Haha good meme. Good work buddy I like it :)
Reading the comments in this thread just indicates to me that we need more doctors. The supply of doctors is definitely artificially restricted
We need to pressure schools to open more seats.
Yep, that AMA is proof the licensing organization shouldn’t also be the union.
For real. At least in the US medical school is incredibly expensive (on top of undergrad being really expensive too). Going to school is a huge risk, because if you find you can’t handle it half way through, you’ve got all that debt,without the job to actually pay it. We’ve got so many incredible potential doctors and nurses that just can’t afford to go to school
It also takes 2x longer than most of the world to get licensed.
How many other businesses would be fine with operating like this
The Apple Store, for starters.
Ticketmaster, also, too.
Ok but how come i have to fill out that paper every time i come in? I’ve been to the same clinic over and over. Do they just throw my information away? Is it busywork to buy them time? I know it’s a minor quibble but fucking hell
Your guesses might be right, but most likely you are talking about the questionnaires about your medical history and what’s called the “review of systems”.
In the US, medicare and most other insurances require those questions be asked every visit, however stupid that feels. Since your doctor may only get 10 minutes face to face with you, most of us will have an assistant or a paper ask those questions, so that we can say it was done but still have as much time as possible to talk about the more meaningful stuff.
Some places do it better than others. Usually, though, the form is hard to follow and photocopied to the point of total illegibility.
Thank you. That’s helpful. Of course it was insurance. At least i know who to hate.
Eh, review of systems is good practice for any non-followup encounter anyway. It’d be nice if they actually paid RNs to do an abbreviated head to toe on non-followup visits just to catch random strays.
A previous provider of mine changed locations. The front office staff took 2 months to tell patients. We showed up for an appointment we had made a month earlier and they laughed at us. Easiest decision I have ever made.
The best way to fix this is to cancel the appointment if they make you wait. If enough people did this the clinic loses money which should cause change. Unfortunately, patients are largely a captive clientele, having already waited months and canceled work and with few if any alternative providers.
The next best thing is much more realistic. Plaster the internet with reviews complaining of the wait. If your doctor (or more likely your doctor’s employer) does not respect your time, let everyone know.
Many of the other comments are also correct. I have worked in clinics in government, military, academic centers, venture capital, physician owned, and even free community health centers, all in the USA. Doctors running late is going to happen. I’ve kept patients waiting while in the operating room, while telling someone they have cancer or are losing a limb, and by my burnt out underpaid government scheduler incompetently overbooking. I will also tell you that when I have at least a little control over my own schedule, I’ve never made a patient wait an hour, even with the above happening. It can be done, it just isn’t because for decades timeliness has not been a financial incentive.
Make it one. Name and shame on google, yelp, zoc doc, wherever. Do it gracefully and sensitively, recognizing that there is a high chance the delay is not the doctor or nurse’s fault. Done right, you’ll do them a favor when their employer feels the sting of lost patients.
You need a doctor, not otherwise.
Except then they send you a bill for services not rendered and act like that’s legitimate.
Man, I resonate with the meme here in the UK where it’s free to go to the doctors but HAVING TO PAY FOR IT AT THE SAME TIME?!
I haven’t been to many offices without fees for cancelling less than 24 hours in advance. They’re absolutely not going to let you cancel while sitting in the office. At least not in the US.
If they do not have your SSN - and why would they? Leave that shit blank on the forms.
They can’t do much other than refuse to let you book again.
Yeah…which is hard when they’re the only doctor who treats your condition in the area
Yikes - I have not had that problem. I am rural but not that rural.
I’m sorry you have to deal with that.
Thanks, I appreciate it
It it was only an hour ⏳💀
The last time I took my daughter to the doctor’s, we had the 8:30am appointment. First of the day.
I was feeling pretty optimistic that we would be in and out by 8:45.
So we arrive at 8:20 and take our seats in the waiting room. 8:30 rolls around, no call. 8:40, no call. 8:50 no call. At 8:55 a side door opens and 8 doctors stroll out with coffees in hand and make their way to their individual consulting rooms.
At 9:10 we got the call to go in.
I get that they might need to have a morning meeting to get setup for the day, but 8 doctors each wasting 40 minutes, and the entire appointment book playing catch-up for the rest of the day, seems like a colossal piss take.
Why not, like, have your meeting earlier…?
Dickheads. My grandpa was right back in the 90s when he said the country is going to the dogs. A Tory! In a way I’m glad for him that he isn’t around to see how badly his descendants are getting rinsed.
As a UK doctor, this made me laugh but equally part of the reason we run late is because of patients who don’t show up on time. If you have a full day of clinic (14 patients, say) and half of them are 10 minutes late, there’s your hour gone.
And don’t even get me started on my GP job, where I had 22 patients per day. You were pretty much reliant on some people not turning up to regain lost time from latecomers. Not to mention people would arrive at their 10 minute appointment with a list of 5 completely separate medical issues that they’d been saving up for months. So either you do a full history, examination, diagnosis and treatment plan +/- prescription in 2 minutes for each problem, or the 10 minute appointment just becomes a 20 minute appointment. And then you document everything in your lunch break or after you’re supposed to have gone home 🙃
10 minute appointment
5 completely separate medical issues
Something, somewhere, isn’t working in public health.
Yes public funded health care has many issues, congratulations on being so astute. Where I live you can book longer appointments if you need them, you just have to actually ask for the extra time. People often have let small issues add up before getting them sorted because procrastination, small issues that most people with private healthcare systems could not afford to go to the doctor to have checked out.
Most important of all, when someone feels ill they don’t have to factor a medical bill into the equation when deciding whether or no they should go to the hospital or possibly fucking die.
I’m in favour of publicly funded healthcare. My family is still with me thanks to the NHS. The problems that exist within it are because of privatisation and neglect by government across ALL areas. If my elderly parents have to fit 6 months worth of bodily problems into a 10 minute consultation with someone who has no accountability then I’m gonna get a bit upset. If you work in the NHS then thanks but more importantly if you work in government then get fucking real about what everyone needs.
I can only speak from my experience with the Canadian healthcare system. Getting a family doctor is a huge struggle right now but if you have one you can book as many appointments as you want for free. (and there are always walk-in clinics which are also free)
Not to mention people would arrive at their 10 minute appointment with a list of 5 completely separate medical issues that they’d been saving up for months. So either you do a full history, examination, diagnosis and treatment plan +/- prescription in 2 minutes for each problem, or the 10 minute appointment just becomes a 20 minute appointment. And then you document everything in your lunch break or after you’re supposed to have gone home 🙃
Here in the US, the last time I went to a doctor’s office they had signs posted saying that those under free healthcare could only discuss a single issue per billed visit. Which sure, saves the medical staff a ton of time and scheduling problems, but also means the most vulnerable (and least able to take time off to visit the doctor) have to prioritize health issues and let minor ones go untreated/undiagnosed until they become major ones.
Healthcare is a mess.
How do you even know what a single issue is?
How the heck are you supposed to know if your abdomen hurting, and shitting blood are related? Is the itching related? How about the Hives, or the headaches?
Apparently you’re the doctor now.
And what about the doctors who are half an hour late for the very first appointment of the day. How is that possible?
If they’re on call it might just be they just finished working on 4 am in the morning due to some emergency. Anything is possible ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
In A+E, I get it. But a local GP surgery where you HAVE to have an appointment? I’m not buying it.
Uhm, if 6 patients were 10 minutes late each, you’d be 10 minutes late total.
Hey he’s a doctor not a mathtor
Yeth, mathtor
It actually really fucks you up. You end up rereading charts and notes because your wires keep getting crossed.
I’d see about a discount for those on time, reward the desired behavior.
“My time is important, your time is unimportant”.
I dunno what your job is but a doctor’s time is more important than my time for sure.
Sure, but all the more reason to keep track of how late they’re running and inform patients accordingly. If the doc is running an hour late, shoot me a text that says that.
Totally agree on communication, but I think that’s more a thing reception should be responsible for. Reception’s attitude seems to be “you want to ask for perfectly reasonable information? Well fuck you.”
I have a few doctors like this.
One in particular, you have to schedule your whole day for the appointment. Even if it’s virtual.
There’s the call for the copay, the call for the vitals, the call with the midlevel, then the call with the doctor. I’ve waited over 5 hours just for the doctor before.
My next appointment with that doctor is after business hours. I am not looking forward to that late night.
Why would you stay with that doctor? Switch
I would, but the only other doctor available who treats my condition in my area won’t see me because I already saw the first doctor.
Oh that really sucks :(
I had this happen when I was at my Dr’s appt. I needed a script for oxygen. Prior to that, I watched several people walk in, get called to go to one of the examination rooms almost immediately. The thing is that each one of the other patients was obviously in far worse shape. When I finally was seen, my Dr started apologizing profusely. I told her that I know what triage means and to not worry about it. Stuff happens. If I was one of the others, I would want relief too.
This is the reality. A doctor is trying to see as many patients as possible who want to be seen. Not every condition requires the same amount of time. They do their best to estimate, but ultimately, if a doctor is willing to give you extra time, then the price is usually paying it forward by waiting longer in the waiting room for fellow patients. If you’re late when they are ready, then you drop the efficiency of the entire day. If you’re ready when they’re not, well, yes, their time is actually more valuable in this case.
I don’t put up with it lol. If someone is 15 late for an appt, I reschedule. Black and white. No exceptions.
At the office I worked at, the receptionist was underpaid and didn’t give a fuck, and the manager was 100% revenue motivated and didn’t give a fuck. The MD had tunnel vision on his work and couldn’t be bothered to get his staff under control. Also everyone was high. 🤷♀️
Went to my appointment Friday, was told my primary stopped working Fridays 2 months ago. They were the one who scheduled the appointment 3 months ago
