Frustration with canceled Doctor's Appointments

[tvguy]

In these circumstances, I'd probably look for other doctors.

As others have commented, there is a shortage of specialists. So there are NO other Doctors. There are only two Nephrologist groups here, and both have a 6 month wait for new patients. It's a sellers market as they say.

 

[monsterkitty]

I have two friends on my triathlon team, one who is a doctor and the other an oncology PA, who both work for the same system.

Both had vacations scheduled and then cancelled a week before because of the shortage. They then had to reschedule their vacations which meant they had to reschedule patients.

So it is possible that your appointments were cancelled or postponed so the doctor could go on the vacation that had been cancelled due to shortages.

This was my original comment. You replied with this:

None of my Doctors that I am aware of ever work in the hospital. Hospitalists do all that.

Your reply made it sound as if my friends were "hospitalists." They are not so I replied with this:

Neither one of them work in a hospital.

Not sure what you are saying. Yes, Hospitalists do work in a hospital, that is all they do.

I never said that hospitalists do not work in a hospital. I was stating that my friends, who have both had their own vacations cancelled because of shortages then rescheduled appointments they would miss with the new vacation time.

I'm sorry that your appointments were cancelled. However, people in the medical field also have things come up and must reschedule at times. It stinks but it is what it is.

 

[RangerPooh]

I received a call the other day that the doctor I'm scheduled to meet with on the 30th of this month will now be out of the office. They did offer me an appt on the 27th, at a time when I'm traveling out of state. It was either take it or wait until February. I made the appt back in August, so it peeves me a bit. Especially as my August appt was almost 2 hours behind schedule before I was finally seen. And that appt was made in early May.

I understand that there's a shortage in medical providers, and I try to be patient and understanding. Yet sometimes I wonder why they lack the advance planning? Yes things come up, but if you already know that your office is overbooked (on a daily and monthly basis) then perhaps it's time to add staff.

 

[tvguy]

Yet sometimes I wonder why they lack the advance planning? Yes things come up, but if you already know that your office is overbooked (on a daily and monthly basis) then perhaps it's time to add staff.

I'm retired, so I rarely have a scheduling conflict with a new date, but when you make an appointment 6 months in advance, and the first new opening is 5 months after the appointment they canceled, it is frustrating.
It doesn't help that my wife and I worked for companies where the policy was to book vacation time as far in advance as possible. For my wife's company, the policy.........established through negotiations between the company and the Union......is that vacation requests are due on September 1st for the NEXT year.

 

[focusondisney]

I understand that there's a shortage in medical providers, and I try to be patient and understanding. Yet sometimes I wonder why they lack the advance planning? Yes things come up, but if you already know that your office is overbooked (on a daily and monthly basis) then perhaps it's time to add staff.

If you understand there’s a shortage of medical providers, where do you propose they find staff to add???

 

[Dan Murphy]

My history is in MyChart. I look it over before each appointment

MyChart is great. Pulls in all the doctors, hospitals, appointments, tests, meds, from everywhere into a nice concise format.

 

[DisneyHardin]

MyChart is great. Pulls in all the doctors, hospitals, appointments, tests, meds, from everywhere into a nice concise format.

I LOVE MyChart. We have 3 large hospital/medical groups in our city and they all use Epic (the program associated with MyChart) and I love that they can all see each others stuff in the system.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I LOVE MyChart. We have 3 large hospital/medical groups in our city and they all use Epic (the program associated with MyChart) and I love that they can all see each others stuff in the system.

Yes, the Epic software runs it and ties it all together. And so easy to message various providers and get responses. I've taken EKG's on my Kardia device, messaged them to my electrophysiologist and received reply back within 24 hours. Easy peasy.

 

[kymom99]

Yes, the Epic software runs it and ties it all together. And so easy to message various providers and get responses. I've taken EKG's on my Kardia device, messaged them to my electrophysiologist and received reply back within 24 hours. Easy peasy.

Yes! I love being able to message my doctor whenever I need to. No more calling and waiting on hold, then waiting for a return call.

 

[RangerPooh]

If you understand there’s a shortage of medical providers, where do you propose they find staff to add???

I only said it as a way to give them grace. But like others my patience is starting to run thin. There are new DNP, PA, MD, and DO students graduating every semester who depending on the position could possibly fill it. Employers have to be willing to hire additional staff and be willing to pay enough to fill them.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I’d be aggravated too.
It wasn’t to smart to tell the canceled patients about the vacation - they should of just said that he is unfortunately going to be out of the office at that time. It would still be aggravating, but not as aggravating as hearing he decided to take a vacation.

My own personal experience...not normal. At least if not forced by the medical/hospital group. Can't imagine a physician's staff giving that explanation.

 

[focusondisney]

I only said it as a way to give them grace. But like others my patience is starting to run thin. There are new DNP, PA, MD, and DO students graduating every semester who depending on the position could possibly fill it. Employers have to be willing to hire additional staff and be willing to pay enough to fill them.

Even large medical systems want their providers happy. Employers may be willing to add staff. But a shortage be definition means there are not enough providers available to fill the need. There were shortages of many of the medical professions well before the pandemic. Retirement rates for all professions are now higher than normal. So the shortages have gotten worse. All those new providers may have their own ideas about where they want to work. And it may not be where those employers are.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Even large medical systems want their providers happy. Employers may be willing to add staff. But a shortage be definition means there are not enough providers available to fill the need. There were shortages of many of the medical professions well before the pandemic. Retirement rates for all professions are now higher than normal. So the shortages have gotten worse. All those new providers may have their own ideas about where they want to work. And it may not be where those employers are.

Affordable care. Called it over a decade ago. Numbers don't lie..You must be able to, pay staff.

 

[sasywtch]

I have Kaiser and the appointments are getting further and further out. I've noticed he's been out of the office quite a bit since covid started. A lot more than normal. During covid, I thought maybe they were assigning gp's to the hospital to help like they were the nurses and techs who had to man the doors checking temps/handing out masks. It has continued on. I do know he told me that since everyone can apply for Kaiser now, they were given directives of how much time they can spend with each patient and get in trouble if they go over. He was not happy about it. I've had my dr for so long that he can usually order prescriptions for me over an email since I have had the same issues. If I need like a physical, then it's a few months. If I have something more severe and it says 3 months out, I can call and they usually get me in. Here, the gp's don't do hospital rotations. The only dr's that go to the hospitals are the specialists who do the surgeries.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I only said it as a way to give them grace. But like others my patience is starting to run thin. There are new DNP, PA, MD, and DO students graduating every semester who depending on the position could possibly fill it. Employers have to be willing to hire additional staff and be willing to pay enough to fill them.

Where I work they are more than willing to pay and hire, but as fast as we’re hiring, we’re losing others. People are burnt out. Many who were somewhat near retirement called it a day. Others changed jobs or cut their hours. New staff come in and some realize it’s too hard, and leave within a short time. I’ve had several young nurses tell me they find themselves crying before their shifts because they are anxious about what awaits them for the next 12 hrs - often very difficult circumstances that are hard for most people to imagine. But I am not talking just about nurses, or hospitals. There is a global shortage of health care workers in the US, and it affects health care on every level. Higher ups where I work tell me it’s everywhere. There is so much to it, it’s hard to explain. And honestly it’s not something I really care to think much about on my day off! But I will leave this here that gives a little glimpse into that world.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...taff-shortages-choking-u-s-health-care-system

 

[Southernmiss]

Here's an excellent article on the current and growing shortage of physicians.

https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-m...re-here-and-they-ll-get-worse-if-we-don-t-act