Dr appointments!?

[mikester]

So...why is it that I can never get the time I want? Even if I plan ahead - I can never get the time I want. I asked why I could never get the time I wanted and it's always the same thing - we don't plan that far ahead or we just don't have it available.

It's frustrating as heck and then every time I do get the time I want I know I'll get a call rescheduling it?

Why is it that most places of business work around the consumer's schedule but not Dr.s...they have whatever hours suits them...

All I want is to get in the first part of the morning or the last part of the afternoon. I've got to work for these benefits you know...

Rant complete...

[Moses]

Originally posted by mikester
So...why is it that I can never get the time I want? Even if I plan ahead - I can never get the time I want.

This is a technique we reserve for our most annoying patients.

[A Quiet Boom]

Or why is it that the doctors, who charge exoribtant rates, always expect you to wait for them as if your time isn't important. I got sick of waiting for my doctor after several monthley visits. The next month I gace him a invoice. It was for time spent waiting at the rate in which my company bills my time. He got the point but then explained how some patients can take longere than others. My response was simple and three years later he still adheres to it. I told him that my appointment is always near the end of the day, have one of his assistants call me a half hour before my appointment and let me know how late the doctor is running, I will arrive promptly at that time. I now walk in and within minutes sit down to see him which must aggravate some of the other clients who arrive early. It's not my fault they are stupid.

[pwd72s]

Would somebody in the Bay Area please invite Moses to dinner? When he arrives at the suggested time, place him in the most uncomfortable chair in your living room. Seat him between two crying, sniffling and sneezing kids with snot dripping from their noses. Hand him a year old copy of Time, and tell him you'll be with him shortly. Poke your head back into the living room after 45 minutes or so, tell him "any minute now"....Oh, don't forget to pipe in elevator music...played through 30 year old drive in movie speakers...

[cbeers]

Only if he brings the laughing gas


-Chris

[mikester]

I got nothing against moses - I'm sure all his patients get good appointment times that work well with his golf schedule.

[Moses]

Originally posted by pwd72s
Would somebody in the Bay Area please invite Moses to dinner? When he arrives at the suggested time, place him in the most uncomfortable chair in your living room. Seat him between two crying, sniffling and sneezing kids with snot dripping from their noses. Hand him a year old copy of Time, and tell him you'll be with him shortly. Poke your head back into the living room after 45 miuntes or so, tell him "any minute now"....Oh, don't forget to pipe in elevator music...played through 30 year old drive in movie speakers...

I love it!

Actually, I track appointment times carefully. Being on-time is easy. I never double-book appointments. If a patient has an unexpectedly complex problem (cancer, needs surgery) I don't hesitate to tell them, "I don't want to rush this, we will need more time. Can you come back again at the end of the day?" No one has ever minded the return trip. They get more of my time and we are not hurried.

If a patient waits more than 15 minutes, they get a sincere apology. I'm kind of compulsive about timeliness and never show up late.

I don't do these things because I'm a good guy, I do it because I run a small business. Patients can go anywhere for their care. I don't want to lose patients due to lack of respect for their time.

When I have an unexpected emergency in the operating room during office hours, I reschedule everybody. I don't want to come back from the OR with a waiting room full of patients I've kept waiting and now I have to see them double-time. Not for me, thanks. Too much stress.

I fired my dentist after he kept me waiting more than 30 minutes after my scheduled appointment (the second time). Life's too short for that crap.

[mikester]

I did the same with my Dr - who incedentally is also my Wife's Dr. She gets leaps and bounds better treatment than I do. I've been in the room when she's being seen and it's a 100% difference. For me she was always late (4 chances) for the wife she is always on time and always ready to talk to her even on the phone but for me she won't take a call and wouldn't even talk to me about the recent problem I had regarding a billing error. Very frustrating so I'm in the market for a replacement.

[Adam]

LOL @ Paul! My father recently fired his doctor after the doctor asked him during an appointment "You're not a diabetic... er, are you??".

I changed doctors after my doctor mis-diagnosed my pneumonia, and couldn't seem able to put three stitches in my leg without enlarging the wound, which then required 7 stitches at my local hospital... There are some great doctors out there (like my new guy), but like everything, there's some real crud out there doing business, too.

[Rot 911]

One nice thing about a small town is the doctors tend to treat you well knowing they will probably be seeing you around town, at the kid's ball games, etc.

[cstreit]

pwd and Moses, thanks for a good laugh...

I do find it highly annoying that I have NEVER been to a Doctors appointment where I actually got to see the Doctor at the scheduled time.

[84porsche]

I second the good laughs. I actually haven't been to the docs in 3-4 years but then again I haven't gotten really sick. Dentist and Eye Doctor on the other hand on a six-month/annual basis.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

The one that pissed me off most was when I scheduled an appointment with the doctor and got seen by the "physician's assistant"...who was a brainless turd with no comprehension of or experience with my problem.

[Moses]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
The one that pissed me off most was when I scheduled an appointment with the doctor and got seen by the "physician's assistant"...who was a brainless turd with no comprehension of or experience with my problem.

You should have paid your bill with a sack of aluminum cans. "Well, no. It's not exactly cash, but he's not exactly a doctor.

[cstreit]

Moses, you DA MAN!

[campbellcj]

Welcome to the world of insurance-run health care. Generally speaking, if you don't like waiting or being rushed in and out of the exam room with barely a chance to open your mouth and ask a question, find a cash practice and bend over.

My wife was repeatedly "threatened" with reprimand or possibly even termination by her former employer -- a gargantuan HMO & hospital mgmt. corp. -- if she spent more than "X" minutes with each patient on average, made patients wait more than "Y" minutes, or did not see at least "Z" patients per hour. Yet, paradoxically, any patient could complain about X, Y, or Z and she would be nailed anyway.

[RickM]

I can't stand waiting at the docs either. (Well, I don't like waiting for anyone. My time is just as valuable as theirs.)

Problem is some doctors are great at medicine and lousy at running a business.

[mikester]

Hey, my time is valuable too but I understand that some patients take longer than others. I can accept that and I don't mind waiting a few minutes over it but I think my limit might be about 20 minutes including waiting in the waiting room and the exam room. When it was taking an hour for her to see me and I would spend 20 minutes in the waiting room and then 40 minutes in the exam room (regularly checking with the nurse so that they didn't forget me) I was done with it.

Really I think it is a case that she doesn't like treating men or maybe it's just me. My wife gets in right away and I see women get in and out with her while I'm still waiting. So - I gave up. She's an extremely good Dr. when she sees me and very good to my wife but I am afraid that my $$$ have to go to someone else who is not only a good Dr. but treats a patient's time with respect.

[dhoward]

50% of all the doctors out there finished in the bottom half of their class.
Lean it. Live it.

[mattdavis11]

My Doc is a quack. Let's not get into the years past. Recently, I went in to get a tetanus shot, no appt. needed. I call ahead of time and tell them I'll be there in 15 minutes. After waiting for 35 mins. someone finally comes to the front desk and asks if I have an appointment. I say no, I need a shot. "Of what?" Me:

Two minutes later I get my shot, and I go to pay.

"Insurance?" Do you have an ace showing? "What?" What ever is faster for you. I'll pay cash.
I fear that the paper work might show I was in for an operation or something. Finding a Doctors office that would give me a shot was even more time consuming. They want criminal history, driving records, credit reports, all your dirty diapers from child hood, any one night stands?, who with?, to perform allegy test, spinal taps, anal probes, etc... It never ends. So I always resort to the same ole song and dance. Thank goodness I only go once every 3 or 4 years. I'll let the past be just that. At least he likes to fish, or maybe it's just that he likes being around the ducks.