Rant-Rant-Rant
 

I had a 9 a.m. doctors appointment today. I arrived at 8:50 to a waiting room full of people. At 9:10, the receptionist stuck her head into the waiting room and said, "I just got a call from the doctor and he's in surgery and will be a half hour late."

I said, so, when he gets here, I will have to wait til all these other people see him first. She said, "your appointment is 9 a.m. and that's the first appointment time."

I could see that the others in the room were suddenly attentive. Three others spoke up and said, "We also have 9 a.m."

So, I sat back and tried to figure if I was going to wait or not. About 10 minutes later, the receptionist came back in and said, "we just got a call from the nurse and she says she doesn't know when the doctor will be here."

I asked if Monday was his surgery day, she said "yes." I asked why he would schedule appointments, let alone three at a time, on his surgery morning. She said that I'd have to ask the doctor and did I want to reschedule.

I said, "If I reschedule, It could be the same this as today." She said, "All doctors offices are like this."

I couldn't buy that answer, so I opted out. So now, I'm without treatment.

BTW, there was another lady in the room who said she had a 9 .m. appointment, but the receptionist said, "No, you're 11:30 tomorrow." The lady had papers in her hand and showed it to the receptionist, saying, "here look, it's my appointment information." The receptionist insisted that was wrong, but that she would squeeze her in "first thing" when the doctor get there.


BWWWWWWW:cryin2:AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

When I took my sister to the doctor as I waited there was a patient who I could see was upset. I went over and asked her if everything was alright. She siad the doctor told her her appendix had burst and drive to the hospital as fast as she could. I approached the desk and questioned why an ambulance wasn't called. The receptionist had no answer. I offered the woman a ride to the hospital and she refused and drove herself. If I had to do it again I would not have let her drive herself.

If that is a Dr.s office here in TV, I would like to know who it is so I can avoid that one. You can PM me if you don't want to post in the open. The reason I ask is that my wife and I are in the process of finding Dr.s here now. Would be good to know who we don't want.

That bugs me too
 

Office nurses who act like that drive me crazy and it seems there are many who love to wield the little bit of power allowed them. I've experienced this many times. What's even worse is when a receptionist decides she is qualified to give medical advice.

Having physician relatives, I know it is possible that the dr. isn't fully aware of what Nurse Ratchet is doing in his name, being mean to patients. I would put in a call to the dr. and say I need the dr. to call me "at his convenience".

Surgeons do get called in to do emergency surgeries, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to me in your case for Nurse Ratchet to have called you and the other patients on the schedule, to tell you the situation. I think some like to see a person squirm.

I had wonderful experiences at the Sumter Landing Urgent Care. They are staffed only by physicians and do not employ PA's so you will always see a doctor. Not true at other Urgent Cares in TV. I had a nightmare experience at the Urgent Care in Southern Trace so beware. Of course when I needed to see a specialist they recommended one.

They also told me that I need to learn to be more courteous. BTW, the exact same thing happened the last time I had an appointment with this DR. Over 1 hour before he even came into the office. And, he didn't apologize for being so late either. This was, again, 9 a.m. So there is no reason for a backup at that hour.

I've had a couple of experiences with doctor's office staff and they are as follows:

1. When I complained to the doctor, he immediately starightened out his office staff so they would be more receptive to his patients.
2. Another doctor defended his staff as he stated he controlled what they did and he changed the schedule.

I would go into the details but this post would read like a novel. I have found most doctors are sensitive to their patients as they do not want to lose business. They also don't want a patient to go around town badmouthing them.
The others kind of doctors feel their time is the only concern they should have. They run their office with an iron fist ad possibly intimidate their office staff to follow rigid guidelines. Today's doctor seems to only have ten minutes to give each patient so it behooves one to be an advocate for their own health and have your questions ready. Once you leave their office, it might a long time to get an answer to your question.

IMHO - If a doctor does not want to give a reasonable response to my needs, then it is time for me to look for a doctor that will. :mad:

I have changed doctors because I did not like the office staff. In both incidents, the doctor stated that they had the staff a long time. This was an unsatisfactory answer to me.

I once waited more than an hour for the doctor to show up. I had to leave to pick up my kids. When I told the receptionist I was leaving she (very snottily) said I would be charged for the visit. When I got home I called and left a message for the doctor to call me. He did, I told him what happened and he apologized profusely. But I never went back. I found another doctor. Once is too often for that kind of thing to happen.

WOW...I feel your pain and that's exactly why I stopped going to Moffitt in Tampa. All these sick, weak patients waiting and waiting and especiallly after that long drive just made me so very angry. I also found out that they double up on appointments which was the last straw in learning that five others had the same appt time as me, and I walked out of there with my medical records, never to return. Plus, the oncologist was never available and my appts were always with the NP. This hospital may be highly rated, however, their services to me were far from highly rated. GRRRRR

I then found Ocala Oncology with their satellite office close by TV and am very pleased with their services. Dr Maury Berger and his associates are just wonderful.

I try to schedule the first apt. in the morning so there is less of a chance of him getting backed up. If he is late it could be an emergency, but if it happens all the time, fire him and find another doctor.

TH, That's the pits I think I recall that you had a similar experience with long wait and rude staff when you took your wife to her last appointment. If this is the same doctor's office, I would say adios to him/her. It's a hassle to change doctors. I've heard some even now charge to you transfer your medical records. But I don't think I could stomach a doctor who schedules multiple appointments at the same time, routinely keeps patients waiting for long periods and employs rude, uncaring staff.

That translates to "they had cold, uncaring staff a long time".

Longevity is not an indicator of quality - it could actually mean they drove OUT any staffers who were accommodating and communicative with the patients!

Just lost my company medical plan thru Kaiser when I was laid off in October. They charge $5 to send you a computer memory stick with your medical records on it.


.

as getdul981 asked, is this Dr in TV?????

Hi Chuckinca, That's not so bad. My husband switched doctors because his doctor was no longer on his company's medical plan. His doctor charged $25 to transfer the medical records. I thought that was a bit much.

BTW, I just noticed you've entered the Sage stage. :beer3:

gutdul981 didn't ask me if the doc was in the Villages. He asked another poster. In my case, he is not.

And Pturner, this is not the same one with my wife earlier this month. I have bad luck with doctors down here.

Part of the problem is that my docs were my personal friends in NY and they were much more accommodating.

I waited in the doctors office for two hrs and left. I called the next day and they told me how sorry they were and could I be there that day at 12:15. I waited 1hr and 40 minutes and left. That same day I ended up in the hospital. These doctors were called and for two days never showed up nor returned the hospitals call. when i checked out i was told to call them for appointment, that will not happen !

One of Sandy's doctors moved to a different group practice. The old office wanted to charge her $50 to transfer her file to the new place. They didn't realize who they were dealing with.............when the dust settled, they sent it for $0. :)

Bill

OMG. That's inexcusable. I hope you are OK.

Good for her! At some point, you just expect some common decency.

Irresponsible
 

Many patients are irresponsible and unreliable to call and cancel. I forgot mine when my husband was admitted to ER with chest pain. They schedule appointments with that in mind. As Doctor House says on TV " all patients lie". Other patients have priorities and have to be worked in from an appointment the day before when something very bad was discovered. Some patients experiences sudden deaths in the familly and cannot cope and need attention today. Others are suddenly suicidal and need a doctors help immediately for hope and a plan. I have seen Doctors cry and they need some time to regroup just like any other human being. They have known their patients over 30 years and it is hard on them as it is on the family.

Doctors have to wait also, the lab results get behind, the Xray reports need to be faxed. Many patients are doctor hoppers. You have to get to the bottom of things,,sometimes the patients are drug seekers. Some patients need their pain meds because their own children are stealing them and social services need to be contacted.

The doctors are contacted by ERs, Urgent Cares, Nursing homes, Hospitals, and Hospice all day long besides their office appts. They run late because they are CARING. I have very high regards for all doctors. I wait.

No sick person should EVER have to wait (EIGHT HOURS as I have on many occasions) or over an hour to be attended to. If the dr's office or outpatient office has long unreasonable wait time, they are understaffed. That's the main reason why the long waits.

I've been to many well-staffed medical facilities and know the difference. The well-run facilities work a more humane schedule. Yes, this is certainly a reason why some patients are what you call "doctor hoppers." Why should someone sick sit in a waiting room for hours each and every appointment? I have a very high regard for doctors who know how to manage their time for sick people. That certainly helps one feel safer to be in good hands.

A fine example of "well staffed" is the new VA facility here in TV. Hubby goes there and is extremely pleased and impressed with their operations. They are strict with the appointments and well staffed to a point where there's no crowds waiting and waiting. A great example and kudos to those looking after our military heroes!

A few years ago, I developed a fairly close relationship with a guy at the gym. We worked out together most mornings. He is a doctor, and at that time, he was in a large medical group of about 100 doctors. He was head of a committee to "straighten out" some major problems the group was having. He told me that the majority of the doctors in the group were "uncooperative" and had a "superiority attitude." He said that their appointment scheduling was a nightmare and almost unmanageable. He further said that most of the docs had joined the group to cut down on office expense and individual malpractice fees. But, he said, they didn't want to conform to a group mentality. They still wanted to be the kings of their own castle, subsequently refusing to conform to convention. The word he used most often was "arrogant."

Frankly, I would put more stock in his testimony than I would a television actor who portrays an annoyingly arrogant doctor.

The more we quietly sit and wait for these medical professional to "get around to seeing us" the more they will do it. I personally think they don't care that we are sitting out there for hours. We are just dollar signs to many of them. Just observe how attentive they are when you try to talk to them. "See you back here in two weeks, NEXT!"

JLK

Like Wharton Jelly, I believe that most doctors are well meaning and caring. Sometimes office staff are PITAs, but that can happen anywhere, stores, restaurants, etc.

When I was seriously ill, I was parachuted to the front of the line, and others had to wait.

Now I take a coffee and a good book to the doctor's office. Waiting is a normal part of life, why stress about it?

While I agree that some Health Care Professionals have an attitude problem lest we forget that some of us Seniors can be less than gracious at times .When you go to the office do you know what your meds are,are you specific in what your ailments are,do you treat the staff as you expect to be treated,are you on time for your appointment? Remember everyone in that waiting room does not want to be there so a positive attitude will help.

This can work if you are retired and have nothing else to do. But when you have responsibilities to tend to, it's not a workable solution. If you are late, does the doctor ever wait for you?

I am always on or before my appointment time. I always have a list of my medications, which is none, and I am specific and articulate when I describe my ailment. It's sometimes hard to be respectful to the office staff when they ignore your arrival then slam the glass door in your face so they don't have to be disturbed by the customers.

I guess you can see this is a major peeve of mine. For several years, I was president of a large international medical treatment company. Doctors all over the world reported to me. I have a pretty good understanding of how this all works.

When I was working, my employer allowed us to go to doctor's appointments during working hours. I always scheduled mine right after lunch when the staff would be returning and I would be the first patient. The dental staff came in the door right at 1 o'clock along with a former employee who was now a representative with a dental supply company. They ALL proceeded to engage this person in conversation for fifteen minutes after which I got up, put on my coat and walked out the door. Haven't been back since.

I have been a receptionist in a medical clinic and had very good training! I will say that some days things happen that are out of our control. However...that being said there can also be soddy office practices as well.
I have also been a patient and recipient of poor "customer service" in a clinical setting. These individuals need to know how we feel about having to wait. We can tell them (nicely) in person AND follow-up with a letter to the office manager as well as the doctor--outlining exactly what happened and how we too should feel our business of being there is important. If people would do this in a respectful manner---sugar gets us further than vinegar---change may come about.

And then after having to wait and wait at the doctors office, you take the prescription he (or she) has just given you and head to your pharmacy. That's where I (Barry the Pharmacist) comes into the picture. You hand in your prescription at the drop off window and the tech tells you it will be a 30 minute wait. Inside, you are probably wondering why it would take 30 minutes to count 30 pills and put them in a bottle. It really only takes a few minutes to fill your prescription. The problem is that there are 200 prescriptions in front of yours. So, on behalf of all pharmacists everywhere I apologize! We know you don't feel well. We know that you have probably spent much longer in the doctors office then you had planned to. We know that you probably have a bunch of things that still need to get done that day and now you are way behind schedule. But the very large corporations that we work for just let us have the minimum amount of labor to do the job and no more. If someone calls in sick, or there is an unexpected rush, your wait time can easily be 2 hours in some busy stores. My Dad, who was also a pharmacist, would be spinning in his grave if he heard this. But the amount of prescriptions getting filled each day has grown tremendously over the last 10 years. If it was up to us pharmacists, you would all get your prescriptions filled promptly and we would have the time to discuss them with you in detail if you'd like.

Maybe I will work there when we move down. It is rare to find a place well staffed.

Learned something
 

It's good to know you might have 200 prescriptions lined up to fill, while possibly being short-staffed due to an employee that called in sick.

This is where I have to say that The Drive-Up Window is one of the greatest things that ever happened to drugstores. I can drive there to pick up my prescription in my PAJAMAS and warm fuzzy robe, and stay in the car feeling like warmed-over cr__, with my own A/C or heater setting for comfort.

I wish I could wait in my car at the doctor's office, too, instead of sitting in those stiff-backed chairs, paging thru old magazines full of germs, and watching that darn glass sliding window thrown open and shut by the nurse or receptionist who seems to want nothing to do with us "Riff Raff" sitting there waiting for the dr. we hired.

I find it especially worrisome to sit beside someone wearing a mask and coughing. Or worse yet, not wearing a mask and coughing!