Have Quit A Doctor Just Because Of His Office Staff?
 

I was just curious as to how many others have quit a doctor just because of his office staff?

I have a quit a doctor only once in my life, with approval of my husband and daughter who also consulted him. It was here in The Villages. It was based on his arranging unnecessary tests for us. I have never run into something like that in my life.

I have too, love the doctor not the staff.

Not a doctor, but my wife quit a dentist here in TV because of rude office staff and a lack of decent hygienists, and the dentist wasn't that great either. Found a great one in Leesburg.

If you have a problem with the staff, please tell the doctor. Sometimes they are unaware. I told my doctor about a persistent problem with his staff and he thanked me and assured me there would be no more problems and there haven't. I say this because I have been the office staff before and often the doctor is clueless.

I quit a OB/GYN years ago because the staff consistently screwed up. Two hour waits, getting forgotten in a room, etc.

I have quit a doctor for a serious illness because of office staff treating patients like cattle, overbooking, mishandling billing, and rudeness. Took my care two hours away to a teaching hospital and received the best of care from everyone involved. It was not in TV, but you didn't specify the location.

My wife has quit a doctor here, not because of staff, but because of his lack of english language skills. This seems common here and rural areas in general.

I agree that there are physicians here whose English leaves a little to be desired. However, having worked in healthcare for more than 40 years, including a number of major metro areas, I am comfortable saying that this area is no different than most. In fact, I dare say that most urban areas have a greater preponderance of foreign medical grads for whom English is a second language.

Personally I have had no significant issue, and 2 of the 3 physicians I see regularly are FMGs and really excellent diagnosticians.


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Of course the dr is often clueless about staffers who alienate patients.

Those same staffers screen all phone calls and open the email and postal mail. If calls/letters come in about themselves treating patients like dirt/dummies, they're not going to relay that to the dr.

I think it is reasonable to quit a doctor due to the staff. If they do not follow up or correctly handle tasks they are giving you problems you do not need. Unfortunately I think the back office operations of doctors offices is declining so this problem can grow.

Yep every time I find myself caught in a waiting room I feel like an orphan and when a staff member enters I say to them "pick me" "pick me":D

Doctors usually don't. Know staff is a problem. Talk to him first.

If you quit a doctor because of their office staff down here, you'll have to quit pretty much every doc in the area.

I've spoken with a few doctors about this and they all said that it's a big problem for them. They can't seem t find competent help.

Too much paper work (computer)
 

My friends in the medical field tell me that there is too much paper work and not enough "doctoring". That's the way a good friend put it and I trust what he says.

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!!