Follow-up mini rant: I finally tracked down a heating element at a local shop, picked it up, and put it in during my lunch break. The oven still isn’t heating up. So now I’m wondering if it’s a thermostat or something, and I will probably have to call a repair man after all.
One thing that helped me with understanding the Indian accent with the CSRs I had to deal with frequently in a previous position was to listen to podcasts about subjects I was interested in by Indian speakers.
I was making calls several times a month so the time investment was worth it. YMMV.
The contract doesn’t guarantee a time window. Some doctors and other medical practitioners are much worse than others when it comes to punctuality. If you do leave because you’re tired of waiting, it also raises the interesting question of whether the doctor is justified in charging you for a missed appointment. Around here where we have UHC, it doesn’t cover fees for missed appointments.
It’s a double-edged sword: if they strongly focus on punctuality, then the length of your actual session with the doctor is going to be driven by the clock more than by medical need. Doctors are often already too rushed and this makes it worse. I’d rather spend a little more time in the waiting room knowing that the delay is because the doctor is taking the necessary time with a more complex case rather than watching the clock. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I sit waiting for my doctor who is always running late.
Thats actually the only time i’ve ever been called late for an appointment. Not counting when I was pregnant, that was routine to be seen late.Guess I’ve been fortunate.
My doc runs late (and sometimes very late), and I know it’s because he spends too much time on each patient (based on how long he spends with me (he keeps telling me I’m ridiculously healthy for an old man)). However, based on that history, he should probably space his appointments out a bit more (but he’s part of corporate group and I’m certain he has metrics he’s supposed to be hitting).
Theoretically, for optimal utilization you always want a queue in the waiting room. You don’t want scheduled appointment slots long enough that it risks having the most valuable resource – the doctor – sitting idle.
I remember one doctor who did his hospital rounds before going to his office. It didn’t always happen, but you could have the first appointment of the day and still have to wait because he was running late.
That’s how it was when I was working. I used to warn my clients that the process they would have to complete was stupid and not my fault, but I sure did get yelled at it over enough.
If the doctor can’t see me at the time of my appointment, I’ll take my healthcare elsewhere.
I’ve only walked out once, at around 45 minutes late. I told the receptionist I’d contact them about where to send my records.
And I’m cool with that. If we can’t wrap things up in 15 minutes then maybe I need inpatient care.
My doctor would routinely run late. One time, I was the first appointment of the day (at 9 a.m.). I saw the doctor arrive at work at 9.15. He didn’t realize it, but I could see him come into the office from outside and take off his coat before coming in. I mentioned the lateness, and was given some platitude about emergencies and other patients.
Another time, I was five minutes late for my own appointment, and it was summarily cancelled.
I go elsewhere now. They still run late, but they’re nicer and more honest about it. I totally understand that sometimes other patients need more time and care, and I’m happy to be patient for an hour or so, or longer if there’s an emergency. But I don’t like being lied to or subject to ridiculous double standards. (I should be on time for my appoinments, but if you can be 15 minutes late to work and lie about it, I should have a safe five-minute window.)
I can see that, but over a period of time you should be able to figure out the median time Doctor X spends with patients and adjust his scheduling appropriately.
If its 20 minutes, schedule his first patient for 9:00, the second for 9:10, and then every 20 minutes (maybe do another 10 minute one). If you’ve got enough exam rooms and techs to do the basic history and vitals at or near the appointment time while waiting on the doctor, people won’t think he’s running very late, and you’re running a full schedule most of the time and
Due to my various health issues I qualify for the local public transit system’s E-Z Rider program. This provides free rides for doctor appointments, shopping trips, and other personal errands. Rides have to be scheduled at least one day in advance, and there are differing arrangements depending on the type or trip. For doctor appointments the policy is that they schedule the pickup for a 20-minute window starting one hour before the appointment time. Pickup to go home is “will-call”, meaning that when I’m through with my appointment I call the dispatch number and tell them I’m ready to go home, and they send the “next available driver”. Generally, this means someone shows up in 15-30 minutes, although occasionally I get lucky and a driver shows up earlier.
However, yesterday and today I had to wait an hour and a half. Fortunately, I had a book with me, but I would rather have been at home coming up with excuses not to do my housework. The explanation they give me for the delay is that they’re short of drivers.
Tomorrow morning I’m going grocery shopping. The ride home policy for these is slightly different; when I schedule the trip I have to give them a definite time I want to be picked up at the store, which has to be at least a minimum time after the initial pickup time. So tomorrow they’ll be picking me up at 9-9:20am to go to the store and at 10:30-10:50am to go home. Let’s see how long I have to wait to go home tomorrow.
Hope you didn’t have a competent doctor.
After “firing” multiple docs, you can give up on that wonderful restaurant that didn’t seat you right away, then the one that has a great fish fry, but didn’t take your order promptly, then that Michelin star place that didn’t refill your water as soon as it got down to the 1/4 mark, then the mechanics who didn’t start working on your car right away, and the plumber who took too long to respond. And you’ll go through a dozen cable and telephone and internet providers to find a prompt one.
Sorry, this is a sore spot, as I’ve watched a close friend burn a lot of bridges… just like you may be doing.
That’s how I cope. I carry a book, some comic books, a phone and a sketchbook. I’ve gotten a LOT done in the hours I’ve spent in waiting rooms (if I were without any of that stuff, I’d be an angry, impatient mess).
In most places, doctors don’t get to pick the length of their appointment blocks. If they want to spend more time with their patients than the machine allows, they do it by running late and staying late.
I mostly see doctors who run late.
That would have pissed me off, though.
I’ve never been turned away for being slightly late to a doctor’s appointment, probably because my doctor is usually running late and I’m there before he was ready, anyway.
Following up on my follow-up (and veering out of mini rant territory) I futzed around with it some more later in the afternoon after work, and it’s working now. So, yay.
OK, here’s something mini rant worthy - I cut my fingertip on the edge of the sheet metal that covers the wiring on the back when I was screwing it back on.
Every DIY project requires a blood sacrifice. Every one.
FWIW, and regarding Drs appointment waiting: It may be overbooking.
My original dentist I’ve used for 20+ years relocated from his own office to a dental practice group ( and then soon after, retired ). At this group place I noticed that every appointment I showed for had me waiting 20-30 minutes or more, whether for the dentist or hygienist. “We’re kind of running behind” was always the reason, no matter the time of day of the appointment. I always mused about the quantity of people with emergencies needed to be squeezed in.
After talking to some in the private practices I switched back to I heard quite a few tell me they used to work at dental group places when starting out to get experience. I was also told they’re under upper corporate pressure to over book. Get those bodies through there. Lots of turnover in those places too I understand.
Yup. Doc’s wife here, and one of THE most aggravating things for my better half is having patients scheduled every 15 minutes. Unless it’s a brief recheck appointment there is No Way he can do his job well in 15 min. Unless it’s a day of many cancellations he cannot help running behind. He does not do his own scheduling, nor can he mandate how many patients he sees in a day, not if he wants to keep his job.
So if you are kept waiting, don’t blame the doc, blame the upper level administration that mandates stupid, patient-unfriendly, bottom line practices.
Years ago my employee health plan was an HMO in Chicago. My wife and I had found a doctor we liked, and then one day we got a letter telling us that he had left the HMO and we were each going to have to pick a new PCP with the HMO. What was interesting was that the letter gave us absolutely no information about where our old doctor was now practicing. When I had my next open enrollment period I checked the participating doctor lists for all the available health plans until I found him, then switched my health plan to BCBS and signed up to have him as our PCP.
During my first visit I asked him why he had left the HMO and he told me he didn’t like the new HMO policies which limited the amount of time he was allowed to spend with each patient.