A Doctor's visit to try one's patience....

[TexasMom]

You know one of those.. Where you take your kid to the doctor for strep and the doc is an hour to an hour and a half behind and your kid isn't on meds because he's sick and the gameboy isn't working anymore....

[Amsmom]

UGHHH!!! Yes, I do know how horrible those kind of days are!! My ds8 would put up quite a fit and make lots of noise, running through the halls, etc. If it's any consolation at least it was a pediatrician's office and they should be used to it!! At least it wasn't a store or a movie theatre!!! If the dr made you wait that long, then they get what they deserve with your kid's behavior!!

[camismom]

I know them all too well! My dd's ped is ALWAYS behind. We have NEVER had a wait less than AT LEAST an hour. He's a great doc so I've always put up with it though. I think the worst thing is that when they are little, they are all running around trading germs as they are all sick, and who knows what else the little one is catching while there?

[Linda]

I know this sounds alful...but just the thought of a little kid running around in the office and touching everything germy grosses me out!

To this day when we leave the office...we scrub our hands when we get home!

[Jorgy]

I work in a clinic and I know this is sooo frustating! The truth is that drs run behind because of several reasons. The most common is spending more time than allowed on pts that actually need the time. Unfortunantly that puts everyone behind. The best thing to do if your dr is chronically late then call ahead and see how far behind he/ she is. Then you can gauge what time to get there. Also try to schedule the first appt in the AM or the first appt after lunch. Usually they are ontime except if there is an emergency that calls them away. Hope this helps, Sue

[Honeysmom]

I hated that too, but I have a remedy for it. Our doc used to do that to us also, so first I let Honey wander around as he wanted to, and then they asked us to stay in the exam room. So on our next visit we showed up 45 minutes late and demanded to be seen. We haven't waited more than 10 minutes since. ;D

[swmom]

Texasmom -

I read your post and in my head I cried out, "Oh God!!!"
I've been there.

I had to wait 2 hours once for a doctor, not with child in tow thank God. My appt. was at 2. I got called back at 4, only to sit in an exam room for another 15 minutes. He came in, didn't apologize, did the exam(took 5 mins.), said he needed to do a test, took me to another room, I sat there for another fifteen. Boiling, I got up, walked to the nurse's station and said, "I'm sorry, it is now almost 5 o'clock. My appt. was at 2. I have to leave to go home. The doctor suddenly appeared and said it'll only take another few minutes. I wanted to slug the guy but instead I said in the nicest voice I could muster because I wanted him to feel like he'd ruined my day which he had, "My appt. was at 2. It is now 5. Had I been seen at 2 or close to it, there would've been plenty time for that test, don't you agree? Now there isn't." And I left. I went home and wrote a scathing letter to the managing doctor of the practice. He wrote me back and sincerely apologized. Unfortunately, all that did no good at all. I had to go back a few months later for a followup appt. When I checked in, I told the receptionist, I will wait 15 minutes and no longer. 15 minutes came, no nurse in sight so I left. I will never go back to that doctor. Well managed practices don't keep their patients waiting longer than 15 minutes at the most. If they do, I'd wonder about their quality of medical care as well. That's why I'll never go back.

It seems ridiculous to me that hospitals and doctor's offices invest millions of dollars in sophisticated marketing and advertising campaigns to improve their image and draw new patients. The number one marketing tool for a medical practice is word of mouth, and referrals, which don't cost a dime! Did your buddy have a good experience there? Then, he'll tell you about it and you'll call and make an appointment.
Treat your patients and their schedules with respect and you'll have a thriving practice.

Sorry for the long post, but this a real pet peeve of mine.

[dansmommy]

I know it's really frustrating. I used to have a great doctor who quit his practice. He was always behind because he took the time to talk to people and I think the stress of seeing so many people in such a short time took its toll on him. I try to think what I'd feel like if I had a complex problem and the doctor wouldn't take the time I needed because he had to stay on schedule. Christie

[swmom]

dansmommy -

It is great when doctors take the time to talk to you about anything that's on your mind and at the same time not make you feel rushed.

However, I believe there's a way to manage a doctor's office and accomplish two things - allow the patient time to ask whatever and keep the patients on schedule, give or take 15 minutes or so. Some doctor's offices are managed well and some clearly are not. I used to have an ob-gyn who, if my appt. was 2, got me in at 2, on the nose. An ob-gyn! It's because he had a well-managed office. Perhaps they planned on the unexpected somehow. Who knows? But I always loved going there because I knew he'd never keep me waiting and I appreciated that so much. He's respected his patients.

[TexasMom]

My doctor's office is usually well managed, but that particular day was just an off one and he did appoligize. Plus he did see us into the lunch hour, they were trying to make up the time. I must admit, I didn't feel too bad about the torn paper table cover that covered the floor.... ;D

[Jorgy]

sw, unfortunaltly alot of docs work out of HMO's not thier own office. The HMO dictates how much time the dr can spend with the patient and how many they should see in a day. Some things can be scheduled for longer periods but the problem comes in when pts don't tell the scheduler that they need extra time or a lot of peds docs see everyone that needs to be seen in a day. Some kids get sick and have to be seen. Then there are the days that the doc is on call. If there are no residents at the hospital to handle emergencys and unexpected admissions the on call doc has to do this too. His nurse is the one that should keep tps udated to what is going on and give the pt the option of waiting, seeing someone else or rescheduling. I tis great when you don't have to wait but if you do be thankful YOU are not the one that needs extra care that day. Sue

[rosyred45]

With all the complaining my husband does, you'd think he was a woman...and he doesn't do the doctor thing unless I really need him to.

We go through a group practice. We have a PPO insurance, so we pretty much have a pick of who we want. And since my husband had worked up at this factory when Tara was a baby, we have always gone there. They have their own little emergency room type thing. So if there is an accident with someone from one of the plants that are in the industrial park, that takes tops, obviously. And hubby has been the recipient of one of those times.

We don't NEED an appointment, but if we have one, it takes first fiddle to those walk ins. I absolutely love it. The longest we ever waited was about 45 minutes because some guy was arguing over his insurance and it took the Doc to explain it too him. The ladies at the desk, God bless them tried every angle to get it through to him and he wasn't listening to them.

Oh well, sorry for your troubles at docs. My kids sit and read the magazines. Mikey has developed an interest in golf this way, so he reads the golf digests ;D And they actually amaze the other patients because they'll read to them too ;D

Off to get my "shy" children to school
I might sound like a big meany, but my kids have never ran around an office, and I have held them kicking and screaming....that has gotten us in sooner sometimes

Kaiti

[BBW4EVR1]

The best part about waiting in the Doc's office is after you have sat there for 45 minutes, the first thing they want to do is weigh you-then they take your blood pressure and have the nerve to comment on high your blood pressure is! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[swmom]

A few weeks ago, I had some kind of respitory infection and so I called the doctor's office to speak to a nurse.
Could not get through. I stayed on hold for 10 minutes. I finally hung up and tried again half an hour later. STILL couldn't get through. Had to go to work, feeling really awful. I tried to call the doctor's office AGAIN the next morning, STILL couldn't get through. Had to go to work, feeling even worse. That night, I called the after hours number and spoke to the answering service. She said she'd have the doctor on call, CALL me. That call never came. The next morning, I called the doctor's office and asked to speak to the office manager. They put me through to her voice mail. I left a message detailing the events of the last few days. ALL I WAS TRYING TO DO WAS DETERMINE IF I NEEDED TO BE SEEN!!!!! GEEZ.... Within a half an hour, a nurse called me and asked if there was anything she do. She determined that I needed come in. I went in, the nurse took me back to the waiting room. I waited in there for about 25 minutes. A nurse came and handed me a survey about customer service. The questions read,
"Was I pleased with the service I was getting from their practice?" "Was it easy to reach them by phone?" "Did I feel comfortable with the care Iwas receiving?" The nurse said the doctor would be "after awhile." I said,
"I've got 5 more minutes." Suddenly, the doctor appeared. Never apologized for keeping me waiting.
I had a right to be furious. I repeat: Well-managed doctor's offices don't operate like this. I have to say that after a few days, that office manager called me and asked me to recount the series of steps I had to go through to get what I needed during those few days. She apologized and said there was no excuse for all that and that they were trying to re-evaluate their phone system, wait time for patients, etc. I was impressed by that. For the first time, I felt like they CARED about what their patients are having to go through and they're trying to make it better.

Jorgy - I can appreciate the difficulty that doctors face operating under the limitations of HMOs but my OB-GYN had to deal with that. Somehow, he made it work.
Eventually, he stopped practicing medicine. He said he was tired of the HMOs telling him how to practice medicine. So, clearly he was affected. But he never
let his patients suffer the consequences of what the HMOs were requiring of him.

[rosyred45]

That's a shame about the OB getting out of it because of the insurance stuff.

He was probably a darn good one too!
Kaiti