There was (maybe is?) a dermatologist in El Paso who would schedule everyone at starting time. So you might get seen at 3p or whenever after showing up first thing.
Prescribes a lot of custom topicals too.
He’s googling your symptoms!
Wait, Disneyland has examining rooms?
One time I had a doc give me $20 off for being behind schedule. She was a vet. I wonder if MDs ever do that. Probably not.
I had a different vet who always showed up late for 8 AM appointments. After the 3rd time I found a new vet. Another time they booked me for memorial day and I asked if that was OK and they said yes. I showed up and nobody was there.
That would piss me off!
The best strategies from the patient end are to try to book the first appointment of the day or switch doctors. They all run late at least some of the time, but only some run late all the time.
My doctor when I was a teenager was always late. If your appointment was in the afternoon, as mine always were so that I didn’t have to miss school, she was usually running at least an hour behind. Once I waited almost 3 hours. She was my mom’s doctor too, and my mom commiserated but felt it was excusable because the doctor really took her time to listen, and seemed to be very good. I didn’t have much of a basis for comparison, so I just accepted this.
Twenty years later, having had many doctors who almost always saw me within 15 minutes of my appointment time, I feel like I should’ve switched. Aside from the annoyance of her lateness, I’m not sure all that extra time she took listening really added much value. I suffered debilitating menstrual cramps from age 13 until I went on the pill at 17, which was my idea after I read about its effectiveness for that purpose in a magazine. She got all flustered when I asked about it, but admitted it could be used for that reason and wrote me a prescription. At the time I was relieved to have found a solution and pleased with myself for making it happen. But in retrospect, I can’t believe she never suggested it in the four years I was suffering. I was throwing up and missing school from the pain. She prescribed me Vicodin and Vioxx, sent me for an ultrasound to check for endometriosis, but when the scan was negative told me there wasn’t much more we could do. She really dropped the ball. I would’ve been much better off with a rushed HMO doc who gave me 30 seconds to describe my problem, dashed off a script for the most obvious solution, and moved on to his next patient.
Yes, good advice. And hope that the doc isn’t still at home finishing his Froot Loops while you’re sitting there waiting.
mmm
at any place when you complain you also need to ask for a solution and don’t yell . I suppose yelling might work but I have never tried it.
Yelling might work. It also might lead to them dropping you as a patient.
My experience is generally like this. If I have an appointment for, let’s say, 2:30pm, I’ll show up at 2:15 pm or so (I hate being late for anything) and will then check in at the front desk, though sometimes there’s a line and it takes five or ten minutes before they check me in. Then I wait in the waiting room for twenty to thirty minutes, after which the medical assistant comes to get me. They will take my height and weight and then bring me to the exam room where they take the pulse ox, blood pressure and temperature. Then they tell me to wait for the doctor, who I see after a further fifteen or so minutes of waiting. He/she will see me briefly, and then tell me to get undressed before disappearing for another period of time. Then they come back in, do the exam and talk about my numbers, and prescribe what needs to be prescribed.
I hate all of the waiting around. I’ve heard that concierge medical practices don’t have this nonsense and am contemplating spending the one or two thousand dollars annually just to avoid it.
I’ve tried scheduling the first appointment of the day only to find that the doctor isn’t even there yet.
I’ll bet this doctor also apologizes for being late. That’s important to me. I understand that emergencies happen, patients aren’t one-size-fits-all, etc, but I expect the staff to let me know up front that the doctor is running late, an eta if possible, especially if it’s going to be a long wait, and an apology from the doctor when they finally arrive. I don’t believe that asking to be treated like a person is going overboard. Being a doctor isn’t a license to be rude and inconsiderate… usually.
My oncologists’ office has this sign. I did have to do that my first time I went to chemo and they apologized and said it would just be a few more minutes and it was.
I get there 15 minutes early for doctor’s appointments because they want you to fill out a form about any changes in your body/symptoms.
They do.
The staff even remembered to let me know a few times what was happening, but after the first few times I guess they figured I would know.
My oncologist often spent more time with me than was allotted. I needed detailed and in-depth appointments to manage cancer/cancer treatment. After I was out of the acute phase, I didn’t get bent out of shape when my appointment was late–instead, I felt good that others with more urgent needs were receiving the quality of care they needed. She didn’t set and couldn’t alter the appointment calendar.
I look at some of the others in the waiting room and yeah. If they need longer they need longer. I bring my kindle, connect to their internet and wait.
You may be in the ballpark. I’ve often thought he was reviewing my history on the computer for at least part of that time.
Better than not reviewing your info at all. I always just loved being in the stirrups and getting a birth control talk about a non-existent and misgendered partner when my documentation said I was lesbian.
I’m only sort of half joking. As a lawyer, if I meet with a client I may be reviewing the statute or court rules applicable to the case right before I head into a client meeting. I’m certainly skimming the facts of the case to remind myself of which client this is.
This is the for sure solution. I do it and I don’t think I’ve ever had an appointment run more than a couple of minutes late, and that’s when I’m in the exam room and done with the nurse stuff. The earlier in the day, the less wait time you have. Even if no overscheduling happens, add two or three minutes for each appointment and your afternoon appointment could be late anyway.
This is funny in light of your coal truck thread. If you think any doctors office cares that you leave, you are mistaken.
I can just imagine the screaming and yelling that would occur if this happened to the very people that are bitching about waiting. Their time is valuable, no one else matters.
Perhaps I’m out of date, I have only been to Disney once, over 20 years ago. But I recall waiting in a long line outside to go through a doorway… and when you finally triumphantly reached the doorway, you entered a large room where the wait line just continued snaking around for another half hour before you finally got to the ride.
Disneyland and Disney World do a good job of managing crowds. They usually have something to look at or watch while you’re waiting, the line usually moves (albeit slowly) and now they have apps and things to warn you in advance just how long of a wait each ride is.