It's official... I'm old and cranky.
 

A new patient comes in to my office today an hour late for a 45 minute appointment. She had two prior appointments that she failed to show up for. No call to cancel, just a no-show. The way I see it, this woman has already wasted more than two hours of my time.

If I agree to see her today, I will inconvenience my other patients.

Here's the three way conversation;

Receptionist: Mrs. Smith is an hour late. Will you be able to see her?
Me: No. I'm sorry.
Patient: What?! This is bull****! I have an APPOINTMENT!
Me: You HAD an appointment. It ended an hour ago.

Guess I'm a jerk.

get off my lawn!

Ma, where's my diaper? I keep forgettin' where I put it.

Moses, I hope you charged her for the missed appointment.

I've never charged for missed appointments. I just don't want to keep patients that are habitual no-shows. I'm pretty quick to dismiss them from the practice. If you charge for missed appointments, they just get angry and slander you in the community. Better to just cut them loose.

Also, my office runs ON TIME. I try to respect my patients time.

since she cost you 2hrs ...... if she came in at 1:00 , tell her you'll work her in @3:00, dunno, she probably would just start *****ing(at least you tried), no use second guessing a decision

You actually run on time? Wow!

j/k, actually my doc is pretty good that way, too. I love it.

That's refreshing. My opthamologist schedules patients, starting at 0800, knowing very well that he doesn't come in until 0900 to 0930 everyday. every time i've been there, they are at least 45-60 minutes late. the last time, i sent them a bill for my time. (i did it more or less as a joke) ...surprisingly their office lady called me up and asked what my hourly rate was. got a credit about a week later.

That would work if it was just one appointment. She would probably require many, many appointments and follow ups. Each appointment preceded by a few no-shows? No thanks.

You aren't old and cranky, just a smart businessman. You hacked her off and she'll never come back and that's good. People like that will continue to cost you time and money and scream about everything.

I hereby christen you...
 

Doc Curmudgeon:D

Just wondering..... what would the health care bill say about you turning her down... probably a fine or worse

I walked into a GPs office once less than 10 minuets late, I couldn't park in their lot. The office told me I would have to make another appointment a different day. I explained about their parking problem, it didn't matter. Since I had already taken the afternoon off to get there I was rude t them and found another doctor. Not the same as your case but I think this guy actually was a jerk.

Good for you.


Both for running your practice on time and firing that patient.
there is no reason for her to disrespect your time and your other patients.


I have had this conversation with my Doc's in the past, as when I was working my billing rate was most likely multiples of theirs (this is not a statement of my worth). I was told it was a function of our third party payer system. Health Care Reform again, only not the way the govt wants to do it. I lived and worked in Paris for a number of years and went to private doctors there and never waited, period. An appointment was at the time scheduled. If it can be done in France it could be done here.

My cardiologist's office runs like a clock and they call to confirm the day before. They say they'll charge for a no show but I missed 1 appt and never was charged.

I spend A LOT of time in dr's offices and usually have a wait of 45 min to 2 hrs.

I never charge for my loss time;) It should go both ways;)

If I am late, I'll call to let them know.

I get frequent flyer miles from my docs, so they know me in the office and I never have a problem, but I am always early to my appts unless the is some unforseen problem.

Your patient had no reason not to give your office the courtesy of a call and the repsect you deserve.

I dunno, I guess you could be a jerk, but I haven't seen evidence of that. I guess if you say so... ;)

Well, yes, you're old and cranky, but this instance has absolutely nothing to do with that. This is more about another member of the general public being a dumbazz.
:D

Being a person who is always 15 minutes early, I always try and schedule the crack of dawn appointments. I can't be bothered by a backed up schedule, because others don't think being punctual is important. You may be old, You may be cranky, but you are correct.

Mose...just curious...what procedure would take 45 minutes? I saw a DP and the most they saw me was for 20 mins or so.

God Bless You, Doc!
My doctor is the worst about his office time. Once, after being taken back to the exam room, I sat and fell asleep. It was about 4-hours later when I was discovered by the doc as he was about to lock up his office for the night.
He is a nice guy, to be sure, and I like him, but all that waiting around is killing me!

You handled it properly moses.

First visit always takes a while. Gotta go over the whole medical history before you even get started.