quote:

Originally posted by GWbiker:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I would have walked right out and found another doctor, that's bullshit.

+1.

Yeah, except finding a doctor that you like isn’t easy. Establishing trust takes time, so does the process of the doctor getting to know you and what your baseline looks like.

We moved many times during my career. Finding a doctor and dentist that you trust is (IMO) one of the worse things about moving.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

Yeah, except finding a doctor that you like isn’t easy. Establishing trust takes time, so does the process of the doctor getting to know you and what your baseline looks like.

We moved many times during my career. Finding a doctor and dentist that you trust is (IMO) one of the worse things about moving.

Yup, this. ^^^

I absolutely HATE waiting a half hour or more past my scheduled appointment, but it is what it is.

I have FINALLY found a dentist that I trust after going through 3 and barring emergencies (which do happen) I'm usually in the chair on time and even (gasp!) on occasion, early.

I've also got a doctor that I really like, but he's also the Chief of Medicine at the hospital he works out of and only sees patients on Wednesdays. I like him enough that I am willing to work around that and deal with him being late to appointments sometimes.

At my doc's offince I told the gal that called my name to come back that it had been 50 minutes since I signed in.
She said. "Oh, 15 minutes isn't so bad.
I told her no, not 15...50!

I love my doc, we spend more time talking about golf more than anything else but jeez, get me in and out of there.
The last thing I want is to be sitting there next to someone who is cough up a lung for almost an hour!

I've been retired two years now, I accept a delay. I always show 10-15 minutes early, sometimes I get in right on schedule. If it's later, I just wait patiently.

I dont go to the Dr unless im injured or sick. I dont need regular visits for an existing condition. For this reason I really like the walk in clinics. I can usually be seen in less time than I would wait with an appointment.

At my previous Dr I waited 30 mins after a scheduled appointment to be taken back. Then you wait another 10-15 mins sitting on the crinkly ass exam room paper. The next appointment I was 10 mins late and the receptionist told me she was not sure if they would be able to see me today. Fired that office.

There might be some excuse for a doctor who provides emergency services to be running late occasionally, but there is absolutely no excuse for a doctor who just provides routine office services and is consistently late due to overbooking.

After sitting on my ass in the waiting room for three quarters of an hour, at an office that was always late, I got up and walked out.

They had the chutzpah to send me a bill for $35.00 for a missed appointment.

I responded by sending them an invoice for my wasted time at substantially more than thirty-five bucks. Of course they did not pay my invoice, and threatened to send my account to "collections" if I did not pay the $35.00

I responded by telling them that if they did, I would take them to small claims court to collect on the invoice that I had sent them for my time.

That was a couple of years ago; I have heard nothing further about the thirty-five bucks for the "missed appointment."

Must be a shortage of Dr here. It's almost impossible to get an appointment as a new patient anywhere, then you are likely to get a Dr that has English as a second language and you can't understand them.

The walk in clinics are popping up everywhere and doing well.

My wife got strep throat a couple years ago so she called her regular Dr, whom she had used for years. They said... but you haven't been here in over two years. She replied she hadn't been sick in over two years. They said because she hadn't been there in that long a time they had to treat her like a new patient, and the first available appointment was 6 weeks out!

I took her to a FastPace walk in. In and out with a shot and a prescription electronically sent in about an hour. They handle your insurance quick and easy as well.

I suspect the front desk needs to be retrained. They might panic when they see the 10 am going in before the 940 am. Perhaps OCD compels them. Perhaps they can’t think outside the box. Perhaps they were told not to think outside the box. And the doc may have no say over the front desk. He/she may operate entirely independently of scheduling department.

Our office, in order to stay on schedule, will give you 15 minutes past your appt time (but chances are we will already be working up the early bird at 10 minutes in). If you’re later than that, it’s the next patient’s turn, and as OP said, the latecomer can cool their heels while we scramble to fit them in. If you arrive early enough, we will potentially be able to see you early, depending on the complexity of the appt.

I always ask staff to politely mention to a patient if they are excessively early (ah, I see you’re 45 minutes early for your appt, please make yourself comfortable, etc) so they don’t get disgruntled if they see a punctual person taken in front of them (10 am shows up at exactly 958 am and gets whisked back).

It really can depend on the type of appt, and the distance traveled by the patient as to whether we’d reschedule them due to tardiness - we have some that come from a few hundred miles away - I give those guys grace but they still have to wait if they are late, and they always understand.

And a reason or two some docs doublebook: perhaps they are required to generate so many dollars in a day by the company they work for, and that adds up to seeing multiple in same time slot? Another reason would be no shows. An empty chair is not revenue generating, and they are hedging their bets until they know you are reliable and consistent.

I’m aware of a doc that’ll book 4 patients in the same slot. All morning long. I’m not saying it’s right, just that I’ve seen it.

I started asking for the last appointment of the day. Doctor doesn’t make you wait when they want to get home and eat dinner.

I'm really wanting to change over to one of the concierge practices near me. Charge is 80$/month but since I have to go see a doc every 3 months, it's pretty much a wash at the end of the year for what I'd pay. They promise you will be seen within 24hrs, there's on call docs I can talk to at 2am if needed, and all sorts of other benefits. I just need to go to the office and see if I can chat with the doc for 5 minutes and see if they are comfortable working with my particular health issue before I join.

My previous Primary Care Doc's office was as typical in wait times. Though his office was only 5min from my house, the convenience made it hard to up and change. After a few appointments where I had to wait more than an hour I said no matter the convenience, I'm through with this. I asked my Sister and BIL about a new Doc and they referred me to one of their friends. Though his office is 35min away through rush hour traffic on expressway in the mornings, this office is night and day different. They'll schedule me for a 9:45am appointment and ask me to come in early at 9am. I walk in and they see me immediately. Absolutely the best experience, and the Doc is a gun guy as I've mentioned in other posts. This last appointment a couple of weeks ago he brought his new AR into the exam room and delighted in showing me. I've brought most my handguns in to show him also, him being a fan.

Though he has a very prosperous practice, he also is an auxiliary Metro-Dade Police officer. His rooms are full of photos of him as a chopper pilot in Iraq also. Boy does he have some stories. What a 180º difference from my last primary care Doc, I actually enjoy going to an appointment!

I just had a great doctor experience .... not my primary (that's tomorrow), but my eye doctor.

2pm appointment. I arrive about 5 minutes early, check the paperwork and sit down. Called back at exactly 2pm.

Technician guy does the preliminary tests (computer test of vision, glaucoma, pictures of retina with fancy new camera system). He was in the room waiting for me. Takes about 10 minutes.

Tech takes me back to the exam room for my doctor. I sit down and wait about 30 seconds and the Dr. walks in.

No non-sense eye exam (admittedly pretty simple and straight forward). I get done, head up front and pay. Check my watch - I'm out the door at 2:27pm. I've had lots of eye exams, this one was thorough and used the latest technology.

I hope this guy never retires.

you are not doing it right,

I go in to the office when ever I want to and ask if they have had any cancellations,

68 % of they time ,they will fit me in within 20 minutes.

Had 5 appointments in December, 4 of them got me in way ahead of schedule, the fifth was right on time

LOL. One of my pet peeves for sure.

Few years back we changed Dentists as our old one retied and brought a new guy into the practice. First 6 month cleaning/chk up, I am on time, but end up waiting 30 mins.

Have to get a filling so a month later same deal.I let both go.

Months later in for my next check up/cleaning and at the 30 minute mark I get up and start slowly putting on my coat, etc. The girl at the desk sees this and asks where I'm going? I tell her I have wasted enough time and if I'm charged for the visit I will refuse to pay it.

Now the new Dentist shows up. I walk over and discreetly tell him that MY time is as important as his. And that he will NOT have a practice without patients. And I am one unhappy patient.

He takes me in, we have a little talk about punctuality and GREED. He says very little.

Just visited the other day for an 1100 appt. I was taken in at 1058. I think these folks need to be taken to task for these sort of issues.