Dr. Appointment Wait Time?

[capnjim]

30 minutes!! You poor thing. You should come to Canada with our awesome healthcare. The usual wait when I have an appointment is 2-3 hours. In a clinic, its usually 8 hours minimum.
In emergency, it can easily be 12 plus hours.
I broke my leg a few years back, and I wasn't seen for 24 hours.

 

[shadowtippy]

Yes ... how (self)important you must be!

I am important to myself. You may not feel the same way about me. I would be very surprised if the NP was dealing with a patient with imminent life threatening problems. This is a family practice type office. Any patients with such diagnosed problems would be referred to a specialist.

 

[hondo4life]

30 minutes!! You poor thing. You should come to Canada with our awesome healthcare. The usual wait when I have an appointment is 2-3 hours. In a clinic, its usually 8 hours minimum.
In emergency, it can easily be 12 plus hours.
I broke my leg a few years back, and I wasn't seen for 24 hours.

That's worse than the VA here! Speaking of that, I am at the bar getting a drink before my 2:00 VA appointment. I don't know how else to cope.

 

[fingerguy]

Is tardiness acceptable for every appointment and/or reservation or just in the medical profession?

I found some doctors just are tardy all the time. There is one doctor if you go see him you are guaranteed no matter what you are there for: 3hrs minimum. I stopped going to him for that very reason.

So the point is, if you don't like it, go elsewhere.

But note for other reasons there are valid reasons why they are late. For instance, my fiance has to deal with 4 patients at a time, give out meds, do her routines, rounds, emergency calls, help people to the bathroom, charting, etc. So if she is late on this and that, now you have a better ideas as to why.

 

[shadowtippy]

I found some doctors just are tardy all the time. There is one doctor if you go see him you are guaranteed no matter what you are there for: 3hrs minimum. I stopped going to him for that very reason.

So the point is, if you don't like it, go elsewhere.

But note for other reasons there are valid reasons why they are late. For instance, my fiance has to deal with 4 patients at a time, give out meds, do her routines, rounds, emergency calls, help people to the bathroom, charting, etc. So if she is late on this and that, now you can feel a one of many reasons why.

I like the doctor and the NP, so I am trying not to go elsewhere. The doc sometimes runs late because he has medical students observing and learning. Those visit times almost double because everything is done twice. I can deal with something like that. My last experience concerned a 2:30 appointment. The first appointment after lunch is 1:30. One hour after lunch, they were running more than 30 minutes behind. No students were involved.

 

[fingerguy]

I like the doctor and the NP, so I am trying not to go elsewhere. The doc sometimes runs late because he has medical students observing and learning. Those visit times almost double because everything is done twice. I can deal with something like that. My last experience concerned a 2:30 appointment. The first appointment after lunch is 1:30. One hour after lunch, they were running more than 30 minutes behind. No students were involved.

Again many possible reasons. You can try asking but most times they won't tell you the truth whether it's HIPAA and/or it puts them in a bad light.

 

[MJ5150]

..... I do A LOT of service calls at medical offices.

What kind of service calls?

-Mike

 

[fingerguy]

What kind of service calls?

-Mike

All IT. But if you are there long enough and often enough you see a lot of stuff. Stuff I want to forget but can't. Don't ask!

 

[shadowtippy]

All IT. But if you are there long enough and often enough you see a lot of stuff. Stuff I want to forget but can't. Don't ask!

Saying "Don't ask" means we have to ask. What kind of things?

 

[fingerguy]

Saying "Don't ask" means we have to ask. What kind of things?

The main office is Urology. Do you really want to know?

I also been to:
Primary Care Physicians,
TONS of dental offices
Mental Institution
Retirement homes
Hospitals,
Weird brain stuff that was kind of weird I must say
Psychologists, and so on.

 

[MJ5150]

All IT. But if you are there long enough and often enough you see a lot of stuff. Stuff I want to forget but can't. Don't ask!

Right on. I work in healthcare IT as well.

-Mike

 

[RustyAxe]

But note for other reasons there are valid reasons why they are late. For instance, my fiance has to deal with 4 patients at a time, give out meds, do her routines, rounds, emergency calls, help people to the bathroom, charting, etc. So if she is late on this and that, now you have a better ideas as to why.

Ah ... but the OP just doesn't care.

 

[charlie monroe]

Keep in mind that 100 years ago, these people would've been putting leeches on you.

These days they apply them directly to your wallet.

Oh, the irony.

 

[shadowtippy]

Ah ... but the OP just doesn't care.

I seem to have managed to urinate in your breakfast cereal by wondering if others thought that a doctor's office should be run like any other business. (It is a business.) That was not my intention. I am not totally without compassion for others.
Would I have come across as being so cold and heartless if I had complained that my hair stylist was overbooked and couldn't cut my hair at the scheduled time?
Would it be wrong of me to expect a band to be on time and ready to play at the time we had both agreed on?

 

[guy n. cognito]

They're probably in the back room, laughing about you waiting for no reason. I'd assume that most medical people are sociopathic pill-poppers.

They make you wait for an hour because it amuses them. Then they spend a whole five minutes with you, say "uh-huh" a few times, then had you a prescription for antibiotics.

Keep in mind that 100 years ago, these people would've been putting leeches on you.

Is it heavy....that chip on your shoulder??

 

[fingerguy]

I seem to have managed to urinate in your breakfast cereal by wondering if others thought that a doctor's office should be run like any other business. (It is a business.) That was not my intention. I am not totally without compassion for others.
Would I have come across as being so cold and heartless if I had complained that my hair stylist was overbooked and couldn't cut my hair at the scheduled time?
Would it be wrong of me to expect a band to be on time and ready to play at the time we had both agreed on?

I used to go to a hairstylist till she was always 1hr late from our scheduled appointment. To me that was ridiculous. Now I just get it buzzed/faded by a barber.

But medical offices I am a bit more lenient about it. However, there are times I have said this is getting a bit ridiculous but haven't done it that much either. But as I am getting older the medical visits have increased significantly.

 

[Mvilmany]

Is it heavy....that chip on your shoulder??

LOL! No, I actually get along very well with my medical service providers. I hear horror stories from people who work in the medical fields about all kinds of behavior that they observe.

I would guess that people who either want to easily obtain drugs or stick sharp objects into other people would be naturally drawn to medical professions.

What actually does freak me out, is the side effects of pharmaceuticals, and how the FDA could be lobbied (bribed) to allow horrific medications to be distributed.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Expecting medical offices to be 100% accurate at predicting the amount of time that will be spent on each and every patient is not reasonable.

Mental health practitioners seeing patients with psychiatric issues, possibly depressed or even suicidal. Should those patients be allotted exactly 15 minutes and then be ushered out because your appointment is much more important?

Should a regular GP trying to correctly diagnose some odd but potentially serious problem just give up after the allotted 15 minutes?

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[hondo4life]

Expecting medical offices to be 100% accurate at predicting the amount of time that will be spent on each and every patient is not reasonable.

Mental health practitioners seeing patients with psychiatric issues, possibly depressed or even suicidal. Should those patients be allotted exactly 15 minutes and then be ushered out because your appointment is much more important?

Should a regular GP trying to correctly diagnose some odd but potentially serious problem just give up after the allotted 15 minutes?

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Treeage? All you need to do is count the rings.

 

[shadowtippy]

Expecting medical offices to be 100% accurate at predicting the amount of time that will be spent on each and every patient is not reasonable.

Mental health practitioners seeing patients with psychiatric issues, possibly depressed or even suicidal. Should those patients be allotted exactly 15 minutes and then be ushered out because your appointment is much more important?

Should a regular GP trying to correctly diagnose some odd but potentially serious problem just give up after the allotted 15 minutes?

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I can appreciate the fact that medical practitioners don't give up and rush their patients out after their allotted 15 minutes if they are having trouble with a diagnosis. I do have a problem with over scheduling of patients. When a person has been doing their job, whatever it is, for years, shouldn't they have some reasonable estimate of the time it takes. I know that the unexpected happens, but most instances will be relatively routine.