How Long Would You Wait?

[cabinetman]

I had an appointment with my cardiologist this morning. Sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes. Then got to wait in an exam room for another 1 1/2 hours. I figured after 2 hours...I'm outta here. Took my file to the desk, got my co-pay refund, and left.

How long would you wait?
.

[LCHIEN]

depends... have you had any symptoms of heart disease lately? Chest pains, heart palpitations, etc.?

[cabinetman]

depends... have you had any symptoms of heart disease lately? Chest pains, heart palpitations, etc.?

Nope. This was just a quarterly check up.
.

[germdoc]

Reminds me of my favorite doctor joke.

A man tells his physician, "Tell it to me straight, Doc. How long have I got?"

"Ten."

"Whattaya mean, ten? Years? Months?"

"9,8,7,6..."


Let me preface this by saying when my daughter had cancer at age 2, she was seen at the Mayo Clinic. (She is now 20 and living abroad--pretty healthy, thank God.) We would get there at 1 and sometimes had to wait until 2 or 3 or even 4 until she could be seen. Once we were with the doc, of course, we had his/her undivided attention. We were and continue to be grateful for her care.

Now, having said this, at my current clinic we try to minimize waits. In my opinion 30 minutes is acceptable, anything over an hour--barring an emergency, which staff are supposed to discuss up front with patients so they understand what's going on and can reschedule if necessary--is not.

I would bring it up to the office manager of that practice. Maybe you could insist on first appointment of the day, so doc is never running behind. Some doctors have OCD and are ALWAYS running behind. My former senior partner was like that. Many patients recognize this and will stick with a doctor even if it inconveniences them. My current colleagues are all punctual and try to be efficient.

Personally, I'm like you--don't like to wait. Unless my or my child's life depended on it, and the doc was God's gift to medicine--which is in truth sometimes the case--I would talk to the OM and consider choosing another practice if your needs can't be accomodated.

[cwithboat]

I had minor surgery (knee) last week. On the doctor's surgery day they bring everybody in a 7:15 and stack 'em up. I was lucky I was second in line.

[jackellis]

I just had my bi-annual physical. In and out in an hour, including the paperwork before, blood pressure, height, weight, consultation, poking, prodding, etc. Didn't even have time to read the magazine I'd brought along. My doctor tries hard to keep things on schedule, which is one of the things I like about her.

Waiting for more than 10 minutes past the appointment time and then waiting again in the exam room for more than a few minutes is unacceptable. You should complain to the doctor directly.

[smorris]

Our current doctor is pretty good but I did once leave after he kept me waiting for an hour and had the office manager note that I had to leave for business. He was very apologetic on my next visit and hasn't kept me waiting long since.

The doctor before him used to think that keeping us waiting was a competition it seemed, he got quite annoyed when I sent him a bill for my time billed at $175 an hour.

[Ed62]

Our family doctor recently passed away from a heart attack at 61 years of age. We used to wait a minimum of 1 hour (usually), and at times 2 hours. We've seen our new doc twice. First time was a 5 minute wait. Next time it was close to 1/2 hour. The wait for the new doc is acceptable, but we were ready to change doctors before our old doc passed because of the wait.

I just had a carotid ultra sound today. The appointment was noon, but they told me to come early because there was paperwork. I was there before 11:45, but didn't get called for my test until 12:35. I was ready to get my order back, and go elsewhere for my test, when they called me in. I guess those who make out schedules don't care how important your time is to you. Or if you are sick, how uncomfortable you are, waiting. It will continue to be that way until the public doesn't put up with it any longer.

Ed

[final_t]

I once waited in an empty doc's office for almost two hours. I billed her for my standard consulting rate of $175/hour, because (a) I was the only person there and (b) she was laughing and carrying on in her office. When she refused to pay, I took it up with the insurance company - they paid, and dropped her from their list of doctors because others have complained about her.
New doc is much better.
Rule of thumb is shoot for early morning (before 10am) appointments - almost always on time.

[JSUPreston]

I had one doctor who did surgery on me (appendix) who really stuck it to me. I was in college at the time. He cancelled my first follow up, his receptionist kindly left me a message at m apartment just a few minutes before the appointment, when I was already on the way. I got their, signed in and waited for over an hour before she remembered the doctor was gone for the day.

When he actually kept the appointment, I waited in the reception area for 3 hours before being called back. Then, I fell asleep on the exam table because I was kept waiting another 1 1/2 hours. When he was removing the staples (17 of them), I of course leaned up just a little to watch out of curiosity. The ***hole had the nerve to try to hand me the staple remover and asked "Do you want to do it yourself?" He was not joking, either. I would've have left, except I didn't know how to get those things out of my gut without help.

Flash forward 7 years. I go to the bank to take out a loan. I am not approved because I have been taken to collections. Apparently, a copay was missed, and the ****head decided he wanted the $20. I wound up having to pay nearly $200 to get out of collections.

I should've sued him after the surgery and follow up for malpractice. Before he cut on me, he said I had a hernia. It was nearly two weeks after I went to the ER the first time before they operated. When they cut me open to fix the hernia, that's when they finally saw that my appendix was so inflamed that "it had adheared to other organs." This misdiagnosis was after he said I had passed a kidney stone. Please, I was 23 at the time, and I think I would've known if I had peed a rock.

I haven't gone to my current GP in several years because he is a jerk as well. I was having a little problem with 'roids when I went to the bathroom. Rather than being discreet in the examination, he opened the door of the exam room and yelled for someone to "bring me the proctoscope." Needless to say, everyone in office heard and I could see them laughing at me as I went to pay my bill and leave.

No offense to any of our doctor friends on the board, but as a patient, I expected to be treated with respect, to have the doctor LISTEN to me, and to treat me in a reasonable amount of time. I understand emergencies come up, but most doctors that I've dealt with don't give a rip. The best doctors I've had are my current dentist, the doc from the Hughston Clinic who fixed my knee, and my current and previous eye doctor.

Sorry I've been a little long winded. To the original posting, I don't think I would've waited much longer myself. Maybe I should try billing the next time the doctor keeps me waiting. I'll take 30 minutes without any explanation. After that, please tell me why I had to wait.

[justaguy]

I typically will allow 30 minutes maybe 45 during cold and flu season. There have been a few times when I've been kept waiting longer and I've told them I was leaving and requested a refund for my copayment. I have had two doctors that kept me waiting more than 30 minutes several times in a row and I changed doctors as a result. I'll forgive a bad day every now and then. Keep me waiting every time I come to the office and you lose my business.

[Uncle Cracker]

That was a stress test, C-Man... You failed...

[MilDoc]

Did you ask what the delay was? Sometimes another patient is in dire straits and everyone gets behind. If that happens to me and the wait gets to be over 30 minutes the nurse informs all waiting patients with the option to wait or reschedule.

OTOH, some docs just can't stay on time.

[Bruce Cohen]

I remember waiting to see this doctor for about 1 1/2 Hrs. Then they finally took me, at the end I recieved a bill, had to pay it and then send it to my insurance company. Well this was the boom time of the dot com economy and I was making some big bucks.

I looked at the bill and told the receptionist that the doctor owed me $100.00. I explained that I bill my time at $200.00 per Hr.

Revenge is sweet,

Bruce

[cgallery]

Boy, you guys are patient (no pun intended).

I guess I'm lucky but I've never had to wait more than 15 minutes in the waiting room and another 5-10 in the exam room.

I know healthcare in this are (SE Wisconsin) is about as expensive as it gets. Perhaps this "no waiting" is the reason.