5 Things I Can't Stand About Going to the Doctor - part 3 of 5
Another thing I cannot stand about going to the doctor is very long wait times. Part of the reason this happens is because many doctors double-book patients for the same time slot to avoid losing money from no-shows. As I noted in an earlier posting, patients should be provided full disclosure of office practice that can adversely affect them. So if you are double booking patients for the same time slot, let patients know that their 3:00 appointment may happen at that time but that there can be up to a 30 minute delay. This way, the patients' expectations coming into the appointment are appropriate and if they are seen earlier than 30 minutes they will be happy. The patients will also bring things to do to keep themselves occupied for 30 minutes rather than harassing the receptionist because the appointment is not being done on time.
Let me tell you of the worse experience I ever had with a wait time. I needed to bring one of my children to an ear, nose, and throat doctor one day. The doctor was the only one in town who was highly recommended and we really needed to get something checked out. I took off from work to help with the logistics of the appointment since both children were quite young and in a stroller.
To this day, I cannot believe I waited this long, but we waited three hours to see the doctor! I asked the receptionist numerous times and I could never get a straight answer as to when the doctor was coming in. My poor kids were bored to death and getting quite frustrated being in the same depressing-looking office setting for 3 hours. I kept trying to entertain them, but how many times can you wheel them around the same coffee table and say "Wheee!." When we were called in, there was absolutely no apology from the doctor. This really irked me. If you are going to make patients wait past their appointment time, it would at least be nice to offer a sincere apology. On the rare times I am even 10-minutes late for a patient, I go out of my way to apologize. A little customer service goes a long way. Click here for the next post.
posted by MedFriendly | 10:03 PM
3 Comments:
The only problem I'd see in telling people there might be a delay is then people start showing up late. Of course, if you impose a late/no-show fee, then that might nip any problems there in the bud. I dunno.
But yeah, waiting around for the doc to finally show up is a royal pain in the butt.
I once called patient relations and complained while waiting for a doctor at a clinic. It was hilarious. I got a return call and could hear the call to the front desk before I was seen.
Things seem to change after that.
Doctor's being late is one of my absolute pet peeves! Especially with my 3 year old son along. I've learned to pack multiple snacks and toys when he is in tow. There is never an apology or even the slightest remark that it may be rude to arrive to work 30-45 minutes after your first client was scheduled! If I did that as a psychologist, I would be phoning ahead and apologizing. Why do we have to pay if we don't show up for an appointment but the doc doesn't have to if they don't show up for your appointment time? I'd love to fine doc's who are late . . .
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