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There are many hills in life. You choose which one you'll die on. Some people would rather die on the "principal of the thing" hill, than the "getting their health needs taken care of" hill.
I'm glad we have the freedom in this country to choose which hill we'll pick. My doctor asks me to confirm my appointments. And out of respect of my doctor's time, I comply, and confirm the appointment. He's never more than 10 minutes late and when he IS running late, someone in his office has enough respect of my time to come out and tell me that he's running late.
Last week, I had a test center call to confirm my appointment. I'm very glad they did, because I'd forgotten to put it in my calendar and didn't remember making it three months ago. I would've ended up not only being charged for the visit that I never showed up for, but I also would've missed an important test.
Your mileage may vary, but a doctor/patient relationship requires trust and cooperation. Just imagine if you showed up on time for your appointment, and the doctor's receptionist said "oh gee - we never put you in the system, so you came for nothing. Woops!"
They're ensuring that this doesn't happen. You should be grateful.
Well, it is easy to point to the failure to respond because it wasn't you. I knew I would get that. It's an internet message board, after all...
But we were surprised and unaware that it would ever result in cancellation. None of the messages stated they would cancel if no response. For example, the email just says, "A Friendly Reminder. Please confirm."
By the way, this appointment was for installing a crown. She had already paid for it, had the all of the drilling done, temporary one installed (which fell out and she had to go back to be cemented correctly), and was awaiting for the permanent one to arrive. This appt was to install the permanent crown, so the appt was no charge.
I was interested in hearing from any others who are aware of this policy at any of their providers, more than I was about whether the policy is appropriate (which everyone has done). Is this policy becoming more prevalent? I have never heard of it until now. We always just showed up for our appointments, and always cancelled or rescheduled well in advance if needed.
I don't think it very common, but I think it will be. Get ready.
all of my doctors confirm appts. Many times appts are made for months in advance. It can be annoying if you get 2 or 3 of them. Ask them to confirm appts by phone in the future.
If you happen to be a decently organized person who knows how to maintain a calendar, maybe multiple appointment reminders/confirmations could become irritating. However, at the same time those same decently organized people probably appreciate why a business might use them. Don't forget that many people have no presence of mind or control over their lives at all. They drift along expecting/hoping others will take care of them. To them, a nanny state is a great thing. That trend seems to be expanding.
Last edited by Parnassia; 08-30-2023 at 02:34 PM..
Of course it happens. Just not as frequently or intentionally as you seem to believe.
I go to doctors and dentists regularly (monthly now), I'm 46 years old, and it's only caused an inconvenience maybe a few times in my life. Also, OP never even mentioned this as an issue with their dentist. So it's a moot point for the sake of this discussion, anyway.
My wife had this happen by our dentist recently. They made many attempts to confirm - one email, texted 2-3 times, and left 2-3 voicemails. No fee charged, she showed up on time but was told her appointment was cancelled due to not confirming in advance.
My wife is not tech savvy, cannot bring her phone into her workplace (security will not allow), and she is terrible at checking it after hours after working.
Most doctors will send emails and maybe texts, and may even call to confirm appointments. And of course it is not uncommon to be charged a fee if you do not show up for an appointment. But I usually do not confirm, and I have never heard of this policy of cancelling before if not confirmed. And between me, my wife and her mother, we go to a lot of doctors.
Is this a common practice? Or maybe the "new normal"?
This policy is not fair after the appointment date was made that it would be cancelled if your wife didn't confirm. Did she receive the appointment card with date in the dentist's office? Did she ever miss an appointment in the past? I may agree this policy might be fair if she or other patients missed or didn't show up for previous appointments, but if she has a perfect history of always showing up for an appointment, and being on time, then this policy of cancelling her appointment if she doesn't confirm should not apply to her as a patient, especially if she already received her appointment card with date in the office in person some time prior.
Of course it happens. Just not as frequently or intentionally as you seem to believe.
I go to doctors and dentists regularly (monthly now), I'm 46 years old, and it's only caused an inconvenience maybe a few times in my life. Also, OP never even mentioned this as an issue with their dentist. So it's a moot point for the sake of this discussion, anyway.
I just have bad luck with multiple doctors and dentists then along with many many other people.
I just have bad luck with multiple doctors and dentists then along with many many other people.
If this is such a constant problem, it may be due to one of the following four common reasons.
1. You're in an area with low provider numbers which results in an overload of patient to provider. Doctors fall behind simply because they have too many people needing service and not enough doctors to provide the service.
2. You have crappy insurance so providers don't accept that insurance leading to the same issue as #1.
3. Patients are entitlement snobs. As previously mentioned, you're area's patient makeup has lots of people who call for a single minor thing but end up unloading every health issue known to man on the doctor that requires excess time to unravel.
4. You're a problem patient so they really don't want to deal with you. As a result, they avoid seeing you as long as possible in hopes you go elsewhere.
Does any of these four common reasons fit you? (hint, based on your comments, I'm leaning towards #4)
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