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When you need to make an appointment with your general practitioner, how far out will the appointment be? With my current provider (a D.O.) if I call today, the appointment will be 6 to 8 weeks out. I am being referred to a specialist by my G.P. -- I was told this on Nov. 20th. I've not heard boo from the practice I've been referred to. I communicated with my G.P.'s practice today and was told that the group that I was referred to is so busy and so booked they have not had the time to call me up to make an appointment.
Is this type of wait normal? I got spoiled. I moved in 2017. My prior G.P. was readily available and for his elderly patients in the neighborhood he even did house calls.
Impossible to predict. Could depend on the type of appointment you ask for (diagnostic, routine, followup, wellness, etc). Could be influenced by time of year, and will obviously depend on that practice and how many clients they have.
FWIW, in this small town of 5000 I can usually get in to see my GP within a week. If I decide it's urgent I might go elsewhere.
When you need to make an appointment with your general practitioner, how far out will the appointment be? With my current provider (a D.O.) if I call today, the appointment will be 6 to 8 weeks out. I am being referred to a specialist by my G.P. -- I was told this on Nov. 20th. I've not heard boo from the practice I've been referred to. I communicated with my G.P.'s practice today and was told that the group that I was referred to is so busy and so booked they have not had the time to call me up to make an appointment.
Is this type of wait normal? I got spoiled. I moved in 2017. My prior G.P. was readily available and for his elderly patients in the neighborhood he even did house calls.
Well, I don't know anybody who will make house calls these days. I generally see my GP twice a year for checkup/ followup visits, and those are scheduled at the previous visit, so about six months out. I haven't had to do this often, but when I've called with a problem that needed to be seen to, they've done their best to get me in the same day, though I may get an appointment with an available nurse practitioner instead of the doctor-but I think that's fair.
My GP referred me to a surgeon last year ( for a colonoscopy to investigate a positive occult blood), and I had to call to make the appointment. I had to leave a message, they called me back the next day and scheduled an appointment about three weeks out.
But we have the same issues with specialists being so busy ( especially in the winters here when they are bombed with snowbirds) they don't schedule appointments for new patients/referrals for sometimes 2-3 months out, depending on the reason for referrals. My daughter was recently referred to an ENT for severe tonsillitis and swollen lymph nodes, fever that didn't respond to antibiotics, and got the first available appointment one month out in an office about 65 miles away. Fortunately she found another ENT closer who could see her sooner but that doesn't always happen. And earlier this year I was referred by my cardiologist to an electrophysiologist in the same practice, and still had to wait about 5 weeks to see the guy, they were that busy.
In your case I wouldn't wait till the specialist ( ie, their office) you've been referred to calls you for an appointment. I would call them, tell them your doctor has referred you there, ask to make an appointment. I think there is a tendency, especially when they are that busy, to put routine ( nonemergency) referrals on the back burner, unless they hear from the patient requesting to be seen. Can't hurt, anyway.
It may depend on the practice. I switched practices because I had the same issue with my GP- six weeks just to get in with the NP for an urgent issue. The current practice I go to has an attached urgent care clinic and usually you can get an appointment within a week. I was in one city where it was nearly impossible to even find a GP unless you were on the (hyper) local HMO.
I can usually book with my GP, who is an Internist, within just a few days. I agree with Parnassia that sometimes availability depends on appointment type (new patient, routine, follow up etc). I think it also often depends on how many patients the physician has scheduled in a day. Providers even within the same specialty vary widely in the number of patients they see in a typical day in clinic.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Most of the time I can get a checkup appointment within about 30 days, rarely less. If I need something sooner, I will often have to see one of my doctor's colleagues, as he is often booked up. Specialists seem to be even worse, though if urgent enough I can contact the doctor though the patient online system and he will squeeze me in.
Same or next day. I have concierge health care. If my regular Dr. is not available, they have several others who can come by the house or office. To me, my health is too important to go cheap, so paying to get better care is a no brainier. However, due to knowing how to play the healthcare systems, I probably pay less in health insurance compared to most others with less coverage.
My internist takes walk-ins. He even sees patients on Saturday mornings. I love him. I'm just north of Houston. I am on a Medicare Advantage HMO.
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