I was at the Doctor last week and my appt. was for 11:00AM. The Doctor was in and I don’t mind having to wait abit due to the fact it’s a pain management doctor. Well I waited and wailted and waited some more and they hadn’t even took me back to triage so I ask them about it they said there was 2 ahead of me. peoplewas still comming in and they were taking them back and the next thing I knew two hours had went by and I saidsomething again and they saild it would be a few miniuts and I waited some more well my patients were really wearing thin and IL wasstarting to really get irratated, so LI really didn’t know what to do about the situation so I just said I guess I’m going haveto start charging the Doctor for my time it’s just as valuable as everybody elses. I am not able to sit that long so I’d get up and go out side and walk around awhild then go back in, my husband is in sales and takes off work and goes with me because he doesn’t like me going to Louisville alone. by jthe time I got back there three hours had passed thy did my triage and took me straight back, after I salid I wa going have to start charging the doctor. I don’t know whether to get another doctor or what to do. This is like the second or third time this has happened to me. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Since the OP is looking for advice, this is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
With a specialist [instead of your primary care doc] I do my best to schedule the first appointment in the day - tends to be more on time than a later appointment.
To me it is worth getting up and out at the crack of dawn to get the 75 miles to Yale-New Haven hospital where my specialists tend to practice.
I have twice encountered doctors whose offices ran as you described. I found another doctor.
The only doctor I’d tolerate this from would be one whose practice included genuine emergencies, like an OB/GYN. But the office had better inform me of the situation. I’ve had an OB/GYN’s gatekeepers advise the waiting room full of women that both doctors were at the hospital with deliveries and would not be available for over an hour. This gave everyone the option of cancelling or rescheduling or waiting.
The various specialists that I see tend to have little or no waiting. They schedule office visits with appropriate time allotments and schedule surgeries on other days.
Some doctors, like some people really suck at time management. For better or worse a pain management doc is probably going to have a steady stream of patients willing to wait however long it takes to get their meds so there is little incentive to improve.
I think you need to find a better run office.
Interesting addition: I had an appointment with a specialist just this morning, at 11:30. I arrived about 15 minutes early. Signed in, hung up my coat, and was about to sit down with a magazine. The nurse called me in. I was on the road again by 11:35. That’s a well-run office!