My doctor took a personal phone call while he was with me today

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

It was nothing serious, but while I was in the examination room, his phone “rang” and when he pulled it out of his pocket, he said, “I need to take this” and from my end, it sounded like he was talking to his wife about a motorcycle they were buying, and he also mentioned something about golf.

:rolleyes:

There are signs all over the place “NO CELL PHONE USAGE” and c’mon. Isn’t that kind of thing massively inapproriate?

I really like my doctor too, and was surprised that he did something like this.

2

I would have been pissed. I get when s/he is consulting on something that is more important than my cough. I don’t mind being seen by a nurse physician because he (in this case) has retired/was delivering another child/an emergency.

But when I’m being charged up the wazoo for 10-20 minutes time at an hourly rate… I want their attention to be on me for that whole 10-20 minutes.

3

Sounds like something out of a comedy skit.

It’s definitely unprofessional what he did, and I’m curious as to what he said to you after that exchange. I know people say not to put work above family but this is kind of pushing it.

4

Add me to this list.

5

I’ve had a doctor stand right outside (!) the individual waiting room for 30 minutes, talking to a nurse about buying a condo. Switched doctors, am better off for it.

6

It wouldn’t worry me in the least. Mind you I am not paying to see my doctor but nonetheless I can’t see how it would make any material difference to the consult. And if I didn’t like it I would tell him. My doctor and I have conversations when I see him.

7

I think there can be some allowance for “I need to take this”, because who knows if it’s the kid’s school calling to say Timmy fell down a well, but at the same time he should leave the room to take the call, and if it’s not critical, he should promise to call the other person back when he has time.

Talking about a bike he’s buying and his golf game don’t fall into the critical category, so the doctor was wrong in that regard. If you really like the doctor I might overlook a one-time mistake but if that behavior repeats I’d look for another doctor and have no problem telling the practice why.

8

Inappropriate and unprofessional, certainly. But I doubt I’d find it any more than mildly irritating. It would probably depend on why I was there. If it was a routine visit, I’d ask, “What kind of bike are you buying?” If I were ill and miserable or in pain, though, I might huff and puff a bit, but, really, what are you going to do about it other than switch docs?

9

Not the most professional thing in the world. But I wouldn’t care that much as long as it was a quick call.

10

I wouldn’t care. Doctors are busy people - if he needs to take a call or whatever, no problem!

So far as using cell phones, it is OK to sometimes use a cell phone, and very bad at other times to use a cell phone in a medical setting - could upset sensitive equipment. Best to tell the general public to never use a cell phone. But a doctor would know when and where a cell phone could be safely used. I would have no problem with his using a cell phone.

11

On the one hand, it’s horribly unprofessional. Personal calls when you’re with a client of any sort are unprofessional, and the more expensive your time is, the more unprofessional it is.

On the other hand, the expectation for anyone to be single-tasking is changing rapidly. I think this is an inevitable result of recent advances in society/technology, and the genie is not going back in the bottle.

12

George: Outrageous, you’re paying him thousands per year and he takes a personal call!

Jerry: I know. When I’m paying for his time I’m like his boss, right?

(Jerry’s voice raises in his trademark fashion)

Jerry (cont.): You don’t take personal calls in front of your boss.

George: If anything you are the one to take personal call in front of him.

Jerry: Right, thank you.

(Kramer enters the diner)

Kramer: Hi guys, what are we talking about?

George: Jerry’s doctor took a personal call when doing his physical.

Kramer: What was the call about?

Jerry: Why does it matter? Something about a motorbike, or something?

Kramer: Woah, woah, wait, what kind of bike?

Jerry (dismissive): What do you know about bikes?

(Kramer visibly upset, stands up.)

Kramer: Ride free or die, Jerry. Ride free or die.

(Kramer leaves and bumps into Elaine before leaving the diner.)

Elaine: What’s his problem?

Jerry: He thinks he’s in Easy Rider.

13

For the people who don’t think it is a big deal:

What if you were at a grocery store, and instead of ringing you up right away, the cashier said “Hold on, I have to take this call”?

Would you feel the same way?

What about a fast-food worker? Or a person at the DMV?

14

No that would be different. Those people work 8 hours a day. Doctors can work 36 hours straight! Get up in the middle of the night for an emergency, etc.

15

I would be annoyed if they took the call and stopped working. But if they kept checking me out or whatever it would be fine.

16

I was under the impression that the doctor stopped “doctoring” while he was talking on the phone.

17

What does that have to do with anything?

18

If it happens again, I’ll say something, and if I get one of those Press-Ganey questionnaires (I have before) I definitely will.

He’s a family practitioner in his late 50s and scaling back his practice (cutting office hours, not seeing patients in the hospital, etc.) and he’s admitted that he’d love to retire but he has 5 kids (3 biological, 2 step) who haven’t finished their educations yet.

19

Unprofessional. I carry two phones while at work. One is my personal cell. If it rings while I’m with a patient I silence the ringer and let it go to voicemail. Although my work schedule dictates that sometimes I need to take personal calls during work hours there are very few situations where the call is so urgent that you can’t call them back in 5 minutes when you’re between patients. The other phone is provided by the hospital and only works on premises. We hand them off between providers at shift change. That one I will answer because if someone is calling me it’s because they need to talk with me about a patient and it can’t wait until I’m back at my computer. Usually it’s the lab communicating a critical value or a nurse asking if they can give more pain or nausea medication. Simple situations like that I can just say “sure, give 4 of zofran” and go back to dealing with the patient in front of me. For more complicated conversations that would compromise patient information I excuse myself and step out of the room for a few minutes.

There was recently a proposal that we adopt technology which would allow our personal phones to be connected to the hospital phone system. I was against it for 2 reasons. Reason 1 - I don’t everyone I work with to have access to my personal phone number. Reason 2 - patient perception. My work phone looks nothing like a modern cell phone so it’s immediately obvious that I am not taking a personal call in the middle of a physical exam. Connect work calls to my personal cell and even though I’m actually talking with the lab about a critical sodium level the patient has no way of knowing that I’m not just being rude and unprofessional by taking a personal call while in a patient room.

pendgwen, MD

20

Unprofessional. The doc should just let it go to voicemail. If it was an emergency his wife could reach him through the front desk. If he absolutely must take the call, he should step outside, talk as briefly as possible and get back to the patient ASAP.

Once, I was still in the church after a funeral while the organist was playing the postlude. Most but not all of the mourners had gone out to the lobby. The organist’s cellphone went off and he answered it, sticking it between his cheek and shoulder as he continued to play. “Hey… how are you?.. no, just wrapping up this funeral… yeah… OK… OK, thanks. See you later.” Click.

True story.