Why do doctor's offices make you wait for so long?

[Anonymous]

I have found that the really good doctors do not make you wait, especially with a child. My daughter saw an amazing gastroenterologist and an amazing neurologist. Neither made us wait more than 5 minutes every time we went. These people are top ranked and were great. The shitty eye doctor and shitty surgeon made us wait forever. I honestly think there is a correlation.

[Anonymous]

book the first or last appointment of the day.

[Anonymous]

Do your clients come in for one complaint and then say "oh by the way, I've been having some pain in my chest"? And if you cut your appointment with your client off at the very precise time that the appointment was over, would you be responsible for the death of that person that could be directly related to negligence during the visit because you can't keep the next person waiting?

Lawyers (I assume you are one) are a luxury. Doctors are a necessity. Do you talk about sexual dysfunction, blood in your stools, vaginal discharge, lumps in your breast, hot flashes, prostates, rectal exams, incontinence, etc etc etc etc with your clients? No.

Patient: "BTW Doctor, I can't get it up because of the side effects of this blood pressure pill and my wife and I haven't been able to have sex in over 6 months and I'm devastated I can't satisfy her"

Doctor: "I'm sorry, that's all the time we have for today but if you'd like you can make an appointment to come back"

If that kind of healthcare is right for you, by all means find the physician that is right on time, and good luck with that healthcare.

[Anonymous]

In short, because their time is worth more than yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have found that the really good doctors do not make you wait, especially with a child. My daughter saw an amazing gastroenterologist and an amazing neurologist. Neither made us wait more than 5 minutes every time we went. These people are top ranked and were great. The shitty eye doctor and shitty surgeon made us wait forever. I honestly think there is a correlation.

I've worked with some of the best orthopedic surgeons in the country and my dad went to one of the best cardiologists and neurosurgeons and unfortunately I'm here to debunk your theory. One of the surgeons regularly ran 1.5 hrs behind.

[Anonymous]

Pay $2000 annually to join a concierge practice. You won't wait. OTOH when you have to go to a specialist you'll be extra annoyed b/c you aren't used to waiting.

[Anonymous]

I learned not to schedule an appointment after holidays, those days are the worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They book spots every 15-30 minutes. They don't rush people out after their time is up. Add in phone calls and questions from other staff, it's easy to get backed up. And once that sTarts, it's all over unless they take a break in the afternoon to catch up.

It's all about the $$$$$. You can pay more and get treated with respect.
It's disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They book spots every 15-30 minutes. They don't rush people out after their time is up. Add in phone calls and questions from other staff, it's easy to get backed up. And once that sTarts, it's all over unless they take a break in the afternoon to catch up.

They DOUBLE BOOK appts every 15 mins. Once I waited at an OBGYNs office and three of the women also waiting all had the same appt time as me or within 20 mins.

They need to do this because there are often no shows or people running late that will back up the daily schedule. Down time with no patients means the office is losing money as they are still paying all the staff to be there. Insurances are cutting back what they pay for procedures and appointments and expenses are going up. So doctors start by trying to make sure that they work the entire day and don't have downtime when a patient flakes out on them.

This in addition to the other hightlighted issues that they have to take emergency calls and squeeze them in, plus patients that take longer than the scheduled time due to complications or questions. A few weeks ago, we went to the pediatrician because my son had swallowed a penny two days before and was complaining of stomach pains. The doctor looked him over and then sent us to get an X-ray (another office in the same complex) and then we had to come back and see her again. I guarantee you that the time for the second visit was not accounted for in the schedule and there were probably other patients behind us that got backed up. Should she have not reviewed the Xrays? Not spoken to us again afterwards to assure us that the penny was passing? Or should the next patients get backed up 15 minutes. Since we were early (around 8:30), this could have had cascading issues for the rest of the day.

And while I can understand those who say that they will just switch to another practice, that doesn't always work. In our case, we often have to travel out of town for a team of specialists. We travel a long distance to get the most accomplished doctors in my wife's condition, we have no option to switch to other practitioners if we want the best in the field. Yes, these doctors are very overbooked, but they are also very in demand as the excellent doctors that they are. For us, it's worth the wait to see the best.

[Anonymous]

Yup, the best doctors have the longest wait. People will wait to see them, because the doctors make it worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup, the best doctors have the longest wait. People will wait to see them, because the doctors make it worth it.

Meh, not really. I've waited a long time for mediocre doctors. Some people believe these are worth the wait because the visit is only a fifteen dollar co-pay. They may have hordes of patients because, for example, they are one of the few in the area with a particular specialty who takes insurance.

Personally, I don't mind at all waiting or paying out of pocket for a good and thorough doctor. These are rare and totally worth my time and money.