FYI: Most Doctor's Offices Close at 5pm!

[java]

Weekends are acute visits only- we do have some evening appts available during the week though.

And by evening you would mean 4:30?
Our pediatrician wouldn't book well visists more than a 2 months in advance. Then if you called in May - they are booked all summer(What happened to the 2 month thing? ) And why only acute visits on a Saturday? Doesn't seem very patient friendly. How many patients do you have? And how many well appointments are available in "non- 9-5" times?

All of this is pretty much a non-issue for me as I hate the Doctor and go only when they make me-And I prefer to keep my kids out of there as everytime we go in for a well visit they end up sick.

 

[Mermaid02]

And by evening you would mean 4:30?
Our pediatrician wouldn't book well visists more than a 2 months in advance. Then if you called in May - they are booked all summer(What happened to the 2 month thing? ) And why only acute visits on a Saturday? Doesn't seem very patient friendly. How many patients do you have? And how many well appointments are available in "non- 9-5" times?

All of this is pretty much a non-issue for me as I hate the Doctor and go only when they make me-And I prefer to keep my kids out of there as everytime we go in for a well visit they end up sick.

No- our latest appt is 7:30. The docs take turns with the late appts. Doctors have families too. When they are on for the weekend... not only do they see patients for acute visits.... they are seeing patients who are in the hospital. They are going to the ER to see patients...

We are booking through the end of February right now.... the number of office visits (well child and other non emergent visits- wart removal or med checks for example) varies from day to day.

 

[Fitswimmer]

Well I would have to pick a different pharmacy then! Around here many are open 24 hours and all are open until at least 9pm every night.
I also would switch Dr's if they clsoed at 5pm, that is nuts! How exactly would people that work 8-5 ecer get to see a Dr without having to take a day off from work????

All of my MD's have at least 2 days a week for evening hours so that working people can get in. I didn't choose them for that reason, but it makes a difference. I use Target's pharmacy, so they're there when it's convenient for me.

Even banks have learned to cater to working people. I use Commerce and they are even open on Sundays and Monday Holidays like Labor Day.

 

[java]

You know wouldn't it make sense to have a "well visit" day of the month? Like well visits are scheduled on the first Friday of every month. With one doctor perfoming only the well visits(another could be dealing with the sick emergencies)

Last year when I took my little guy in for a scheduled appointment- the doctor had us waiting for an especially long time. There was a very sick child in the room next to us. When she finished with him she came right on in to our room. Maybe I was out of line but I requested that she wash her hands- she was coming on in towards my child- hands out. No thanks. She apologized and went for the sanitizer.

Not a fan of the doctors. I have several friends that are doctors= pediatricians, surgeons. They share horror stories about the other doctors that would curl your hair!

Oh and we are rural so our choice is limited to 2 practices. I chose the one with the doctor I loved- not necessarily the most convenient.

 

[Mermaid02]

You know wouldn't it make sense to have a "well visit" day of the month? Like well visits are scheduled on the first Friday of every month. With one doctor perfoming only the well visits(another could be dealing with the sick emergencies)

Last year when I took my little guy in for a scheduled appointment- the doctor had us waiting for an especially long time. There was a very sick child in the room next to us. When she finished with him she came right on in to our room. Maybe I was out of line but I requested that she wash her hands- she was coming on in towards my child- hands out. No thanks. She apologized and went for the sanitizer.

Not a fan of the doctors. I have several friends that are doctors= pediatricians, surgeons. They share horror stories about the other doctors that would curl your hair!

Oh and we are rural so our choice is limited to 2 practices. I chose the one with the doctor I loved- not necessarily the most convenient.

But then you run into- "I will not see Dr. Bob!" We have 7 doctors in our practice.... each works their tail off.

You were right to insist on hand washing.... best way to prevent the spread of illnesses!

I've got some parent stories that would curl your hair (heck I've BEEN the parent that would curl your hair! )

 

[java]

But then you run into- "I will not see Dr. Bob!" We have 7 doctors in our practice.... each works their tail off.

You were right to insist on hand washing.... best way to prevent the spread of illnesses!

I've got some parent stories that would curl your hair (heck I've BEEN the parent that would curl your hair! )

I am about the I will not see Dr. Bob because Dr. Bob IS the doctor in the pratice we go to that most patients try to avoid! I don't have a problem with him. Actually they are all fine by me. Especially since we rarely go. But we will be there tomorrow am for a physical. Should be tons of fun.

 

[pooh4evr]

My DH is an Internist his "office hours" are from 9-5 however that does not count the people he sees in the hospitals, he usually leaves for work by 6 am and is home at 8pm - so for all of you who say Iwould not see a Dr who closes at 5 - just when do you expect them to have a life, or see people in hospitals??? I guess I get defensive when people who have no idea what goes on in the offices or what the Doctors deal with "after hours" start calling them out for having bad practices. He has tried to take days off for family vacations or just to have a day to himself - he still gets calls from the hospitals, and patients who know he is off. And yes when he is on call people call all hours of the night for a sore throat, a stomachache, a cold, or a refill on something-- can't it wait until lets say 7am instead of 3- now calls for emergencies are one thing but really lets use some common sense. Of course I am not even counting the numerous calls he gets during the day to his pager, all the work excuse, and insurance forms he has to fill out and dealing with the families of his more elderly patients. Usually lunch is when they try to get that stuff done too, besides fill out all the medical charts and completing his notes on the patients too. I know some of you are thinking thats why they get paid so much - ummm no you would be surprised what Drs really are paid, and how much of it goes straight to paying student loans. Sorry for the long post I guess I just want people to think about things- Doctors are people too with families and lives outside of the office, they aren't perfect but who is??

 

[delilah]

My DH is an Internist his "office hours" are from 9-5 however that does not count the people he sees in the hospitals, he usually leaves for work by 6 am and is home at 8pm - so for all of you who say Iwould not see a Dr who closes at 5 - just when do you expect them to have a life, or see people in hospitals??? I guess I get defensive when people who have no idea what goes on in the offices or what the Doctors deal with "after hours" start calling them out for having bad practices. He has tried to take days off for family vacations or just to have a day to himself - he still gets calls from the hospitals, and patients who know he is off. And yes when he is on call people call all hours of the night for a sore throat, a stomachache, a cold, or a refill on something-- can't it wait until lets say 7am instead of 3- now calls for emergencies are one thing but really lets use some common sense. Of course I am not even counting the numerous calls he gets during the day to his pager, all the work excuse, and insurance forms he has to fill out and dealing with the families of his more elderly patients. Usually lunch is when they try to get that stuff done too, besides fill out all the medical charts and completing his notes on the patients too. I know some of you are thinking thats why they get paid so much - ummm no you would be surprised what Drs really are paid, and how much of it goes straight to paying student loans. Sorry for the long post I guess I just want people to think about things- Doctors are people too with families and lives outside of the office, they aren't perfect but who is??

This is so true about primary care physicians: general internists, family physicians, pediatricians. I am a family physician, and have been in practice about 16 years. I actually get paid about what a person with a PhD in a scientific field would get paid with that many years experience. This is because I am an employee of the hospital. Were I self-employed, I would get less. Much less. Less than many nurses get paid. If the bill we give you in the office is for $60, we might get $40 from the insurance, provided it is not medicaid. My expenses are about 65% of what I gross. So, maybe I might get $15-20 from that $60 visit. Not everybody has insurance, and some people think that doctors should see them free if they have no insurance (for real; I get this question every day). Medicaid actually pays less than my expenses for the time spent for a visit on each and every patient we see. That is why many doctors don't accept medicaid.

I am a wife and a mother. My son has homework to do in the evenings. There are things I need to do for myself to keep myself healthy. This is why my office closes at 5pm--to give me a chance to have a family life. I don't earn enough money to hire a live in house maid to clean my house and prepare my meals. I have to go to the grocery, do the laundry and tend my yard just like anybody else does. Remember, primary care doctors are earning middle class level wages. I don't see teachers with live-in housekeepers, do you? Then, why would a family physician have one?

 

[ZPT1022]

I just had to comment on this.....

You have to remember that the answering service does not set the rules...the doctor or their office does and I would bet anything that this office has left strict instructions at the service not to call them during lunch...now when you complain, they aren't going to tell you that, but we have MANY offices that give us this instruction and I have been yelled at many times for calling during lunch for things that seemed to be a real emergency. It makes no difference to us at the answering service, if a doctor wants to be paged for every call he gets, that is what we do...I have a few doctors like that, but most, right or wrong, have very specific instructions about what we can reach them for and get very upset with us if we don't follow those instructions.

Good point, but the delivery is part of it. A simple "I'm sorry, the DR's are at lunch and we are not allowed to page them" would have worked. I wound up taking my daughter straight to Children's Hospital ER (never realized my minivan could go that fast ) where she was rushed right in. I just know that my allergist has me call in for an allergic reaction. They either see you there where they can help you or send you off to the ER but call the ER to tell them to expect you. I guess I just figured it would be similar procedure. Nope, don't interrupt the lunch I called the office after we were discharged from the hospital and let them know I was upset that they were unavailable in an emergency and the response I received was less than satisfactory. That is part of the reason we are now with a new practice, and that was one of the things I talked about with the new DR when we met.



ETA- I would never call during off hours for something routine. I've done it accidentally before and just asked when I should call back and normally get the answer, say thanks, and that's it. However, I do think it's fair to expect my call to be taken for an emergency. To me an emergency is an asthma episode, an allergic reaction, or something like the time I pulled something in my neck and couldn't move from the neck down. THOSE are emergencies- sniffles, normal colds, diaper rash, etc...... are not. I do realize that there are people who can't tell the difference and I realize that DR's deal with a lot of BS.

 

[java]

This is so true about primary care physicians: general internists, family physicians, pediatricians. I am a family physician, and have been in practice about 16 years. I actually get paid about what a person with a PhD in a scientific field would get paid with that many years experience. This is because I am an employee of the hospital. Were I self-employed, I would get less. Much less. Less than many nurses get paid. If the bill we give you in the office is for $60, we might get $40 from the insurance, provided it is not medicaid. My expenses are about 65% of what I gross. So, maybe I might get $15-20 from that $60 visit. Not everybody has insurance, and some people think that doctors should see them free if they have no insurance (for real; I get this question every day). Medicaid actually pays less than my expenses for the time spent for a visit on each and every patient we see. That is why many doctors don't accept medicaid.

I am a wife and a mother. My son has homework to do in the evenings. There are things I need to do for myself to keep myself healthy. This is why my office closes at 5pm--to give me a chance to have a family life. I don't earn enough money to hire a live in house maid to clean my house and prepare my meals. I have to go to the grocery, do the laundry and tend my yard just like anybody else does. Remember, primary care doctors are earning middle class level wages. I don't see teachers with live-in housekeepers, do you? Then, why would a family physician have one?

Wow where are you working? Primary care doctors I know are making well into the six figures. (more than what I would consider Middle class level wages) in private practice. Again you made a choice to be a physician. You have every right to set your hours and run your practice any way you want. It is a business and I don't fault any doctor for trying to run it as one. If there is a true emergency I think I would call 911 faster than my doctor. Now with you working in a hospital that would change everything I think.

Really when I was in school I specifically did not chose medical because I wanted a life. There are sacrafices with almost every career. It sure does seem though that certain ones complain about it a lot more. Which I think is why people get slighly put off by it. Or I should say that is why I get slightly put off by it.

 

[Mermaid02]

Good point, but the delivery is part of it. A simple "I'm sorry, the DR's are at lunch and we are not allowed to page them" would have worked. I wound up taking my daughter straight to Children's Hospital ER (never realized my minivan could go that fast ) where she was rushed right in. I just know that my allergist has me call in for an allergic reaction. They either see you there where they can help you or send you off to the ER but call the ER to tell them to expect you. I guess I just figured it would be similar procedure. Nope, don't interrupt the lunch I called the office after we were discharged from the hospital and let them know I was upset that they were unavailable in an emergency and the response I received was less than satisfactory. That is part of the reason we are now with a new practice, and that was one of the things I talked about with the new DR when we met.





ETA- I would never call during off hours for something routine. I've done it accidentally before and just asked when I should call back and normally get the answer, say thanks, and that's it. However, I do think it's fair to expect my call to be taken for an emergency. To me an emergency is an asthma episode, an allergic reaction, or something like the time I pulled something in my neck and couldn't move from the neck down. THOSE are emergencies- sniffles, normal colds, diaper rash, etc...... are not. I do realize that there are people who can't tell the difference and I realize that DR's deal with a lot of BS.

No offense, but it sounds like you shouldn't even have bothered calling the pediatrician. This was an ER worthy problem. We do NOT want patients calling us and saying "Suzie is having an anaphylactic reaction...." take her to the ER!

 

[ZPT1022]

No offense, but it sounds like you shouldn't even have bothered calling the pediatrician. This was an ER worthy problem. We do NOT want patients calling us and saying "Suzie is having an anaphylactic reaction...." take her to the ER!

At the point that I called, it was hives. Head to toe hives that started with no real reason we could find (turned out to be a reaction to an illness), and were quite scary, but she could breathe. I've found with our local hospitals that having the Dr's office call seems to speed up the process significantly. Whether or not you are actually seen there, having the Dr call and say "So and so is on their way for ______" gets you right on in the door instead of waiting. That's why I call for asthma stuff at night. Without calling we might wait, when they call we walk in and walk up to the window, they open the door, and in we go. I guess I figured since they do that in the middle of the night for asthma, they would do that in the middle of the day for an allergic reaction.

 

[Mermaid02]

At the point that I called, it was hives. Head to toe hives that started with no real reason we could find (turned out to be a reaction to an illness), and were quite scary, but she could breathe. I've found with our local hospitals that having the Dr's office call seems to speed up the process significantly. Whether or not you are actually seen there, having the Dr call and say "So and so is on their way for ______" gets you right on in the door instead of waiting. That's why I call for asthma stuff at night. Without calling we might wait, when they call we walk in and walk up to the window, they open the door, and in we go. I guess I figured since they do that in the middle of the night for asthma, they would do that in the middle of the day for an allergic reaction.

Gotcha!

 

[ZPT1022]

Gotcha!

I probably wasn't clear enough the first time. We can blame mommy brain

 

[MagicalMom]

They may have thought the Dr had an automated service. My children's ped has great one. We can call at any time to leave a message. Ex. press 1 for refills needed, press 2 to cx appt. press 3 to leave a message, press 4 for an emergancy, press 5 for directions. etc. It's very handy.

 

[Abbie]

This is so true about primary care physicians: general internists, family physicians, pediatricians. I am a family physician, and have been in practice about 16 years. I actually get paid about what a person with a PhD in a scientific field would get paid with that many years experience. This is because I am an employee of the hospital. Were I self-employed, I would get less. Much less. Less than many nurses get paid. If the bill we give you in the office is for $60, we might get $40 from the insurance, provided it is not medicaid. My expenses are about 65% of what I gross. So, maybe I might get $15-20 from that $60 visit. Not everybody has insurance, and some people think that doctors should see them free if they have no insurance (for real; I get this question every day). Medicaid actually pays less than my expenses for the time spent for a visit on each and every patient we see. That is why many doctors don't accept medicaid.

I am a wife and a mother. My son has homework to do in the evenings. There are things I need to do for myself to keep myself healthy. This is why my office closes at 5pm--to give me a chance to have a family life. I don't earn enough money to hire a live in house maid to clean my house and prepare my meals. I have to go to the grocery, do the laundry and tend my yard just like anybody else does. Remember, primary care doctors are earning middle class level wages. I don't see teachers with live-in housekeepers, do you? Then, why would a family physician have one?

I've worked for a primary care doctor for a long time and delilah is right about the middle-class wages. I'm fairly sure some of the office staff make more than our doctor! I get so aggravated when occasionally a patient will make some comment about the doctor only being "in it for the money". That's a laugh. He's long finished with student loans but he does take a lot of medicaid patients for which he receives little and has never, ever turned anyone away for lack of payment. He will make whatever arrangement he can, whether it's accepting $20 for a visit if someone is out of work, or just billing them and letting it go unpaid, which it often does. Last week a patient said he didn't have the co-pay he needed to go to the specialist we had sent him to, so our doctor took $20 out of the day's receipts and gave it to him so he would see the specialist. No wonder the man makes so little! He's very well-loved by his patients.

Unfortunately he often gets taken advantage of by some patients, particularly the drug-seeking ones. I think he just figures they will have to live with their conscience and he will live with his.

 

[Galahad]

Unfortunately he often gets taken advantage of by some patients, particularly the drug-seeking ones.

Oh, that's the worst. DW had a prescription pad stolen once. She is an OB. The perp was a male. He was going all over town trying to get narcotics on a forged script from her (I don't think he looked pregnant). The pharmacy would alway call and he eventually got caught, but how stupid can you be?!?

 

[delilah]

Wow where are you working? Primary care doctors I know are making well into the six figures. (more than what I would consider Middle class level wages) in private practice. Again you made a choice to be a physician. You have every right to set your hours and run your practice any way you want. It is a business and I don't fault any doctor for trying to run it as one. If there is a true emergency I think I would call 911 faster than my doctor. Now with you working in a hospital that would change everything I think.

Really when I was in school I specifically did not chose medical because I wanted a life. There are sacrafices with almost every career. It sure does seem though that certain ones complain about it a lot more. Which I think is why people get slighly put off by it. Or I should say that is why I get slightly put off by it.

I'm not complaining, just stating the facts. If I were really unhappy practicing medicine, believe me, I wouldn't be. The facts are that primary care physicians work their bums off to take care of patients, and get paid less than even nurses who work in the hospital. They get paged all hours of the day and night about things that can wait until the next day, or have been going on for days, but the patient or their parent didn't want to take off school/work/soccer practice/the opera/you name it to come in for an appointment. They are told that they are overpaid, when in my case, for example, it is a fact that I get paid 30% more than my husband, who is a scientist with a MS degree. I get paid less than the PhD's who work with my husband. I just wanted to educate readers about some of the facts of medical practice. Everybody knows nurses work hard, but, somehow, they don't realize that the doctors do, as well. We think nurses and teachers deserve what they are paid, and in some cases are underpaid. But, I have had months when the money I brought home wasn't enough to pay the mortgage, and I lived in a $110,000 house with a $70,000 mortgage. That's right. I brought home less than $1000 for a month's work, and this was less than 15 years ago.

In case you haven't noticed, and I am sure you have not, the practice of medicine is vastly different today than it was when I started 15 years ago. Hospital patients are sicker, because of rules relating to when patients can be admitted. We have to see 6 patients per hour to make anything approaching a living wage. It is disingenuous to pull the "you chose to be a doctor" card when medicine has changed so greatly from when I finished residency, let alone when I was making the decisions of what to study when I was in high school and undergraduate college. I might be boasting, but I am probably intelligent enough and talented enough to have done virtually anything the world has to offer. I am not uneducated or lazy. I am not greedy. I just want two or three hours in the evening with my husband and son to spend as a family.

By the way, I don't work in a hospital. I work in a primary care office with five other physicians who are also paid by the hospital. We see outpatients primarily. If I didn't tell you, you would never know the difference between us and other family physicians. As part of our contract, we are required to see patients who are on medicaid or are uninsured. I wouldn't be able to do so otherwise.

 

[Cyndibear]

They may have thought the Dr had an automated service. My children's ped has great one. We can call at any time to leave a message. Ex. press 1 for refills needed, press 2 to cx appt. press 3 to leave a message, press 4 for an emergancy, press 5 for directions. etc. It's very handy.

I work in a Gastroenterologists office and we have a phone system like this one too. Ours has a dedicated line for test results and prescription refills. You could not imagine how many people do not listen to the prompts. They then get mad when we want to transfer them to the specific line. You all know we are just waiting for their call and have their chart right in front of us to give them the results or call in the Rx. My other pet peeve is the number of patients that have NO CLUE how their insurance works. The pt's with a manage care plan which needs a referral to see specialists and think you are speaking a different language when you mention that the Dr cannot see them without it. I also love the patients that show up to a Drs appt without their insurance cards. I always want to ask them if they go grocery shopping without any form of payment.

My husband is a plumber and has to be on call too. He gets the anoying calls too. Best one - We were getting a lot of rain and flooding during the day. At night, we had severe thunderstorms which caused power outages. One lady called around 2am and wanted Dh to come out to fix her sump pump because it was not running and her finished basement was getting flooded. When Dh questioned further, her power was out.

Sorry, just had to vent.

 

[pooh4evr]

Delilah I could not aree with you more! If we wanted to figure out what Dh gets paid hourly it probably would be tha same as a plumber, or carpenter he just works more hours- He is on call one night a week and one weekend a month holidays are rotated between he and the other 3 Drs he shares his practice with- on call means he is answering pages at home during the week , on the weekends he has to go to 2 hospitals to see all the patients his group has in the hospital - I think the most has has seen in one day was around 28 patients on a Saturday. During the week he sees about 20 in the office and maybe 5-10 in the hospitals either before or after his office hours start. I know if he could go back to undergrad he would NEVER choose to be a Dr. again!