What's An Acceptable Time To Wait At The Doctor's Office? (routine)
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Interesting. Yeah here nurses get the history and take the vitals. Then the doctor looks at the file and comes in. Does his/her thing. Then, if needed, the nurse comes back and gives any medication, go over directions, do vision or hearing tests, gives you your paper work then you go.
If you need blood work or other testing, you usually leave and go to the lab or a different department.
I wonder if that's part of the reason it costs more to see a doctor there, as the nurse is involved with every appointment as well as the doctor. I hardly ever see the nurse when I see the doctor, only if I need a CRP test or Strep test or something like that. Although it does vary, in some health centres if you want an urgent appointment you go see the nurse first and she checks you over and decides if its something the doctor needs to see or if she can treat it/tell you how to treat at home etc.
When seeing my family doctor wait times can vary from no wait to an hour and a half as it all depends on how much time he has to spend with previous patients.
A little trick i use when booking a future appointment is to make sure the secretary books me as the first customer of the day on that next appointment..
I wonder if that's part of the reason it costs more to see a doctor there, as the nurse is involved with every appointment as well as the doctor. I hardly ever see the nurse when I see the doctor, only if I need a CRP test or Strep test or something like that. Although it does vary, in some health centres if you want an urgent appointment you go see the nurse first and she checks you over and decides if its something the doctor needs to see or if she can treat it/tell you how to treat at home etc.
It supposed to make it cost less. Nurses are doing a bunch of the work at a lesser cost then if the doctor did it. And doctors can see more patients. I'm not sure why medical care costs so much here.
Just a couple weeks ago, I had an 8:15am doc appointment and the doctor was 45 minutes late. I was the SECOND appointment of the day! It was with a specialist, who I only have to see once a year, so I dealt with it. But, what really burned me about it, was her attitude. I was a new (to her, not the practice) patient, and she started off the appointment in a very antagonistic way. If it turns out that I need to see a doctor of this specialty more often, I'll be finding someone else.
The worst though, was when I checked in for an appointment, sat down, and an hour later still hadn't been called. I walked up to the desk to ask about it, and the receptionist said, Oh that doctor's not here today, all of his appointments have been canceled. Um, what?! It was an afternoon appointment, so plenty of time to actually call and cancel, but at the very least, tell me when I check in!!!! UGH!
My podiatrist took 45 minutes to see me including a half an hour in the exam room so when he came in I asked if he was running behind and he told me there were 3 other podiatrists in town.
I don't care.
I work in an ER.
I know the docs aren't making people wait because they're having coffee, practicing putting, or even taking a chance to urinate. People are waiting because it's flippin' busy.
You say, "The doc only spent 5 minutes with me!" I know that they spent more time outside your vision reviewing old records, looking at current vitals, labwork, planning the care, etc.
So I relax, read my book...hell, I already put pants on and drove here. That was 90% of the battle. So I will quietly wait and not be an arse about it.
I don't care.
I work in an ER.
I know the docs aren't making people wait because they're having coffee, practicing putting, or even taking a chance to urinate. People are waiting because it's flippin' busy.
You say, "The doc only spent 5 minutes with me!" I know that they spent more time outside your vision reviewing old records, looking at current vitals, labwork, planning the care, etc.
So I relax, read my book...hell, I already put pants on and drove here. That was 90% of the battle. So I will quietly wait and not be an arse about it.
My suggestion to anyone going to the doctor is unless you hurt so badly you can't work, bring something from the office with you. I typically bring two or three case files and, of course, my cell phone. I use the time to hand write short letters and make phone calls to different people. Many clinics will put you in an exam room to wait by yourself, if you ask, so there will be few interruptions.
I can't think of a time that I waited more than an hour even to see a specialist.
If you are retired than simply bring a book and do some reading.
I can only think of one time my wife and I became so frustrated we left. Many years ago, we saw an OB-
GYN down at the university hospital. He interrupted his visit with us to talk to another patient and when an hour had past, we simply informed the receptionist we were leaving. It happens, but it should be very rare.
15 to 20 minutes is reasonable, but up to 45 minutes is tolerable. Anything, beyond an hour is too long.
When I worked and took time off to go to an appt. and needed to get back to work it would make me angry if a doctor treated my time as less valuable than his/hers. Now that I'm retired I don't get upset, but I still don't want to wait a really long time.
Around here, if it's a specialist you're waiting to see, then wait times tend to be considerably longer than with a regular GP. Average time I've spent waiting in an office for a specialist is between 45 minutes to an hour, but it's usually because they are overbooked...and the reason tends to be that they will only schedule one day a week to see patients; the rest of the time they spend at the hospital, in surgery, seeing patients there, etc. Getting an appointment with a specialist can be considerably longer too, often two-three months.
I see a radiologist every so often - follow-up after radiation treatments I had several years ago. He sees his patients in the hospital itself, and he's always run ragged, just because there are so many cancer patients to process. Yet I don't mind waiting for him; it's usually around an hour's wait, but he's well worth waiting for, and I often see the stress on his face when he comes in, even though greets every patient with a smile and a handshake. He works relentlessly, and I respect him for what he does.
There was only one specialist I went to see who really got me angry. He was a referral from my family doctor, as I'd been going through years of abdominal/gut problems. My doctor figured it was IBS, and he suggested sending me to a gastroentrologist to get proper treatment. So I went to see this doctor at his office. Walked in at five to nine, my appointment was a 9:00. I sat in the waiting room for close to an hour and a half, and I was the only patient there the entire time. When the doctor finally told his receptionist to send me in, I entered the room and -without even bothering to look at me - he asked me why I was coming to see him. I gave him all the details of my symptoms, how long it had been going on, and that my doctor felt it was IBS and thought I should see him. This doctor finally looked up at me and said, "Well, if he's so sure he knows what you have, why are bothering to come see me?" in an extremely sarcastic tone. At this point I was becoming quite upset, but I bit my tongue and said that my doctor felt he (the specialist) would be able to help me. He sat there for several moments not saying a word, just continued reading some journal on his desk, and then finally said, "Don't eat any dairy. Come back in a month." and he waved me out. What a freaking waste of time, what an arrogant SOB. Of course I never went back to him.
I have yet to have a Doctor's appt here in Lakeland, that is anywhere near the proper time. Not even one. They have all been 45 min to 1 1/2 hours after the appt time. I'm talking about the sitting in the waiting room part, not including being put in the exam room and waiting. Once I'm in the exam room its another 20 or 30 minutes. I notice I'm not even told the doctor is running late, when my appt time has come and gone. The problem here is all the doctors are part of 2 medical groups. These are very large clinics, with hundreds of patients coming and going all day long. I can't say the medical care here seems all that good, and the wait times are only part of the problem.
I realize Doctors can be late for our appt. I can understand that and I don't blame them. I just think the receptionist could be more professional, and let the patients know the doctor is running late. Although the extent of the problem where I go, is just to much. I just don't seem to have any other options.
I have yet to have a Doctor's appt here in Lakeland, that is anywhere near the proper time. Not even one. They have all been 45 min to 1 1/2 hours after the appt time. I'm talking about the sitting in the waiting room part, not including being put in the exam room and waiting. Once I'm in the exam room its another 20 or 30 minutes. I notice I'm not even told the doctor is running late, when my appt time has come and gone. The problem here is all the doctors are part of 2 medical groups. These are very large clinics, with hundreds of patients coming and going all day long. I can't say the medical care here seems all that good, and the wait times are only part of the problem.
I realize Doctors can be late for our appt. I can understand that and I don't blame them. I just think the receptionist could be more professional, and let the patients know the doctor is running late. Although the extent of the problem where I go, is just to much. I just don't seem to have any other options.
You are very understanding in the face of unprofessional behavior.
I would never wait 1.5 hrs after my appointment time to see a doctor unless I was dying. I would simply leave and finds another doctor. I cannot see how that could ever be considered normal.
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