Waiting in a Doctor's Office. How long is too long?

Hobbes

hedonist said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

There should be a limit as to how long a person can wait before leaving.
The length of time - not sure on that one.

PS: Hedo - where are you with your Seinfeld reference with regard to waiting rooms?
This thread has that episode written all over it.

Ha! There are actually two - no, three - episodes I can think of that relate to this.

This was the first that came to mind....

hedonist

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

hedonist said:

Missing wallet.
Sexy magazines in the waiting room.
George and the delicate genius.

I guess i should have clarified it was during one of his monologues before a show he references a waiting room at the doctors.

It's weird how I remember the episodes themselves better than the monologues.

And yes, Hobbes!

Hobbes

Ah, I see you mentioned those while I was searching for a pic.

PJfanwillneverleave1

This thread made me immediately think of this OP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvLMBnJ12Z8

brianlux

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

This thread made me immediately think of this OP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvLMBnJ12Z8

"I hate the little waiting room."

"There's no chance of not waiting 'cause they call it the waiting room"

"The next waiting room. The little waiting room."

Haha! Perfect!

Leezestarr313

I think that is ridiculous and unfair. Especially with the costs. It is disrespectful, in my opinion. People have jobs, not everyone has the time to lurk around in a waiting room the whole day. I had doctors here who want you to pay a "penalty fee" if you don't cancel your appointment in time. They should live up to that too. Why even make an appointment if you have to wait that long? My gyn is also delivering babies and told me right away that there might be times when he is not available. However, his staff will let you know. Also, wouldn't you kind of think that the staff has experiences with making appointments and the time the doctor takes and maybe puts in a little more time between them to have room?

ldent42

I think it also depends on the type of doctor. My GP is in a clinic so I expect long wait times. I've never waited LESS than an hour, yes by appointment, they don't generally take walk ins.
The next one is my physical therapy. The appointments to see the doctor are crazy. I waited 3 hours once. The physical therapy is usually 5 minutes or less, but for the doctors it's crazy, usually like an hour and a half at minimum.
But for the private practice specialists I don't have this problem. The podiatrist, the dentist, the glaucoma test doctor, and the ENT have like 15 minutes or less wait times.

Which reminds me. I need to find a new glaucoma test doctor. The old one doesnt take my insurance. Boo.

WhatYouTaughtMe

I had an experience today that made me think of this thread.

First visit with a new specialist. Didn't wait long and the doctor seemed like a nice enough guy. He ordered bloodwork which can be done in the lab right in their office. Sweet! At 4:00 he tells me to sit tight, someone will get me in a couple minutes to take me over to get the work done. At 4:25, his assistant comes in with the order and a list of addresses of places to get it done. I repeated what the doctor said and was informed their lab closes at 4:30. I said "fantastic! It's only 4:25!" To my surprise, they politely said go fuck yourself, she's closed down for the day.

Sooo, because this lady wanted to knock off a few minutes early and ignore the doctor's order, I now have to wait until I can fit it in my insane schedule. I will most certainly be finding a different specialist's office. It's one thing to wait to see the doctor, but this lady ran out the clock on me and refused to take the two minutes to draw my blood. Leaving me sitting for almost half an hour for absolutely no reason. Ruined an already horrible day.

brianlux

WhatYouTaughtMe said:

I had an experience today that made me think of this thread.

First visit with a new specialist. Didn't wait long and the doctor seemed like a nice enough guy. He ordered bloodwork which can be done in the lab right in their office. Sweet! At 4:00 he tells me to sit tight, someone will get me in a couple minutes to take me over to get the work done. At 4:25, his assistant comes in with the order and a list of addresses of places to get it done. I repeated what the doctor said and was informed their lab closes at 4:30. I said "fantastic! It's only 4:25!" To my surprise, they politely said go fuck yourself, she's closed down for the day.

Sooo, because this lady wanted to knock off a few minutes early and ignore the doctor's order, I now have to wait until I can fit it in my insane schedule. I will most certainly be finding a different specialist's office. It's one thing to wait to see the doctor, but this lady ran out the clock on me and refused to take the two minutes to draw my blood. Leaving me sitting for almost half an hour for absolutely no reason. Ruined an already horrible day.

That the kind of thing that makes you want to...

WhatYouTaughtMe

Well isn't this just spectacular. I arrive early for an appointment with a different specialist. To my surprise, they call me back five minutes early. Good start.

It has now been an hour in the little room and a doctor's assistant just came in to inform me the doctor is "on his way" from a hospital where he was performing a procedure.

So you're telling me the guy hasn't even been in the building this whole time? As if all these repetitive doctor appointments weren't frustrating enough. Would a phone call asking to move my appointment be too much of a hassle?

Reaching my limit of bullshit lately.

mickeyrat

brianlux said:

hedonist said:

northerndragon said:

I second jeffbr, if they notified you that they were behind or that there was a delay for an emergency then you can make a call about your options.
Most Dr.s are 5 mins plus late, after half an hour I get up and demand an update from the front desk staff. If they can't give me one I leave. When I book another appt. I remind them repeatedly about my excessive wait last time. I'm a Dr. doesn't hold any weight with me, when they behave like your time isn't important all they are is a douche.

"After half an hour" - how fucked up is that?

Fortunately I haven't been for awhile, but I'd consider 15 minutes, maybe 20, as pushing it.

And they always push it!

Updates would be nice but never ever expected without a prompt.

Were you in the exam room all gowned up, B?

No, after 45 minutes they put me in a room with no windows and nothing to read and after 15 minutes of THAT nonsense I just walked out!

WhatYouTaughtMe said:

brianlux said:

I had a non-emergency appointment with my gastroenterologist today at 10:30 AM. At 11:30, I walked. A friend of mine said I shouldn't have done that. I argued that if I had reservations for dinner and arrived on time and had to wait an hour and was still not given a table I would walk. Was I unreasonable? How long is too long to wait in a doctor's office for a non-emergency visit?

You waited longer than I would have. If they don't even value your time with some sort of explanation, you shouldn't have to sit there in limbo. How is the doctor? Do you have a good relationship? If not, maybe consider looking for another if this happens repeatedly.

I saw him briefly once before and he seemed OK. The thing is, I'm supposed to have this guy do a colonoscopy on me. Oooooo-kay. So how does that work? They stick a camera up my butt and then take an hour lunch break? "OK, Mr. Lux, just lie still. We'll catch up with you later." Yeowee!

send them a bill for your time and the missed appt.

Also dont know how your relationship is with your dr , but you might consider finding a new one. And send an exit interview type letter as to why.

WhatYouTaughtMe

mickeyrat said:

brianlux said:

hedonist said:

northerndragon said:

I second jeffbr, if they notified you that they were behind or that there was a delay for an emergency then you can make a call about your options.
Most Dr.s are 5 mins plus late, after half an hour I get up and demand an update from the front desk staff. If they can't give me one I leave. When I book another appt. I remind them repeatedly about my excessive wait last time. I'm a Dr. doesn't hold any weight with me, when they behave like your time isn't important all they are is a douche.

"After half an hour" - how fucked up is that?

Fortunately I haven't been for awhile, but I'd consider 15 minutes, maybe 20, as pushing it.

And they always push it!

Updates would be nice but never ever expected without a prompt.

Were you in the exam room all gowned up, B?

No, after 45 minutes they put me in a room with no windows and nothing to read and after 15 minutes of THAT nonsense I just walked out!

WhatYouTaughtMe said:

brianlux said:

I had a non-emergency appointment with my gastroenterologist today at 10:30 AM. At 11:30, I walked. A friend of mine said I shouldn't have done that. I argued that if I had reservations for dinner and arrived on time and had to wait an hour and was still not given a table I would walk. Was I unreasonable? How long is too long to wait in a doctor's office for a non-emergency visit?

You waited longer than I would have. If they don't even value your time with some sort of explanation, you shouldn't have to sit there in limbo. How is the doctor? Do you have a good relationship? If not, maybe consider looking for another if this happens repeatedly.

I saw him briefly once before and he seemed OK. The thing is, I'm supposed to have this guy do a colonoscopy on me. Oooooo-kay. So how does that work? They stick a camera up my butt and then take an hour lunch break? "OK, Mr. Lux, just lie still. We'll catch up with you later." Yeowee!

send them a bill for your time and the missed appt.

Also dont know how your relationship is with your dr , but you might consider finding a new one. And send an exit interview type letter as to why.

Edit - I'm so mad I didn't realize you were responding to Brian, not me.

Second visit to this specialist. Looks like I will be shopping for another. If he didn't have results from some tests, I'd be walking out about now.

chadwick

im a waiting son of a bitch. I can wait all fuckin g day & barely give a dar n. sure i'll be jammed up & like 'wtf dude'

i'll go fibd

i'll go find a bed or a urinal or a zebra or a monkey or a file or a filing cabinet or a picture or a wheel or a piece of foam or a light or a string or sting the guy

chadwick

speaking of waiting around awhile ... look up 'carlos hathcock'
he was a marine sniper In Vietnam. hid for days w/out moving. sometimes crawled moving ahead like a caterpillar pretending to be a bush

Sprunkn7

To answer the ? is yes, an hour is too long to wait without anyone telling you there is an issue.

I work in a drs office and we are extremely conscience of what time a pt came in and how the time flow is going. As the assistant that is a huge part of my job. Making sure people are taken car of in a timely manner otherwise the Doc would be in a room yapping all day with them. We're pretty good but sometimes there is an emergency or a person that has a lot of questions. We get a lot of bleeding people and that can be a problem. I let people know if there is an excessive delay or if he is running behind we tell them that when they check in. If someone comes to our front desk and say they are waiting too long and have to leave we buzz the dr and tell them. They usually come right to a room and start the visit. However they will not "skimp" on care because of a time constraint. After 12 years I have had one person follow through and leave.

On the other side of the fence...patients can be very difficult especially when they don't feel well or are nervous. People walk in 20 minutes late then ask if he is running on time. I tell them we will do our best but he is seeing patients that have a scheduled appointment and we will fit them in. They look at me like I have three heads...They were late and we would not refuse anyone an appointment but people can be rude, pushy and try to bully their way into getting what they want...happens everyday.
It works both ways. being nice to patients is a priority but sometimes it's a real challenge. We charge a no show if it's habitual ($35)...I think that's fair. Our office bends over backwards but most in our building don't...patients love us because of it :-)