Starting in 2007 I experienced a period of health problems, which led to many doctor visits. I would try to schedule either the earliest I could get in the morning or the latest I could get in the afternoon. My goal was to try and miss as little work as possible. When I learned surgery was in my future I became even more aware of how much time I spent in doctor’s offices either waiting in the lobby or in an exam room.
My regular family doctor was good about time unless something major came up, but most of the time he did not keep me waiting long. When I had to start seeing specialists that changed. One doctor’s staff seemed to think that once you were in an exam room, you should be happy, even if you are left waiting for 45 minutes to an hour. On one visit I walked out to the nurses area and asked if I was forgotten or was maybe he had an emergency. I was told that no one had forgotten me, the doctor just liked to spend all the time needed with each patient.
I told them I had to get back to work and I suggested it might be a good idea to try a different program for scheduling since you know the doctor will be with patients for a lengthy time. I was not ugly or hateful, but I was clearly frustrated. The truth is, I was tired. I was tired of the whole doctor scene. They apologized and asked if I would just give him a few more minutes. I agreed. After another 20 minutes I left. They called me at work apologizing and asking to reschedule. I agreed, but in my opinion I was still left waiting too long on following visits.
This happened with several doctors. Another thing I don’t get. Why does a doctor have to redo blood work that has already been completely done and all they have to do is get a copy and read it? If all the information you need is in the first blood workup, why do we need to spend more money to get the same results? I am sure there is some answer of liability or something along those lines, but seriously, I think some common sense could still be used somewhere in this scenario.
Now lets take my husband’s situation, the truck driver, and when he needs to see a doctor. The first obstacle is trying to pin down an appointment that he can actually keep. In the past some trucking companies couldn’t get him home very well when he needed to be. There were times it seemed that if he insisted he had to see the doctor, when he did get back to work it was almost like some punishment was involved pertaining to his next load assignments.
Throw in some type of test or multiple tests and now you really have a dilemma. There have been many times my husband should have seen a doctor and he just threw up his hands and quit trying. Now that we are older, he doesn’t push things off much anymore. Another thing though is we are fortunate that he works for a company that will let him keep his doctor’s appointments, which if he can he usually tries to schedule early Monday mornings.
Since moving to a much smaller town, our new doctor is very punctual and you are hardly left waiting. But I would wager that if I needed a certain specialist and I had to go out of town, I would end up waiting and chance are high I would be waiting entirely too long.
I ran across an article on cnn.com today. The headline, “Would Your Doctor Pay For Wasted Time?” The article tells of a woman who ended up waiting for 2 hours to see her doctor. She was angry and decided to bill him for her time. The woman was an IT specialist at Boeing. She figured up her hourly wage and then doubled it for the 2 hours of waiting time. She mailed her invoice to the doctor and he sent her a check for $100.00. Which is exactly what she asked for.
My first thought is damn Kimberly why didn’t you think of that? The article then went on to tell of a doctor who if you are left waiting longer than 15 minutes, he comes in the door handing you a five dollar bill. Some doctors give out lotions or soaps. As for me you can keep the soap, I want monetary compensation.
Of course doctors at any time can have a situation come up that will knock his schedule off. My experience was every visit with some doctors. The article gave some advice including making your own invoice and billing the doctor for your time. The last piece of advice was to blog about your doctor’s lateness. You have to love that so many people blog now, that it is just assumed you are a blogger. I have always believed that our time is just as important as their time, but some may disagree with that.
Thank goodness I don’t have to spend as much time in doctor’s offices now, but who knows what the future holds and I can promise you I will remember this article, if I need to.
Take care and stay well,
KJ
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