Dear Patient,

[CaliBear]

Here's a good article for everyone.

The nine REAL reasons your doctor is running late.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/healt...asons-your-doctors-running-late.aspx#/slide-6

This article just reinforces the arrogant attitude that doctors are more important and special than everyone else.

 

[Disney Doll]

Why do you say that? It's giving you an explanation of some of the reasons why doctors run late.

I have a friend who's a doctor. It has become a thankless job, mired down in paperwork, continuous threats of litigation for really what amounts to not such great pay for the amount of liability and responsibility a doctor has. Not a profession I'd encourage a loved one to go into.

There was a day when it was very financially lucrative. That's not the case any more. Granted no MD is probably ever going to starve but my friend pretty much works a 12 hour day every day, takes call, does some weekend coverage. And every insurance nickels and dimes them to death now.

 

[Mkrop]

MY primary is always running late it seems, so I do try to schedule things first thing in the morning or the first thing after lunch if possible. The office staff always tries to schedule me an hour before I need to pick up my son at school. When I say no I cant I have to pick up my son, they look at me like I am crazy, that of course I would be out of there on time. My doctor does take a lot of time with me, and always asks if there is anything else but it is frustrating that I pretty much dont bother to schedule anything else on the days I have appts bc I never know when the heck I am getting out of there.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Dear Patient,

I'm often double or triple booked to accommodate the needs of everyone. Lower reimbursement fees and underpayments, require me to see more patients. Due to many new regulations, much of my day is spent with detailed documentation, paperwork, and signatures.

 

[Burnedout]

Dear Patient,

I'm often double or triple booked to accommodate the needs of everyone. Lower reimbursement fees and underpayments, require me to see more patients. Due to many new regulations, much of my day is spent with detailed documentation, paperwork, and signatures.

Then the dr needs to tell ok at their system. Because none of those are the clients fault. When the rules change you have to make changes too. Just like every other field out there has to adapt to new regulations and paperwork. Lol docs aren't the only ones dealing with that stuff.

 

[Hannathy]

Those reasons in that article aren't everyday occurrences either. They don't tell a pt they have lung cancer every single day and if they are an oncologist who does, then they should know that and schedule accordingly. Same with the one response "well what if I have to take out 50 sutures and it takes time", then your office should know that and schedule accordingly. If a Dentist can have staff that knows to schedule longer for a root canal than a simple filling I think yours can to!

 

[Burnedout]

Those reasons in that article aren't everyday occurrences either. They don't tell a pt they have lung cancer every single day and if they are an oncologist who does, then they should know that and schedule accordingly. Same with the one response "well what if I have to take out 50 sutures and it takes time", then your office should know that and schedule accordingly. If a Dentist can have staff that knows to schedule longer for a root canal than a simple filling I think yours can to!

I agree. A rheumatologist knows they need time to measure. It is a part of the job description.

My dad chose to make his practice cash only. They schedule what they can work with and keep their rates reasonable. He stays busy, can pay his reasonable mortgage and unreasonable malpractice. If he can adapt at 79 the new docs should be able to figure it out.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Then the dr needs to tell ok at their system. Because none of those are the clients fault. When the rules change you have to make changes too. Just like every other field out there has to adapt to new regulations and paperwork. Lol docs aren't the only ones dealing with that stuff.

Changes are being made, but patients aren't liking them very much. Less care, longer waits, higher costs.....just the edge of the cliff, that we're going over. Although, they are placing the Palme on the wrong folks.

 

[Mokat76]

So that makes you part of the 9%. And yes, people suck. 67% ish of them. Please note that many are MORE than an HOUR late.

Then perhaps you need to find a line of work where 67 percent of your contacts suck. Your attitude probably isn't helping the business.

 

[wallawallakids]

So that makes you part of the 9%. And yes, people suck. 67% ish of them. Please note that many are MORE than an HOUR late.

Our doctors all have a policy where they will not see you if you are more than 20 min late. (This includes my son's surgeon who we see every 6 weeks).
My husband had the same policy with his practice and often turned late pts away in order to stay on time. (Of course he is now a sell out and no longer practices medicine in that form. Management pays far more then pediatrics. A sad reality.)

 

[bittybabygrower]

Some places are turning to group patient sessions where they address a group of patients with the same concerns, such as poorly controlled diabetics who need reeducated on meals, insulin, etc. The three big ones in our area are doing this....personally I wouldn't want that, but now that the ACA is in place they will be taking more patients and have even less time so this is their remedy. Our scheduling goes thru a central system and it is in 15-20 minute blocks. Add in top of this employees who have to go here due to insurance get slotted in between this...hence you get a huge backup. Sucks.

 

[Burnedout]

Changes are being made, but patients aren't liking them very much. Less care, longer waits, higher costs.....just the edge of the cliff, that we're going over. Although, they are placing the Palme on the wrong folks.

Eh true. But that just increases the feeling that Drs are selfs centered sob's. When their only concern (rather than primary concern) is their profit line then I guess they deserve the title.

 

[CaliBear]

Why do you say that? It's giving you an explanation of some of the reasons why doctors run late.

I have a friend who's a doctor. It has become a thankless job, mired down in paperwork, continuous threats of litigation for really what amounts to not such great pay for the amount of liability and responsibility a doctor has. Not a profession I'd encourage a loved one to go into.

There was a day when it was very financially lucrative. That's not the case any more. Granted no MD is probably ever going to starve but my friend pretty much works a 12 hour day every day, takes call, does some weekend coverage. And every insurance nickels and dimes them to death now.

The article doesn't really give various reasons why doctors are late. It gives one reason, several ways: the doctor is late because he/she is doing something important with another patient. That is the doctor's job. If the article gave reasons like mired in paperwork, demands from insurance companies or board of directors, or even putzing around on Facebook, then at least that would be an attempt to get to the root of the problem, but saying that doctors are late because they are doing their job 9 different ways, 8 of which involve various specialties, is just 9 ways to toot the horn of the profession. Yes, doctors do important work. So do many, many other professions yet many doctors seem to expect a pass or to be placed on a pedestal. We need to take away the pedestal.

 

[Offsides]

At my office (pediatrician), if you are late for a well visit and we are booked we usually ask to reschedule. If you are late for a sick visit, you are squeezed in because sick kids need to be seen- though we do advise that you may have a wait and/or be seen by another doctor.

We usually run on time, or pretty close to it, but things do come up that cause the doctors to run behind. Most often, a patient will call and book an appointment for one thing but then come in with another, or different problem. Doesn't mean the doctor shouldn't spend time with that patient for those extra issues, BUT, if the issues were mentioned at the time of scheduling, then the appointments would have been scheduled differently (or time would have been blocked in the doctor's schedule) to accommodate the extra time needed for that patient. We also tend to get a lot of parents that make an appointment for one child and then bring in 2 or 3 that also need to be seen. They're not turned away if they are sick, but since they don't have slotted appointment times, it can back things up.

We also have office hours on Saturdays and are open late into the evening (7:30, or so) in an attempt to accommodate our patients. Also, if somebody calls at 7:25 and needs to be seen, one of the doctors will usually wait for that patient to get there (depending on the reason for the visit of course).

I'm not a doctor and I am not trying to defend all doctor behavior, but I think in any type of job where you are dealing with a human element, it is not always easy or possible to predict exactly how long something is going to take. I usually give some leeway on wait times at my own doctor's appointments because of this.

 

[cjbcam]

Dear Patient,

I'm often double or triple booked to accommodate the needs of everyone. Lower reimbursement fees and underpayments, require me to see more patients. Due to many new regulations, much of my day is spent with detailed documentation, paperwork, and signatures.

So by triple booking you are putting yourselves behind and are expecting your patients to suck it up. That's not right. Everyone has different elements to their job and even take a pay cut. You should not be making your patients suffer.
That being said I love our doctor enough to not care about the wait. When I book an appointment he is usually within 15 mins of appointment. When I call in because for example my DD dislocating her arm he will see us but we usually have to wait until he has caught up or a no show happens. To prevent no shows at a different doctors I saw you were told you would be charged 50 dollars if you were a no show.

 

[Disney Doll]

Eh true. But that just increases the feeling that Drs are selfs centered sob's. When their only concern (rather than primary concern) is their profit line then I guess they deserve the title.

So you're happy to work for free? And all the people you work with are happy to work for free? Because yes, while medicine does deal with people, there is a business aspect to it as well.

An office has expenses. Lights, equipment, salaries etc. So should the doctor shrink his practice? OK...so lay off some staff. Choose which patients he/she is going to cut loose and tell that they need to find another MD. If you like your doctor, are you going to volunteer to go to someone new? To shrink the practice to make it affordable to schedule only enough patients so that no one has a wait, these are the things MDs need to do.

 

[TLSnell1981]

So by triple booking you are putting yourselves behind and are expecting your patients to suck it up. That's not right. Everyone has different elements to their job and even take a pay cut. You should not be making your patients suffer.
That being said I love our doctor enough to not care about the wait. When I book an appointment he is usually within 15 mins of appointment. When I call in because for example my DD dislocating her arm he will see us but we usually have to wait until he has caught up or a no show happens. To prevent no shows at a different doctors I saw you were told you would be charged 50 dollars if you were a no show.

:We already don't have enough doctors, that's just what we need...fewer physicians. Let the patients suffer AND die.

 

[jahber]

So you're happy to work for free? And all the people you work with are happy to work for free? Because yes, while medicine does deal with people, there is a business aspect to it as well. An office has expenses. Lights, equipment, salaries etc. So should the doctor shrink his practice? OK...so lay off some staff. Choose which patients he/she is going to cut loose and tell that they need to find another MD. If you like your doctor, are you going to volunteer to go to someone new? To shrink the practice to make it affordable to schedule only enough patients so that no one has a wait, these are the things MDs need to do.

Yep, this is exactly what needs to happen. And I've had it happen at two doctors' offices. My kids' pediatrician wanted to spend more time at home, so she encouraged many of her more recent patients to switch to her partner (or face long waits to schedule an appt). We switched so we would have the better availability.

And my primary physician did the same thing so she could be home more. She brought in an RNP to cover for her twice a week. RNPs are "cheaper," but still a great provider option. I chose to stay with my dr and deal with less availability. My son sees the RNP. And I have never waited more than 15 minutes to be seen. On occasion I've waited in the paper gown, but my dr is always extremely apologetic. And she spends as much time with me as I need. So when I'm sitting there clothed in paper, waiting, I know it's because she's doing the same for someone else. She has also fit me in for emergency appointments (she sets a certain number aside each day) and has always gone above and beyond for me. Not all doctors are greedy money-grubbers. Some really do love what they do and prove it every day.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have to say I'm loving my doctor's office more than ever after reading all of this. They run a very tight ship. I'm usually seen within a few minutes of my appointment. And I better dress fast, because it doesn't take long for her to show up once the nurse leaves.

The one time I called in with shortness of breath, she saw me over her own lunch hour. I was really surprised.

 

[cjbcam]

:We already don't have enough doctors, that's just what we need...fewer physicians. Let the patients suffer AND die.

Your comments about my post make no sense. I don't know where I said anything about fewer physicians. Or about death. But whatever by some of these posts some doctors clearly can make it work most choose to triple book and who cares about the patients time.
Glad my doctor is not like that.