How long do you wait at a dr's office before leaving without being seen?

[Anonymous]

30 min? 45 min? 60 min?

[Anonymous]

When I'n at the pediatrician's office, seen by a nurse and put in an exam room, I leave after 30 minutes.

[Anonymous]

I've never left, but I once waited in the waiting area for over an hour for a prenatal appointment with my OB. I probably should have left, but they were so apologetic.

What do they say when you tell them you're leaving?

[Anonymous]

PP here. Also, do they refund your co-pay?

[Anonymous]

30 min, wow, I would have never seen my ob at Georgetown if I went by that timing!

[Anonymous]

depends on the urgency of the appt, how busy I am, etc.

for not super urgent, my time limit is 45min...

[aprilmayjune]

Yeah, it depends on what I'm going there for.... I've never gotten impatient enough to leave an appointment..

[Anonymous]

I've never left, but been tempted to after 1/2 hour of waiting. I just know that I'll need to reschedule these appointments and probably go through a similar wait again, so it seems pointless. Makes me angry, though, especially when I know that they are scheduling people in 10 minute blocks and are therefore invariably 40+ minutes behind by the time I get there at the end of the work day.

[Anonymous]

It's such a pain in the neck to schedule an appointment, get the time off from work, rearrange meetings, and pull my kids out of daycare, school or camp that there has to be a good reason for me to leave. Once, at 35 minutes at the Ped's office for a sick appointment I was at the end of my ability to stay due to appointments that I hadn't rearranged. When I talked to the receptionist, the doctor was able to see me right away. But, once, I waited an hour at the orthodontist and wasn't likely to be seen for a little while and the appointment was an hour long appointment. That time I did have to reschedule.

I figure it like this. Overall, my providers tend to run close to schedule, but not always. Sometimes they get behind. Maybe they are overbooked. Maybe they had an emergency, which would definitely take priority over my appointment. Maybe their patients just had a lot of questions that day and since I would expect the doctor to answer mine even if my time was up, I can't very well be hard on them if they run over for someone else's questions. Sometimes their cases for the day turn out to be more intense and involved than was anticipated at the time of scheduling.

[Anonymous]

I've never left. My question is more "how long do I wait before I bug someone who works there", and I'd say that's more like 30-45 mins (but it's pretty rare).

[Anonymous]

You wait because doctors double-book all.the.time.

[Anonymous]

I've never left because I know that if I reschedule I'm just as likely to have to wait again.

[Anonymous]

Wow..30-45 minutes would have been a dream. I would wait 2 hours minimum at a private CC ob/gyn. I switched to GUH and it was variable. Once in awhile I would go in within 45 minutes but it was usually over an hour. My ped is much better no more than 15 minutes or they tell you they are running late which has happened once.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes doctors are dealing with emergency situations. I was one of them once and the other patients waiting would have had no idea. I appreciated that my doctor could deal with my urgent issue then and there and made the others wait. Now, if I have to wait, I'll be thinking of someone else that requires more of the doctor's time. Oh, and I'll take some work with me.

[Anonymous]

I have never left, never will. Bring a book.