Schools quit teaching office practice
 

Many doctors don't want to pay for competent help either. That said, our schools are not turning out the competent "business students" as they have in the past either. Curriculum changes maybe needed----there is more to managing an office than being able to turn a computer off and on and storing data.

Sometimes telling the doctor about his staff backfires. My wife had an issue with a doctor's staff for over a year with them misplacing insurance authorization documents and refusing to return calls from the insurance company so that follow-up treatment can be done. She was finally able to get an appointment with the doctor and she tried to communicate to the doctor the problems she was having with the staff. After consulting with the staff, he came back and dismissed my wife as a patient because the staff convinced him that she had been "rude" to them. I heard her talking with the staff on the phone and in no way was she rude.

Yes...finally called my Primary Care doctor for a new referral when the original referral called me several times to schedule (and subsequently "re-schedule" an endoscopy), actually scheduled me at the wrong office, called to straighten that out, and then left me the "reminder message" for the wrong day, wrong office. I backed out the day of their scheduled appointment, which I know is caca, but by that point I was actually afraid and wondering what procedure I'd get! I called the Office Manager to advise, and wrote a long detailed note to my doctor advising her to be careful in referring this center to other patients. Had I been truly ill and a little unsure of myself I'd have been very confused. The Doctor said she would also speak with them and let them know I asked her not to refer them again to her patients. I hope she did.

Maybe some staff think that $15/hour flipping burgers would be a better career choice.

Sometimes "stuff" sifts down from the top. I've probably quit 3 doctors (in 7 yrs) due to both them and then their staff. Many of these front-desk people don't know office procedures or how to meet the public.

And Many of them forget we are their customers and pay their salaries.

Yes - twice. Could not believe how rude the receptionist was to an elderly patient when I first got here. Later with a different doctor the staff was very curt- mentioned it to him. He implied that he had no control over the office staff. He was aware of it - and moved his practice to Leesburg. We drove there for several years because we really liked him and now he had a very friendly, courteous staff.

If you don't like the public, you should work behind the scenes.

Exactly!!