am to 9am doesn't happen anymore...

Beat me to it.

 

[Leo99]

45 minutes isn't that bad from my experience. Over 60 minutes and I'm walking. I did flip out on my chiropractor years ago. Had only seen her a few times and we weren't really clicking. But I threw my back out and called her up. The office said they were closed but the Dr. could see me if I got there within 10 minutes. Sure, I live right down the street. I show up there and waited and waited. After 45 minutes I asked what was up. They told me there was another patient in front of me and the Dr. would be with me shortly. I asked them why they said I needed to be there within 10 minutes from when I called instead of an hour which was when they would be ready to see me. Then I left. My current chiropractor told me doctors over book so that the waiting room is crowded so it looks like a busier office. Kind of like an auto repair business with just a few cars out front compared to one with a lot of cars. The one with a lot of cars looks more popular and therefore better.

 

[555]

Don't forget that some patients may be very ill. If a doctor finds a serious condition on one patient then that throws the entire schedule off. Being the bearer of bad news takes more time. I took a friend to a doctor's appointment and the doc spent more than an hour with him for what seemed like something minor but ended up being something serious. Ya never know. I am not a doctor. The other posts are valid, I'm not arguing. Best to take good care of yourself and avoid having to go!