Doctor's Hours

[sccanesfan]

I had an appt. on Thur. and I guess its still bothering me, so I decided to share/vent here.

I am currently under the care of a neurologist due to stroke. I drive approximately 30+ miles to see him. I have heard that he is one of the best in the area so that many people travel from all around the area to see him.

To get to my point, I had a 12:45 appt., I didn't leave until 4:50. Now I understand there are emergencies on occasion, but every time I've had an appt, with him I am there for 2 - 3 hours every time.

If my opinion counted I would rather have a 5 or 6pm appt instead of sitting at his office all afternoon while I could be doing other things instead.

But like I said this is just me. IMHO

What does everyone think about this?

[LostTexan]

That sucks, it annoys me that doctors are always running late. The pediatrician I went to when I was younger was very popular and always ran on time and expected you to do the same. He was known to pull a parent aside if they were late and explain that he made sure he was always on time for seeing his patients and that if they were late again that they were going to have to find a new doctor. Which is really the way it should be, I mean I know the doctors time is valuable but so is the patients.

All that being said I hope you are doing well.

[SC06]

This has happened to me so many times. It is ridiculous. Now I make it a point to get appointments as early as possible, even if it means I have to wait longer to see the doctor. That way they can't get too far off schedule before I get in. So far I have had no problems when I schedule them early in the morning.

[run-that-way]

Well, would you want the doctor to rush through other patients so as to be on time with you, then look at his/her watch at the allotted 7 minutes for your appt and say "well then, time's up!" and walk out the door so that no other patients are made to wait?

This is a sore subject with me because I don't know a single doctor that deliberately gets behind on their schedule, it is because insurance forces the doc to book more appts than can reasonable be handled and because good doctors take their time with every patient, even if it screws up their schedule for the rest of the day.

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I'm not saying it accounts for every time your doctor is running late but, they do get called away for hospital admits or to take emergency pages, etc. Very few doctors only have the patients in their office to worry about....and no specialist does. I mean, you want your doctor available if you're admitted to the hospital, right?

But the bigger problem is that so many insurance companies reimburse them so little that they have to cram as many appointments in as they possibly can and don't account for emergencies in their scheduling.

Vote for reglulation of the insurance industry and healthcare reform and maybe it will help.

[Canesluver]

I do the get-the-earliest-possible-appointment thing. That seems to help. (and -- as a side note-- I generally try to fly early-in-the-day, too. Doing both of those things tends to lesson the likelihood of delays).

[Shattered]

Yes, and if you can't get the first appointment, get the first one after lunch.

[corylav]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WeHG-8rfqKM
:laugh:

[sccanesfan]

95% of the time I get the first appt which is at 10:15) even then I'm still there forever it seems. When I arrive there are about 10 people that have the same appt time. I understand insurance issues and everything else that means doctors have to see so many patients per day. My suggestion is if you start seeing patients at 10:15 then why not have later hours. He has every Friday off as well. I would just prefer having a 6pm appt and actually not sit there for 4+ hours. Either way, I am not interested in changing doctors so I'm stuck with what I've got. I just wanted to vent somewhere and my daughter doesn't care. This was the next best place.

[Canesluver]

If his office hours start at 10:15, you can bet s/he's done an hour or more of rounds at the hospital, or maybe even a surgery, prior to that. Doctors don't have evening appointments for a reason.

Do you live in the Triangle? If you're that unhappy with customer service, find another doctor. We're very lucky to live in this area, because there are LOTS of good doctors here. Maybe you need to go doctor shopping.

[caneshockeychick]

sccanesfan lives in SC, and not in the Columbia/Clemson area.

Her choices are somewhat limited unfortunately.

As a single mother, this day particularly bothered her because she made the appt with enough time so that she would be home when her daughter got off the bus and it turned out, she had to find someone to take care of her daughter after school, something she did not anticipate, while she was still in the waiting room.

[alison]

I do the get-the-earliest-possible-appointment thing. That seems to help. (and -- as a side note-- I generally try to fly early-in-the-day, too. Doing both of those things tends to lesson the likelihood of delays).

Ditto on that - I always try to get the first appointment of the day for any doctor's appt. (and dentist, too, for that matter).

[SouthernHockeyChick]

If his office hours start at 10:15, you can bet s/he's done an hour or more of rounds at the hospital, or maybe even a surgery, prior to that. Doctors don't have evening appointments for a reason.


He probably spends his Friday day "off" doing surgeries as well.

I really do sympathize but, seriously, doctors do not work bankers hours, as much as their office hours might lead you to believe so. And I am freaking LOATHE to defend MDs on anything, present company excluded of course.:lol:

[caneshockeychick]

I remember years ago I a cyst under my arm and it had broken open. I called the Dr to get an appt and they had one at 4. I left work early, got to the office and sat there until 5:30 they called me into a room. About 1/2 hour later I put my shirt back on, and walked out. There was my Dr. He hadn't even realized I was there. Said he'd take a look. Told him sorry, I had a hockey game to go to. I'd call back later. :D

And yes, I did eventually get it looked at but not by my Dr.

[JaroFan]

The only time I've ever waited that long is at my OB. You can seriously wait hours there and it's so boring! However, at my general practicioner or my son's pediatrician we've not waited more than 20 minutes. They are really good too about making sure people don't show up with more than 2 issues to discuss. And if you need a consultation (sleep issues, behavior, etc), you have to tell them and they book a longer appointment.