Why can't doctors keep their appointments?

[judgesmails]

I went to the doctor yesterday. I arrived at 1 pm for a 1:15 appointment. I waited in the waiting room until 1:45, and then in the examination room for another half an hour before the doctor saw me.

This is very typical for doctor appointments. Why?

Are they too stupid to learn how to adjust their schedules after years of inconveniencing their customers or are they just inconsiderate?

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
Are they too stupid to learn how to adjust their schedules after years of inconveniencing their customers or are they just inconsiderate?

[/ QUOTE ]

Inconsiderate. They're doctors. Why should they be bothered with your schedule?

[swede123]

I'm sure lack of consideration is an issue with some doctors. However, I think a bigger factor is that their job is pretty darn varied. What if their first appointment of the day is a simple exam, but during the exam they discover some problems, have to run some tests and so on. The normal 30 minute exam suddenly took an hour and just like that they are behind schedule.

Perhaps the receptionists need to be better about building in reasonable buffers into their schedules.

Anyway, that's my take.

Swede

[Nathan183]

I think it is scheduled such that if everything goes quickly, it will work out right. Of course, things always take a little longer, and appointments get backed up.

Essentially, their time is probably worth more than ours, so us waiting for an hour is better than them waiting 15 minutes in between appointments.

[jakethebake]

This doesn't explain why every doctor and every receptionist are late for every appointment. The time alloted should at least be some average appointment time, but they're always late because they just don't care.

[swede123]

[ QUOTE ]
This doesn't explain why every doctor and every receptionist are late for every appointment. The time alloted should at least be some average appointment time, but they're always late because they just don't care.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the problem is compounded by the patients. My wife did an internship with a family practice last summer, and the one thing she noticed is that the typical patient of a family doctor is a borderline hypochondriac who considers his/her doctor a great advisor for all kinds of ails, health related or not.

Maybe it's a vicious cycle where the patients end up taking too long, knowing that the doctor is really hard to get an appointment with, causing the doctor's time to fill up even more and making new appointments even more difficult.

Swede

[Matt Flynn]

I work diligently on this problem in my office. The factors:

1. Doctors fail to schedule the amount of time they will need

2. Patients take such variable amounts of time

3. Patients often arrive late

4. Doctors get comfortable with being behind since they are always behind, so they don't address it

5. Checkin procedures cause flow problems, especially referral forms, which patients often arrive without and which their insurance companies often require

6. Urgent overbooked appointments



#5 just sucks, because no one can follow all the rules of all the different products (I accept 39 products for Blue Cross alone) - all designed to get you to not seek care.

#1 and #4 are real and a big problem. Doctors have to keep working constantly and be efficient because the bureaucracy rules make overhead so expensive. However, when 90% of your patients wait >10 minutes, the problem is you. We have truth in scheduling in my office. I book what I can comfortably see, no more

#6 can be addressed by open access scheduling: you lock down a few appointment slots that are not released until 24 hours beforehand. That way if the need is significant we get you in that day, often within an hour or two. It works extremely well for the primary docs because they can send the person to see me that day, often right then.

#2 is not so bad in my profession but is brutal in primary care. I have, however, spent a fair amount of time thinking about what it is people need and want to know and how efficiently I can transmit that information. E.g., for any patient who asks me what some spot is, whenever appropriate the first word out of my mouth is "harmless."

#3 exists. People are rude or delayed a lot more than they used to be.

Matt

[Sifmole]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure lack of consideration is an issue with some doctors. However, I think a bigger factor is that their job is pretty darn varied. What if their first appointment of the day is a simple exam, but during the exam they discover some problems, have to run some tests and so on. The normal 30 minute exam suddenly took an hour and just like that they are behind schedule.

Perhaps the receptionists need to be better about building in reasonable buffers into their schedules.

Anyway, that's my take.

Swede

[/ QUOTE ]

There is only one problem with this theory -- try being their first appt in the morning; they will still be late. Really, they will. Try it.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

[ QUOTE ]
I went to the doctor yesterday. I arrived at 1 pm for a 1:15 appointment. I waited in the waiting room until 1:45, and then in the examination room for another half an hour before the doctor saw me.

This is very typical for doctor appointments. Why?

Are they too stupid to learn how to adjust their schedules after years of inconveniencing their customers or are they just inconsiderate?

[/ QUOTE ]
Who the [censored] are you, you insignificant little cretin? Don't question the doctor - he's much more important than you are. Now take your little bitching ass and sit it down in the waiting room like all the other dirty little plebes.

[phage]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I went to the doctor yesterday. I arrived at 1 pm for a 1:15 appointment. I waited in the waiting room until 1:45, and then in the examination room for another half an hour before the doctor saw me.

This is very typical for doctor appointments. Why?

Are they too stupid to learn how to adjust their schedules after years of inconveniencing their customers or are they just inconsiderate?

[/ QUOTE ]
Who the [censored] are you, you insignificant little cretin? Don't question the doctor - he's much more important than you are. Now take your little bitching ass and sit it down in the waiting room like all the other dirty little plebes.

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly, Don't you realize that they are taking time away from their important lives to deal with your petty issues....