[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Now that I'm retired, I consider my time to be even more valuable, because there is a reduced amount of it left.

There's always a reduced amount of it all through our lives, so nothing has changed.

And I might use the overbooking and consequential long waiting-room time to reflect on why it is wasting my day and what I can do about it.

There are 24 hours in a day, so waiting 20 to 30+ minutes won't waste your day.

After you see your doctor, what else is so important? Ice cream bingo?

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Now that I'm retired, I consider my time to be even more valuable, because there is a reduced amount of it left. And I might use the overbooking and consequential long waiting-room time to reflect on why it is wasting my day and what I can do about it.

Originally Posted by Villages PL

There's always a reduced amount of it all through our lives, so nothing has changed.

After you see your doctor, what else is so important? Ice cream bingo?

CFrance is making the point that as retirees, most of our lives have already been lived, so the remaining years are even more valuable.
Ice cream bingo? I assume you're trying to be funny?
CFrance is more likely to be playing pickleball than ice cream bingo.

[sunnyatlast]

Maybe this can be understood, written by a primary care physician:

"Today’s article addresses a common complaint about physicians.

“Freewheel” responded to a previous article by writing the following, “you will not make me wait more than 10 minutes. My time is important, too.”

One of the most common complaints I hear is “I waited over an hour to see you!” Waiting for an appointment, particularly when you are sick, is frustrating. Once you have that appointment, waiting for a doc who is running 1 hour behind provokes anger.

Meeting patients’ expectations for timely appointments during which their needs are fulfilled is almost impossible. I have to admit, my approach for the last 28 years is brilliant. When my doors open in the morning, we will see you on a first come first serve basis. You don’t have to call to be seen. And, when I come into your exam room, I am on time. (I do make a few appointments for wellness care).

As a patient, it is critical for you to understand why your doc is never on time. Here’s my typical day. I get up at 5:30am to get to the hospital at 6:30am. If all goes well and my patients don’t have any medical crisis, I get to the office on time. On a bad day, Mr. “MI” decides to drop his blood pressure, stop breathing and “code”. I can’t tell Mr. “MI” that he’s not scheduled for a “code” situation; I have to do what I have to do.

I’m lucky, Mr. MI recovers quickly and I get to the office only 15 minutes late. However, I’m behind schedule. For the sake of this article, assume I make appointments like most docs. I walk into Mrs. Ulcer’s room 15 minutes late. I apologize. Mrs. Ulcer is scheduled for a 15 minute appointment for stomach pain. She is 42 years old and has been having intermittent stomach pain for 3 months. When she scheduled the appointment, she told my staff she thinks she has an ulcer. At 2 am, she developed a fever (103 degrees) and severe pain.

Mrs. Ulcer does not have an ulcer. She has an infected gallbladder. Mrs. Ulcer needs surgery. She is alone in the office and can’t drive to the hospital. I call the paramedics, the ER, and the surgeon. I’m now an hour behind.

I apologize to the next 4 patients for being late. They are relatively easy and I’m now 1 hour and 15 minutes late. I walk into Mr. Aged’s room. He has a 15 minute appointment to follow up on his diabetes. Mr. Aged is sitting with Mrs. Aged; she appears concerned. There is a faint smell of urine in the room. Mrs. Aged says, “His blood sugars have been high over the last 2 weeks. He’s more forgetful than usual, stumbling a lot and dropping things.” Mr. Aged’s 15 minute appointment takes 45 minutes. Mr. Aged is on his way to the hospital. He’s had a stroke.

I’m 2 1/2 hours behind, I have to go to the bathroom, my patients are mad, and they are taking it out on my staff. I value their time, but I value their health more.…….."

Stewart Segal is a family physician who blogs at:
Live Wellthy (Blog) Live Wellthy -

To further understand the situation, read "The Electronic Medical Record" on his blog page linked here in the previous sentence.

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by sunnyatlast

Maybe this can be understood, written by a primary care physician:

"Today’s article addresses a common complaint about physicians.

“Freewheel” responded to a previous article by writing the following, “you will not make me wait more than 10 minutes. My time is important, too.”

One of the most common complaints I hear is “I waited over an hour to see you!” Waiting for an appointment, particularly when you are sick, is frustrating. Once you have that appointment, waiting for a doc who is running 1 hour behind provokes anger.

Meeting patients’ expectations for timely appointments during which their needs are fulfilled is almost impossible. I have to admit, my approach for the last 28 years is brilliant. When my doors open in the morning, we will see you on a first come first serve basis. You don’t have to call to be seen. And, when I come into your exam room, I am on time. (I do make a few appointments for wellness care).

As a patient, it is critical for you to understand why your doc is never on time. Here’s my typical day. I get up at 5:30am to get to the hospital at 6:30am. If all goes well and my patients don’t have any medical crisis, I get to the office on time. On a bad day, Mr. “MI” decides to drop his blood pressure, stop breathing and “code”. I can’t tell Mr. “MI” that he’s not scheduled for a “code” situation; I have to do what I have to do.

I’m lucky, Mr. MI recovers quickly and I get to the office only 15 minutes late. However, I’m behind schedule. For the sake of this article, assume I make appointments like most docs. I walk into Mrs. Ulcer’s room 15 minutes late. I apologize. Mrs. Ulcer is scheduled for a 15 minute appointment for stomach pain. She is 42 years old and has been having intermittent stomach pain for 3 months. When she scheduled the appointment, she told my staff she thinks she has an ulcer. At 2 am, she developed a fever (103 degrees) and severe pain.

Mrs. Ulcer does not have an ulcer. She has an infected gallbladder. Mrs. Ulcer needs surgery. She is alone in the office and can’t drive to the hospital. I call the paramedics, the ER, and the surgeon. I’m now an hour behind.

I apologize to the next 4 patients for being late. They are relatively easy and I’m now 1 hour and 15 minutes late. I walk into Mr. Aged’s room. He has a 15 minute appointment to follow up on his diabetes. Mr. Aged is sitting with Mrs. Aged; she appears concerned. There is a faint smell of urine in the room. Mrs. Aged says, “His blood sugars have been high over the last 2 weeks. He’s more forgetful than usual, stumbling a lot and dropping things.” Mr. Aged’s 15 minute appointment takes 45 minutes. Mr. Aged is on his way to the hospital. He’s had a stroke.

I’m 2 1/2 hours behind, I have to go to the bathroom, my patients are mad, and they are taking it out on my staff. I value their time, but I value their health more.…….."

Stewart Segal is a family physician who blogs at:
Live Wellthy (Blog) Live Wellthy -

To further understand the situation, read "The Electronic Medical Record" on his blog page linked here in the previous sentence.

THANK YOU. And I especially like your statement, which I think sums up what everyone should EXPECT from their physicians: "I value their time, but I value their health more........"

As I said earlier, I will gladly wait whatever length of time is necessary for caring and competent care.

In the past, there have been too many complaints about 'sorry medical care in TV'. As a matter of fact, they continue to come up. Which is it? Do you want "great care" or do you want "hurry up because I have better things to do care". From where I sit, you can't have both.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

CFrance is making the point that as retirees, most of our lives have already been lived, so the remaining years are even more valuable.
Ice cream bingo? I assume you're trying to be funny?
CFrance is more likely to be playing pickleball than ice cream bingo.

Thank you, Bare. You understood exactly what I meant. I was definitely not being literal.

And I don't have the slightest idea whatever the hell ice cream bingo is.

Anyone who thinks we should wait forever for quality care should visit my dentist in Bushnell. The best quality of care I have ever received from a dentist, and I have yet to have a wait. And these people will fit me in and will stay open late in case anyone calls in with an absess or a broken tooth at their closing time.

They run a thriving, busy practice, and they don't overbook, so nobody waits. Likewise my University of Michigan doctors, and my doctor here in TV. Every doctor's day is not full of emergencies and people with gall bladder problems who can't drive themselves to the hospital.

[Bonanza]

This entire thread got me to thinking. Many doctors require you to cancel an appointment at least 24 hours in advance or else you will be billed for the appointment. Then on the other hand, if you are required to wait longer than 15 or 20 minutes to be seen, it's just too bad.

Why do we permit this? Is it because doctors think they're God and can get away with overbooking on an ongoing basis, or is it because we, the patients, are just plain stupid?

Thankfully and luckily my internist has never kept me waiting more than five minutes or so, after my weight, blood pressure, etc., was taken. I agree that if a doctor doesn't have enough respect for his patients to schedule properly and take them on time, they are the ones who need to be penalized by having patients walk out. I agree that an emergency is an exception, but other than that, I'm all for walking out so the doctor will get the message loud and clear.

[Halibut]

deleted

[Walter123]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

This entire thread got me to thinking. Many doctors require you to cancel an appointment at least 24 hours in advance or else you will be billed for the appointment. Then on the other hand, if you are required to wait longer than 15 or 20 minutes to be seen, it's just too bad.

Why do we permit this? Is it because doctors think they're God and can get away with overbooking on an ongoing basis, or is it because we, the patients, are just plain stupid?

Thankfully and luckily my internist has never kept me waiting more than five minutes or so, after my weight, blood pressure, etc., was taken. I agree that if a doctor doesn't have enough respect for his patients to schedule properly and take them on time, they are the ones who need to be penalized by having patients walk out. I agree that an emergency is an exception, but other than that, I'm all for walking out so the doctor will get the message loud and clear.

You left out social conditioning and I don't think that doctors think they are god, we do that ourselves.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Walter123

You left out social conditioning and I don't think that doctors think they are god, we do that ourselves.

I agree with you. But I would add from personal experience (not here) that their staff frequently thinks they're God and treats the patients/customers like cattle.

Which is why in MI we took our healthcare 3 hours away to a teaching hospital.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I agree with you. But I would add from personal experience (not here) that their staff frequently thinks they're God and treats the patients/customers like cattle.

Which is why in MI we took our healthcare 3 hours away to a teaching hospital.

Based on what you just said happens in MI, it seems to be about the same everywhere. Which suggests it's a natural, unavoidable consequence of operating a private medical practice where unpredictable things happen to upset scheduling.

I think the only time it doesn't happen is when a doctor sets up a new practice and doesn't yet have a lot of patients. Or else a patient gets lucky and shows up on a day when nothing unusual happens to upset the doctor's schedule. So then the patient goes around telling others that his doctor doesn't overbook, when actually it was just the luck of the draw.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Based on what you just said happens in MI, it seems to be about the same everywhere. Which suggests it's a natural, unavoidable consequence of operating a private medical practice where unpredictable things happen to upset scheduling.

I think the only time it doesn't happen is when a doctor sets up a new practice and doesn't yet have a lot of patients. Or else a patient gets lucky and shows up on a day when nothing unusual happens to upset the doctor's schedule. So then the patient goes around telling others that his doctor doesn't overbook, when actually it was just the luck of the draw.

Well I've been awful darn lucky the last two years with the two doctors and one dentist I've been seeing, plus the PT.

Of practices in MI--one local and four at U of M (primary, gastro, and two others related to a one-timeillness)--all of whom have been in business for decades, only one overbooked, the local one. Which is why I switched.

So I disagree with you. I've had plenty of experience with well-established practices.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Well I've been awful darn lucky the last two years with the two doctors and one dentist I've been seeing, plus the PT.

I agree with you! You've been awful darn lucky the last two years with your two doctors and one dentist. Two years may not represent a lot of appointments, So it could very well have been luck.

With me it's been a mixed bag. In the beginning I didn't have to wait at all. Then sometimes I waited 5, 10 or 15 minutes. On two occasions I waited one hour. That was for my primary doctor. I'm not about to dump a doctor because of two unfortunate episodes. Another doctor would likely be the same and I'd be hopscotching around from doctor to doctor, to prove what? How important I am?

The dentist I go to now in The Villages hasn't been a problem, at least so far. The previous dentist did keep me waiting a few times. The difference may be because of the cost. Who knows? The dentist where I waited the most had discounted rates, even though the hygienist was very good in my opinion. (When she left, I left.)

[dillywho]

Why will people here wait often times an hour or hours to eat at a particular restaurant but are not willing to wait for something as important as their health? Makes no sense to me.

As for traveling several miles away to see a doctor because you don't have to wait or wait as long, at least when you are waiting here you are not spending "valuable time" on the road getting there, to say nothing of the gas getting there and back. And, if you get caught in traffic and are late either direction..........

Just sayin'.

[sunnyatlast]

"Why will people here wait often times an hour or hours to eat at a particular restaurant but are not willing to wait for something as important as their health?"

Because:

there's a bar and alcohol at the restaurants, but doctor's offices don't have that.

[Happydaz]

Originally Posted by dillywho

Why will people here wait often times an hour or hours to eat at a particular restaurant but are not willing to wait for something as important as their health? Makes no sense to me.

As for traveling several miles away to see a doctor because you don't have to wait or wait as long, at least when you are waiting here you are not spending "valuable time" on the road getting there, to say nothing of the gas getting there and back. And, if you get caught in traffic and are late either direction..........

Just sayin'.

Some thoughtful comments! I, personally, would rather wait a while for a particular doctor I think is competent then get in quickly with a doctor I wasn't familiar with. Doctors sometimes get behind due to situations out of their control. I don't mind waiting an hour or so if there is a good reason. The contractor, doctor, dentist, etc., who is very busy is often in high demand for a reason. They are good! Who am I to expect people to jump when I walk in. I think it is another example of the demanding attitude that begins to creep in as we age. Let's face it we're retired. What is the big deal, especially if you are pleased with your care. Relax, bring a book, do some reading, maybe some knitting. Just don't just stare at the wall and grind your teeth because a doctor gets behind and sees you an hour after you were scheduled..