How long to wait for doctor before leaving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:10min. Unless it’s an obgyn or the desk has upfront said the doctor got called into an emergency and do I want to reschedule.

My time is not any less valuable than the medical professional’s. They knowingly overbook appointments and presume patients can simply sit. I’m usually a jerk about it, and let both the desk and the doctor know it’s rude.

It happens even when you don't overbook. Well over half of patients have additional things to talk about "while I've got you here" that are not mentioned until the very end of the visit. I try booking in blank slots to absorb the impact of people not disclosing these issues until the end, but it's often not enough.

I generally stay very close to time, but I have no problem with people refusing to wait or deciding to find another provider. It's a win-win. I do my best, and if that's not enough, we will both be happier if they don't come back to me.

Always okay to leave. You never, ever owe the provider your business.

[Anonymous]

15 minutes now long gone are the days I've waited 1 1/5 hours at the INOVA Neurology office just for a PA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once walked out of the exam room after waiting 45 mins to see the doctor. I got dressed, told the front desk it was unacceptable to leave me waiting in the exam room for 45 mins in a gown. They sent me a bill for $100 for the exam- even though there was no medical exam. I posted about my experience on Yelp which was my only leverage. I had a feeling I would hear from their office regarding my negative (but factual) review. They asked me to take it down, I told them I would only take it down if they voided my $100 bogus medical bill. In retrospect I should have kept my review up and gone after him via the insurance company but I just wanted to be done with it.

Why is it “unacceptable?” Were you going to be late for your next thing? Or were you just mad at the lack of communication? Strategically, if it was the former you should have come out calmly and explained that you couldn’t wait any more. I bet they would have let you skate on the exam fee if you were understanding and kind, even if it was fake. If it was the latter, why not just pop out and say it had been a long time and could you get an estimated time? I’m sure the doctor was with another patient or whatever. They should have told you but maybe they’re not staffed to have someone for that.

I don’t get the taking offense and the hissy fit. What’s the point? What do you gain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How come One Medical is never late for their appointments? Yes they charge me $200 a year but that's not a LOT of money. How can they afford to see their patients on time but no one else can?

Because they’ll walk out of your appointment when the time is up. I quit One Medical after I had a doctor almost leave me naked in the stirrups. She took her time discussing things that were not relevant to me, but was rushed when it came time to my Pap smear and questions. I swear she walked out while I was scrambling to cover myself with a cloth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20 minutes. But tell the front desk you are leaving since they are clearly behind and didn’t provide advance notice. I would also be clear that you will not be charged for the appt.

I can't really imagine living a life where I could afford to take leave twice, because I got annoyed and left after 20 minutes and then had to reschedule.

If my dentist was frequently late, I might find a new dentist, but I wouldn't leave after 20 minutes.

And for doctors, having been the parent who came in with what they thought was a rash, and turned out to be the sign of a life limiting condition, I know that doctors can't always guarantee they'll stay on schedule, so I give some grace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long are we talking? Working in medicine is hard. Give a little grace. If you haven't ever worked in a patient facing position in medicine it may be hard to understand but there are a zillion reasons drs are typically behind each day. They are usually doing their best.

Amen to this. Patients can be crazy bad historians. Do you know how many times I've had a patient come in for something like a rash, only to have them tell me as I have my hand on the knob to exit: "wow, Thanks so much for helping me with this rash. It was really the last straw for me with the blood I'm peeing and everything else." Me:
You can't make this sh$%t up but it happens all the time in medicine. A patient will purposefully or completely inadvertently mention something in the last minute of the appointment that you can't ignore. Everyone on DCUM (smart, good consumers of healthcare) would be SHOCKED what people live with for weeks or months and don't think to mention to their doctors. It's something.

I don't excuse providers who run late each and every visit but I do give a LOT of grace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long are we talking? Working in medicine is hard. Give a little grace. If you haven't ever worked in a patient facing position in medicine it may be hard to understand but there are a zillion reasons drs are typically behind each day. They are usually doing their best.

Amen to this. Patients can be crazy bad historians. Do you know how many times I've had a patient come in for something like a rash, only to have them tell me as I have my hand on the knob to exit: "wow, Thanks so much for helping me with this rash. It was really the last straw for me with the blood I'm peeing and everything else." Me:
You can't make this sh$%t up but it happens all the time in medicine. A patient will purposefully or completely inadvertently mention something in the last minute of the appointment that you can't ignore. Everyone on DCUM (smart, good consumers of healthcare) would be SHOCKED what people live with for weeks or months and don't think to mention to their doctors. It's something.

I don't excuse providers who run late each and every visit but I do give a LOT of grace.

Exactly. You can try to motivate this, and I do -- I even ask at the beginning, "looks like you are booked for (specific concern XYZ), was there anything else? Because if anything else comes up after we get started, we'll probably have to book another visit," but that still doesn't always cut it.

And I work with kids, so I definitely can't just put off scary stuff. It's not their fault that their parents can't be up front about things.

[Anonymous]

(mitigate this)

[Anonymous]

I waited an hour and a half once and had to walk out. They were very confused at the desk when I got dressed and appeared at 1:35. I had a 12:00 appointment. I never returned to the office and found a new doctor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dentist gives me 15 mins grace so I give them 15 mins grace. When I have complained about the wait time, the nurse comes out and takes height:weight and sticks me in room for another 20 mins *ughh*

That’s interesting, I’ve never had my height and weight measured at the dentist!

[Anonymous]

I mean, most of the time they are late because of an emergency or an unexpected number of complex prior patients, not because they decided to treat themselves to a luxurious lunch. Usually I just keep checking in with the desk to find out how much longer my wait will be. I have been in an examine room long enough for the auto-lights to shut off because it thought no one was there (I was sitting still reading). I like that doctor, though, so I made a mental note to only schedule for early morning or immediately after lunch from then on.

Usually by the time I get to the doctor it's more of a hassle for me to reschedule than to just tough it out. My child does see one specialist I would love to kick to the curb because she is always late and I find her personality annoying, but honestly I think it's in his best interests just to tough it out with her. She's good at what she does medically.

[Anonymous]

I think I start to get annoyed around 30 mins. I have said something like - did you forget about me, etc? I don't have any high risk conditions and I'm also willing to switch doctors over it. I've occasionally said that before, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long are we talking? Working in medicine is hard. Give a little grace. If you haven't ever worked in a patient facing position in medicine it may be hard to understand but there are a zillion reasons drs are typically behind each day. They are usually doing their best.

Amen to this. Patients can be crazy bad historians. Do you know how many times I've had a patient come in for something like a rash, only to have them tell me as I have my hand on the knob to exit: "wow, Thanks so much for helping me with this rash. It was really the last straw for me with the blood I'm peeing and everything else." Me:
You can't make this sh$%t up but it happens all the time in medicine. A patient will purposefully or completely inadvertently mention something in the last minute of the appointment that you can't ignore. Everyone on DCUM (smart, good consumers of healthcare) would be SHOCKED what people live with for weeks or months and don't think to mention to their doctors. It's something.

I don't excuse providers who run late each and every visit but I do give a LOT of grace.

I get that you're getting squeezed by insurance but I feel like if it happens a lot, you gotta plan for that when scheduling appointments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How long are we talking? Working in medicine is hard. Give a little grace. If you haven't ever worked in a patient facing position in medicine it may be hard to understand but there are a zillion reasons drs are typically behind each day. They are usually doing their best.

Amen to this. Patients can be crazy bad historians. Do you know how many times I've had a patient come in for something like a rash, only to have them tell me as I have my hand on the knob to exit: "wow, Thanks so much for helping me with this rash. It was really the last straw for me with the blood I'm peeing and everything else." Me:
You can't make this sh$%t up but it happens all the time in medicine. A patient will purposefully or completely inadvertently mention something in the last minute of the appointment that you can't ignore. Everyone on DCUM (smart, good consumers of healthcare) would be SHOCKED what people live with for weeks or months and don't think to mention to their doctors. It's something.

I don't excuse providers who run late each and every visit but I do give a LOT of grace.

I get that you're getting squeezed by insurance but I feel like if it happens a lot, you gotta plan for that when scheduling appointments.

We do. People still manage to bring up stuff not brought up before, and it would probably take leaving half the slots open to guarantee starting on time every day.

But if course, then people are mad that they can't get in for the weeks, or they show up and demand to be seen, and then the phone calls with forehead zits that absolutely must be addressed immediately start stacking up.

It's possible to stay within 10-15 minutes every appointment in primary care if you have a limited number of patients you know well, and they are trained (for lack of a better word) to expect only to talk about the one thing they are booked for, and who know the "hand on the door"/"by the way"/"while I'm here" questions will need another appointment. I did it by running a private practice where I had someone at front doing triage with each and every patient, and with a literal form where they signed off that there were no other questions ( if there were more, my nurse triaged the most important and booked other visits for follow up on less important things before I saw the patient).

It worked. Some patients loved it. Some were out of by it and found the practice of pre-triage off-putting. That was good for both of us to know -- when you are not a good fit together, then it's helpful to both of you to get that sorted from the start.

However, I could answer about 20 phone calls a day, for in 5 urgent patients who called that day, and stay on time. It was an extraordinary amount of effort, though, and the new problem was dealing with people any that we had such a long waiting list, because you can't keep taking new patients and make that work.

I'm glad not to be running my own shop anymore.

[Anonymous]

I had to wait over two hours for an IUI. Not something you can just bail on. My OB once had me waiting almost two hours but it was towards the end of the day. But if it were earlier I’d probably have left after an hour. I get charged an hour of leave for any part of an hour that I use. So if I’m waiting for hours now it will be paid for later.