Normal wait time for doctors????
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive September 2005:
Normal wait time for doctors????
Okay this is a vent and a question. I take my mil to many doctor appointments. I know that you will have your days where a doctor is behind or will have an emergency but she has one doctor that it is a constant problem. We can't switch because he preformed her surgery in Jun and this is her follow ups until she is healed. Anyway yesterday her appointment was at 11:00 and at 12:00 she had not even been seen yet. I had to be somewhere at 12:15 so we had to leave. This same doctor 3 weeks ago left her there for an hour and a half and then left the building without seeing her! This is one reason I was so mad yesterday. Personally I think that within 45 minutes you should at least be seen. I think that is even generous. If they can't do that then they are booking to many patients at once! Now we have to go back again on Fri. Something else I have to do before my trip. Dh is going to take her though because I would seriously snap on these people. Just wondering what others think is acceptable and you can be honest if you think I am off base.
My dr used to be that way. Enough people complained and now it's much better.
Can you call the office before you leave the house and see if the dr is running late?
I think even 45 minutes on a regular basis is riduclous. I understand emergencies coming up every once in a while BUT if you're going to sit there all day what is the use in making appointments.
I've been there and know how frustrating it can be. Hang in there.
I'm so jaded by long waits in doctor's offices that I would never even attempt to make an 11:00 doctor's appt and then have somewhere to be at 12:15.
The only solution I've come up with is go early in the day - not earliest appt because the doctor doesn't get there until after the first appts start - but about 30-45 after the office opens.
At my primary doctor's office, I hardly ever have to wait. He has a physician's assistant that I usually see, if I go in for a sinus infection or a simple follow-up. The PA is nice, since it does take the load off the MD. I do see the MD, for my blood pressure follow-ups, though. I can usually be in and out, in about an hour, and many times, 1/2 hr to 45 minutes.
At the walk-in, where I work, people don't usually have appointments. If we get a rush of patients, people can wait up to 2 hours or longer to be seen, but it's first come/first served, unless there are other mitigating factors (chest pain, bleeding, etc.) We just get busy and only have 6 rooms or so, and if everyone that comes in is a sick cookie, then it takes longer. Sometimes people do have appointments if they have to come to us for follow-up, if they are worker's comp or don't have a primary doctor. So, sometimes people have to wait a long time and sometimes they don't!
I have to wait at least an hour every time. I don't mind though, because I really love our family doctor. He is the very best, ever! Once it's our turn, he acts like he has all the time in the world to answer questions. He never acts rushed to get to the next patient. Very calm. I love that about him. And, I don't mind waiting. I know that he is giving everyone the same attention.
If he were to seem rushed and inadequate in our visit, then I would be upset if I had to wait too long to get in.
If our appt. is in the am, we don't plan anything else for the am. If it's in the pm, then we don't plan anything until several hours after our scheduled appt.
It's worth the wait for our dr.
My dh and I see different docs in the same office. Dh sees his in about 15 minutes. His doc is male and matter of fact like my husband and they get along great. The doc just wants the facts. My doc is female and usually it is about 45 minutes in the waiting room and another 20 in an exam room before the doc comes in. But she always stops to talk and listen, which I will wait for. She's thorough and listens to to my 'feelings'.
I took my mom to a GI doc recently and they had a sign up that said something like "Your time is as important as ours. If you have not been called back within 15 min of your appt time, please bring it to our attention". We only sat in the waiting room 5 min past the appt time (which was actually 35 min total because my mom always has to be everywhere early). LOL I like this doc's philosophy.
Oh gosh... they have emergencies.... so top wait time is 1 1/2 hours. I had an emergency d&c once so I am more understanding..
The longest I had to wait at my current doctor is 20 minutes & she was an OB/GYN at the time. If she has an emergency she has her staff call the patients.
I would change doctors, I am sure there are others that are qualified to do a follow up & I think with the price of medical care anymore they would be a little more available for their patients.
I work with a lot of physicians and I can tell you that what makes a huge difference is how they run their offices. Some offices consistently are instructed to overbook appointments, and/or to book them extremely close together despite how long doctors take to see their patients on a normal basis.
I understand (from experience, since we see a lot of doctors - between my elderly mother and my chronically ill daughter) how very frustrating it is. Just yesterday, it took over an hour and a half for my mom to get into an examining room. Her blood pressure was high, because she was frustrated. I had no qualms about telling the doc exactly 'why' when he made a comment about her high blood pressure.
Well, with all my disabilities, and all the doctors I've been to through the last few years, I have had short waits and long waits. However, the longer waits were always with the drs. who spent a lot of time with me on details, details, details!!! So I didn't mind waiting knowing I, too, would be getting this attention. Some things, such as my problems, are just not 15 minute appointments.
However, I do not have much patience, myself, and truly wish that drs. would stop over scheduling all the time.
I'm like Mommmie, I would NEVER schedule an appt. for 12:15 with an appt. scheduled at 11:00. I usually free up a few hours if I have an appt.!!!
Just a tip...always try to schedule one of the first few appts. in the morning or the first one after lunch. You can even specifically ask for the first one after lunch b/c offices take lunch breaks at different time. They are more likely to be on schedule at these times. Later in the morning---not so much, because they've had all morning to get behind.
Pam, I do just that. I always try to be the first in the morning or after lunch. It's very hard for me to sit with a couple of my kids, and the doctor and secretary are very accommodating.
Generally speaking, though, she has long wait times.
My own family doc, who is different from the one my kids have, has quite a long wait if you aren't one of the first. I love her, and wouldn't change no matter how long she made me wait. Her care is amazing, and I know she's giving everyone that same great care.
My doctor in central WI had epic wait times, but he was so nice and so thorough, when you were in there with him! It was not unusual to have a 4:30pm appointment and not get to see him until 6pm. The other people in the waiting room would all start comparing appt times and stuff! LOL! That thing about if you have been taken care of in 20 minutes? There was no point to saying anything. I don't think it would have made any difference! I loved the guy, though! He always read my chart-notes to me, from the previous visit! There were no secrets. Maybe that is what took so long! I don't know. I went to him the whole time we lived in Marshfield. He is still there and still probably has long wait times!
I just posted this recently - I was told by an employee of a doctor that most of them schedule 2 patients for each 15-minute time slot, and most schedule patients beginning one hour before they actually start seeing patients - so they START their day 8 patients BEHIND SCHEDULE.
It is infuriating, and I hear all the excuses and justifications about how they *have* to do this because of contracted reimbursement amounts, etc. Then you have to take into consideration there are emergencies and/or patients with problems that take up more time.
Personally, I find it rude and totally inconsiderate. *My* time is just as valuable, even if I AM on a different plane of the pay scale!
Some doctors are worse than others - and I very often ask for the first morning or after-lunch appointment, and it usually makes no difference, I end up waiting just the same.
My pain mgmt. doctor often runs very late, but sometimes he is right on time. When I see him, I often schedule the last appt. of the day, because I know it will be a wait anyway and that way I miss less work.
My PCP is so inconsiderate and she could honestly care less if she keeps you waiting - never apologizes, etc. I am looking for a new one, but with the hurricanes, it's difficult.
The worst ones I ever had were my OB - sometimes a FOUR HOUR wait - and my neurosurgeon - same thing, and believe me, it was very hard to wait 4 hours after having back surgery, with staples in my back!
I *will* say this - my pain mgmt. doc will spend as long as it takes with each patient, and often that includes injections that were not initially planned. So I am more tolerant of his late schedule than I am of others, because *I* have been *the patient who has thrown the schedule off* on more than one occasion also.
I honestly don't think there are ANY doctors in my area who keep to their schedule.
My OB was great. He believed that pregnant women have enough issues, and waiting in his office shouldn't be one of them. The only time I ever had to wait more than 10-15 mins was if he was called out to deliver. I do know of some that have patients waiting hours, and everyone calls in to see when they should really leave home.
The neurologist the kids see is also pretty good. Their pediatrician was amazing!
I am a doctor's wife, and I will tell you some stuff from his point of view. But before I do, I have to agree with a lot of you that wait times are getting pretty ridiculous. Even though I am a Doctor's wife and my children and I are seen in the place where he works (he does not see us) I still have had to wait over an hour and a half for appointments.
Anyway, he claims there are several reasons for long wait times. What makes him angry is when he has scheduled appointments and patients are late. I'm not talking 5 or ten minutes, I mean 30-45 minutes. It is unfair to his patients who are waiting for later appointments, who actually come in on time. It puts him behind with his work as well. Then, sometimes there are patients who want to take care of EVERYTHING in one visit. Those visits are going to take longer, making everything later. Then there are those who have a child with an appointment and figure they can also ask about or have another child checked out at the same time. That's going to put doctors back making others in the waiting room wait longer. I have to say that I am just telling it like it is here. I know some of you are going to get angry and give me grief about this post, but hey. You all are venting and asking why, and I am telling you some reasons why some of you may have to wait so long.
Let's not forget about lab work and x-rays. If these things are needed, they may or may not be readily available. Even if the labs or x-rays are not for you, someone else may need them done and that takes time. If someone needs to be admitted to the hospital or have arrangements made for other things, things have to be done regardless of how long it takes. This puts doctors behind. And then of course, you have things that are unexpected. Emergencies come up. Those are understandable. I once had to wait for my OB and finally got told (1 1/2 hours later) that she had to perform and emergency C-section. Then had to wait another 1/2 hour before they could get someone else to see me. So this replacement OB was seeing his patients and taking on my OB's patients. Then there are times when they are simply shorthanded at the office.
What can we do about wait times? We can certainly bring it to the staff's attention, the office can change its policies regarding those late for appointments, we can switch doctors, the list goes on.
Anon, you have made valid points, and those are all understandable. As a patient, *I* get angry if someone shows up late for an appointment - as in: once I had a 1:30 appt. It was 3:30 and I still had not been seen. Someone came rushing in who had a 2:45 appointment, which meant I ended up waiting that much longer. Inconsiderate on their part, and IMO, they should have been made to wait until the rest of us who were on time had been seen.
The overbooking thing and the scheduling patients for an hour before the doctor has any plans of starting his office hours is inexcusable. I know certain doctors who do this - I know this for a fact. THAT is not fair to the patients.
My DH's urologist for example. We scheduled his prostate biopsy for 8 AM. They told us it was the first appointment. We were there at 7:55. There were 3 other patients waiting to be seen with the same appointment time. At 9:30 we were still sitting there. My DH went back and asked what the delay was. He was told *Dr. XXX never actually gets here until 9, and then he returns messages and reviews charts before he starts seeing patients. WHAT? You can't tell me that is fair to a dozen people now waiting to see him.
An emergency I can understand. A patient who needs more services than anticipated I can understand. I can even make allowances for someone bringing their other kid in at the same time. Our old ped. had a policy that if you showed up without an appt. in the middle of office hours, there was an extra charge to be seen.
But not deliberately overbooking to that point. Our time is worth something too. And the ones who overbook and keep waiting rooms FULL of people waiting have no consideration for their patients. My father was a doctor, yes he had emergencies, but he took pride in the fact that his office ran for the most part, on schedule. And the thing that ticks me off most, and you will probably take offense to this, is the *G-d 101* attitude - as if doctors should be worshipped and the rest of us are peons. It's there, it happens. Fortunately not all of them are like that, but they are out there, and they EXPECT you to sit for hours to see them. Those are the ones I no longer go to. I figure if they have that many patients lined up waiting to see them, they certainly won't miss my measley business any more than I will miss wasting the better part of a day to be ushered in and out in under 5 minutes when they have time to see me.
Karen-moderator
I don't take offense to what you posted, simply because my husband does not believe he walks on water. Anyone who meets him can't believe what he does for a living. They think he's joking. He is a great man, very knowledgeable, very kind and loving. He is considerate of his patients, and everyone on this board would just love him. (Hands off, he's mine. =) ) I am a very lucky woman.
I do concur, however, that there are some docs out there that have this "mightier than thou, begone you peons" attitude. One of them is my husbands uncle. Needless to say I CAN'T STAND HIM. I'll call him Dean, to make this easier to explain. Dean took a long time in deciding what he wanted to do and finally settled on becoming an MD. I won't say doctor or physician because he's neither. He has an MD, makes loads of money sedating people and thinks he knows everything. Dean's immediate family thinks he's god. He believes he's god. The rest of us with a brain know he's not. He's horrible at his job as well. He is just a well trained worker with an MD. He doesn't know anything beyond the small scope of his field. All through his residency we had to hear about how he treated his patients, made them wait, made comments to them that were sooooo offensive. He finally told of one time he made some comments to a pregnant woman, and I told my husband "That's it!" I am never in the same room as that ______ (fill in the blank).
So, just to recap, I don't take offense because I know quite a few good docs (ladies, they are out there and treat us with respect). I know some real ____, and we shouldn't have to put up with them.
I had a doctor once who would not see me when I had an emergerncy. Switched him quick.
Rather wait and have a doctor who realizes emergencies happen.
Ok, when I take my kids to their dr. The wait is never more then 10 minutes in the waiting room, except when its cold and flu season, waits are longest there. Sometimes its another 5-10 minute wait in the exam room for a dr and or nurse to come in. Now the OB/GYN is a whole different story. On the average(with my last pregnancy)I was always there for at least 2 hrs, and thats no lie. Even if I wasnt having an ultrasound or other tests. They just ALWAYS ran slow. BUT, I didnt mind much, I loved my dr. She spent tons of time with me, talking, answering questions. I knew she spent that much time with all her patients.I didnt like being there for 2 hrs at a pop.I just learned to accept it.
Anon - I have a question, and who better to ask than you since your DH is a doctor.
Is it really true, that with PPO's and HMO's and the general state of our health care system in the US, that the reason for overbooking is because doctors are reimbursed such a small amount of their *original* fee?
And if that is the case, why do they agree to those contracts, unless the obvious is the case - that if one had a choice between paying a $30 copay to one doc, and paying $300 to another and waiting to be reimbursed their 20%, they would likely choose the $30 copay.
My pain mgmt. doc is formerly a physical therapist. He is open minded, LISTENS to his patients, a friendly guy, remembers personal things about his patients in conversations as well as keeping very detailed records of your medical history and meds and other avenues of treatments he's prescribed. He is always willing to listen if I ask or tell him of an alternate method of treatment, or a natural supplement, or a form of exercise I've read or heard of. He asks a lot of questions, and has even thanked me on a few occasions, for telling him something he wasn't aware of, which he actually told me would help him in treating other patients with similar issues as I have. He will physically, show me how to do stretches or exercises that he think will help me, even if it means HE has to get down on the floor and do it.
BUT - he also has said that he made more money as a physical therapist than he makes as an osteopath in physical medicine - and I believe it's due to the insurance contracts.
This is the guy who could be right on time, or run 1 to 3 hours behind. It doesn't happen every time, so I am patient when it does happen, because he's a great doc, IMO, and the only one who has really helped me. Few and far between, they are.....my neurosurgeon sounds like your DH's uncle. And in my experience, unfortunately, more are like that than not.
Anyway, just wondering about the overbooking thing, which seems to be a growing problem with every doc I and my DH see.....
Karen, some of the booking is to cover their butts. We don't overbook at the therapy clinic because people have standing appointments (i.e., they come every Tues at 10 am for therapy). However, if the pt. "no shows" or cancels then we have 50 minutes blocked out on the schedule, I'm not generating any revenue, but my workplace still has to pay me. In the winter it is a HUGE problem because of illness and it's been bad this past month due to traffic. Yesterday, I only saw 2 patients all day and had 2 no-shows and 1 cancellation--that's one reason why doctors double-book. If one person doesn't show up at least the other likely will. And they go through the day anticipating that one visit will take 10 minutes and that will compensate for the 30 minutes visit. Invariably it doesn't work that way, so that's why we have to wait. Did you know the average time spent in a doctor-patient exam/meeting is less than 7 minutes??
Yep, that does not surprise me. I've had doctors walk in, ask how I'm doing, tell me *fine, see you next year*, and it took all of maybe 2 minutes.
I guess I didn't realize how many people are no-shows. That amazes me, but I've never NOT shown up for an appointment without cancelling in advance. I guess I just assume that everyone follows the *rules* in that regard.
The doctors I/we see who double book ALWAYS have crowds of people in waiting rooms though, some of them to the point of no seats available.
Karen-moderator,
I've read your latest post. My husband is at work literally all day, so I will ask him tomorrow when he comes home. I will post as soon as I can.
Chrissy has an ortho doc who does the 30 second exam after me driving an hour to get there, going through all it takes to get her anywhere, and then waiting our turn. He literally lifted her shirt and looked at her back (he did a spinal fusion on her in infancy), and said everything looked great. He told me to bring her back in a year. This year I finally told him it was the biggest waste of my time, and he agreed, so discharged her. He said to see our family doc, and just call if we ever need him again. There's one less place we'll have to sit and wait!
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