How long should it take doctor to call you back after leaving weekend message w/answering service?
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Anonymous
| 2 y.o. DS bumped his head in the bathtub earlier this evening. It wasn't a full-fledged fall, but it was a decent whack, and he has a lump and a bruise about the size of a quarter above his eyebrow. He cried for a short time and then went back to acting normally, but since he's never had a head bump before, I did the nervous thing and called the doc and left a message with the answering service to find out if we should be concerned, take him to the ER, etc. It's been almost an hour now and I haven't received a return call from the doc. I'm already not a big fan of the lousy service we receive at their office and I'm really starting to fume (and of course I'm concerned about DS!). I don't have much experience with calling on weekends/after hours, so I was wondering what your experiences have been with call-back times after leaving a message with your doc's answering service. Am I being overly anxious in expecting a call back within an hour, or is this pretty normal? |
Anonymous
| Half hour or so. At an hour I'd call back. |
Anonymous
|
An hour is totally unacceptable. I would call back immediately and if you have to wait more than 10 minutes for a call back, head to the ER.
I'm not trying to be overly-dramatic or alarmist, but head injuries can appear to be very subtle even when there is internal bleeding going on that can cause serious problems. |
Anonymous
| OP here. They just called back. I was actually on the phone with the answering service again when they finally called. This may be the last straw with this ped office. If you see a new thread pop up called "Recommend your NW DC pediatrician office," that's probably me. |
Anonymous
|
Some peds practices are so busy that their physicians are literally calling patients back-to-back on the nights and weekends. My friend was a pediatrician at a busy practice in Frederick, MD and she would routinely get 20-30 calls per hour. Every hour. She'd receive a list of callers from the phone operator at the top of the hour and by the time she had called everyone back, she was given the next hour's list.
That's a HUGE reason why many practices have started charging for calls. It's the only thing that discourages people from calling about non-urgent issues after hours. That said, if it's been an hour--It's reasonable to call back. You should have heard something by now. |
Anonymous
| Your DC is fine. |
Anonymous
| I pay for my own insurance and have a very high deductible (which means I would have to pay for the entire ER visit) but bumping one's head that results in a bruise would be an automatic trip to the ER for me. Just go to be on the safe side. I have a 7 yr old and when he was a toddler, he woke up one night vomiting every 20 mins or so. I skipped calling the ped and just went straight to the hospital. |
Anonymous
| Agree that this is why some practices are charging. I know alot of people who call their Peds even when they admit it's nowhere near an emergency but feel that if the doctor is on call, she should be avail to answer even the most routine question. It's why real emergencies can't get through. It makes me so mad. |
Anonymous
A bump on the head that results in a bruise but does NOT result in no loss of consciousness, altered behavior/personality, or vomiting results in a trip to the ER? Seriously? My kid has bonked his head a few times that caused a bruise, but certainly didn't need a visit to the ER. Calling the ped can be helpful because if you truly need to go to the ER they can call and tie them a heads up you're coming in. If you don't trust your ped enough to call them, you need a new ped. Our ped calls back within 20 min if you call the answering service. |
Anonymous
| Also if you don't get a call back in 30 min you should try again. Sometimes the message didnt go through. Technology mistakes can happen, your number could have been garbled or something and they could be trying to reach you. |
Anonymous
| Ours says to call back if you haven't heard back in 15 mins. An hour is ridiculous. |
Anonymous
| Liam Neeson's wife died from what appeared to be a routine "head bonk". Brush off a head bump if you wish, but I never would. |
Anonymous
It wasn't a routine "head bonk" that she sustained. She wiped out during a skiing lesson (did not have a helmet on) and had a headache immediately afterwards which can be a sign of something serious. She was advised to seek treatment but didn't until her headache became much worse. |
Anonymous
|
Your child is fine. This is why healthcare costs are through the roof.
Why don't you take your DC to the ER and let them run multiple tests on him? |
Anonymous
My dh is a pediatrician and if you knew the types of -truly- non-emergent questions he gets all the time while on call you would realize why it can take so long for them to call back. And don't forget that these doctors are at home having lives, they're not sitting in an office waiting for your call. When he's on call and we are doing family stuff, I always drive so if he gets a call while we are in the car he can respond. If the call is non emergent and we are 15 minutes from our destination and the kids are being loud and hard to calm down, he may wait for a more appropriate environment to return the call. |