charging a no-show fee for a virtual appointment when the doctor was late

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the difficulty with virtual appointments is that you're just sitting at home and you have no idea what's going on so if they no show, you're in the dark. At the office you'd have checked in at reception and see other patients moving along. If the doctor wasn't available that day, they'd tell you.

My doctor is actually good about this as the front desk will call my cell if the doctor is running late to a virtual appointment, so at least I know about how long of a wait.

You can call the office if you want to know. Otherwise, it's easy to set the computer, open to the appointment, next to you while you get something done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to understand the doctor’s time is more important than yours.

The hell it is

[Anonymous]

You can call and ask them to waive the fee. But more importantly, you missed your doctor's appointment because ... because not clear why. But you're the one who will have to reschedule and wait again for the next appointment.

[Anonymous]

Eh I wouldn’t pay. And I’d let them know why

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I waited in the virtual waiting room for over 20 minutes past start of appointment time, eventually had to run to another call. About 30 minutes after the start of the appointment, I see a text on my phone saying the doctor "is ready to begin you appointment." Later I see in the portal they marked me as "no-show" for the appointment and want to charge a 50 dollars fee.

Is this legal??? Shouldn't there be a record on their virtual appointment system that I signed in and was waiting for over 20 minutes?

And this is an office that charges PATIENTS if we are more than 10 minutes late!

What can you do in this situation?

So you only scheduled 20 minutes for a doctor's appointment?

Bizarre.

I’ve never had a virtual doctors appt that was more than 10 Mn.

NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can call and ask them to waive the fee. But more importantly, you missed your doctor's appointment because ... because not clear why. But you're the one who will have to reschedule and wait again for the next appointment.

Because she was busy. Doctor was late. That’s on them. 5 Mn is fine. 20 is not. No way should she pay, and I suspect they will get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eh I wouldn’t pay. And I’d let them know why

Cool. Enjoy finding a new doctor’s office.

[Anonymous]

IME doctors often run very late for virtual appointments. They figure you can do something else while you are waiting. Next time, schedule more buffer time around the appointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can call and ask them to waive the fee. But more importantly, you missed your doctor's appointment because ... because not clear why. But you're the one who will have to reschedule and wait again for the next appointment.

Because she was busy. Doctor was late. That’s on them. 5 Mn is fine. 20 is not. No way should she pay, and I suspect they will get it.

Okay. But OP still has to reschedule and wait for the next appointment.

The only one that her decision to skip her doctor's appointment harmed is herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh I wouldn’t pay. And I’d let them know why

Cool. Enjoy finding a new doctor’s office.

Unlikely. I’ve had to leave in person appts before bc I had to get back to work and couldn’t wait. It happens. It’s their fault for being so behind. Any half way decent practice would waive the fee

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IME doctors often run very late for virtual appointments. They figure you can do something else while you are waiting. Next time, schedule more buffer time around the appointment.

That hasn’t been my experience

[Anonymous]

I would have taken a screenshot before I left and I'd email them showing you were there at the scheduled time and had a work call you could not miss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I waited in the virtual waiting room for over 20 minutes past start of appointment time, eventually had to run to another call. About 30 minutes after the start of the appointment, I see a text on my phone saying the doctor "is ready to begin you appointment." Later I see in the portal they marked me as "no-show" for the appointment and want to charge a 50 dollars fee.

Is this legal??? Shouldn't there be a record on their virtual appointment system that I signed in and was waiting for over 20 minutes?

And this is an office that charges PATIENTS if we are more than 10 minutes late!

What can you do in this situation?

So you only scheduled 20 minutes for a doctor's appointment?

Bizarre.

How is that Bizarre? Most doctor's visits last10-15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

My doctor's office sends me a text if the doctor is running behind for virtual visits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh I wouldn’t pay. And I’d let them know why

Cool. Enjoy finding a new doctor’s office.

Unlikely. I’ve had to leave in person appts before bc I had to get back to work and couldn’t wait. It happens. It’s their fault for being so behind. Any half way decent practice would waive the fee

That's a very strange thing to do. If you have a health condition, then doctor's appointment are very important and can take a long time to schedule. If you are a healthy person, then doctor's appointments are rare and are probably important when they come up. I just don't understand making an appointment, going to the appointment, and then leaving. Maybe medical phobia?