Doctor was 45 minutes late after appointment time

[Anonymous]

Just ask for your records and leave the practice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 8 week old had a well check and the ped was running 90 minutes behind for a 10:30am appointment. How does that happen? When we finally saw her she spent 6 minutes with us and we were on our way. She was even charting during our appointment. I asked several times how much longer but it was always 10 more minutes. I hate having such a tiny baby there for so long with the number of sick kids.

I left our peds because they were consistently late. It was really hard when the kids were young. One time, they were 40 min late for a 7:40am appointment. How does that even happen?

Stuck in traffic.

[Anonymous]

I love our pediatrician; I don't think I've ever waited more than 15 minutes and it is almost always less than that. Plus, they put you into your room immediately to avoid kids getting each other sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 8 week old had a well check and the ped was running 90 minutes behind for a 10:30am appointment. How does that happen? When we finally saw her she spent 6 minutes with us and we were on our way. She was even charting during our appointment. I asked several times how much longer but it was always 10 more minutes. I hate having such a tiny baby there for so long with the number of sick kids.

I left our peds because they were consistently late. It was really hard when the kids were young. One time, they were 40 min late for a 7:40am appointment. How does that even happen?

I’ve caused my ped to be late for his first appointment. Three times, I think. Both times my super fragile child woke up with symptoms. Once my ped had us meet her before the office was technically open, and things ran long. The other time we called from the ER, on my way to PICU and the ER doctor wanted to speak to her.

[Anonymous]

Guess what....doctors do not like running that far behind either. Their day is tougher and then have to deal with upset patients later in the day.
The patient who comes in for knee pain and then takes the doctor down a rabbit hole of could be/might be heart palpitations can prolong a quick appointment.
I often think doctors should bill in 15 minute segments like a lawyer. Would keep everyone on a tighter schedule.

[Anonymous]

All our specialists are like this. Our pediatrician was like this but the new one is not. The specialists are otherwise good, but they're always running late (frequently 90+ min).

[Anonymous]

You know they’re often late because they’re helping someone else, right? And that someone else will sometimes be you.

My DC’s psychiatrist is often so crazy late we joke about it, but you know what? I know he’s been late because he is dealing with another patient’s suicide attempt. When he is w/ my DC, he spends whatever time is necessary, so probs we make him late for someone else.

In my DC’s busy, university-teaching clinic pediatrics practice, there have been times when the supervising doctor has had the entire clinic of residents troop into our room to see something unusual and give a mini-lesson on it. I’m sure that made the whole clinic late. But, next time those residents see you, they’ll recognize something they wouldn’t otherwise.

I can think of dozens of times we went to the doc expecting to take care of some illness or sickness quickly and it turned out to be more complicated or require more discussion than I thought.

You know what is required to run a clinic on time - docs who will say “sorry I don’t have time to answer your question” “sorry I don’t have time to do a more thorough exam” “sorry I don’t have time to discuss a referral” “sorry your problem is more complicated than the 15 minute slot you reserved, so you’ll have to make another appointment and come back to finish another time, etc.”

BTW, you have serious anxiety (or entitlement?) problems if you think 45 mins at a doctor’s office is worth blowing a gasket over. Yes, your time is valuable but other people’s lives are also valuable. Either that (anxiety) or you and your children have led an extraordinarily charmed life if your experience has been pediatric visits are all 15 min. pop-in/pop-out never break the schedule things. So far.

Please see a therapist about your anxiety.

[Anonymous]

“Just one more minute” is how they keep you hooked and waiting. That, I think it’s what angers me the most. if they were honest and would tell me they’re running 20, 25 minutes behind I would manage my expectations instead of thinking they’ll be on time.

[Anonymous]

I left our prior pediatrician bc the wait times were ridiculous. Like an hour to get a flu shot. I know they liked to spend time with patients but with small kids, I just couldn’t do it anymore. We go to a larger practice now which is more impersonal, but I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes. There’s actually a sign in the waiting room that says to go to the receptionist if you’ve waited longer than 20 min.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister chooses to make a statement and won’t wait. Then, she has to reschedule! What’s the point in that? Bring your book and relax. Hell, if it’s late in the day, maybe show up with a wine split. Kidding.

This is the part I don't understand about people saying they walk out, find another practice, or whatever. In what world is it so easy right now to find a new doctor taking new patients with an appointment you don't have to wait months for?

Having to wait is a problem, but how is missing your appointment entirely not a bigger problem for most people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You know they’re often late because they’re helping someone else, right? And that someone else will sometimes be you.

My DC’s psychiatrist is often so crazy late we joke about it, but you know what? I know he’s been late because he is dealing with another patient’s suicide attempt. When he is w/ my DC, he spends whatever time is necessary, so probs we make him late for someone else.

In my DC’s busy, university-teaching clinic pediatrics practice, there have been times when the supervising doctor has had the entire clinic of residents troop into our room to see something unusual and give a mini-lesson on it. I’m sure that made the whole clinic late. But, next time those residents see you, they’ll recognize something they wouldn’t otherwise.

I can think of dozens of times we went to the doc expecting to take care of some illness or sickness quickly and it turned out to be more complicated or require more discussion than I thought.

You know what is required to run a clinic on time - docs who will say “sorry I don’t have time to answer your question” “sorry I don’t have time to do a more thorough exam” “sorry I don’t have time to discuss a referral” “sorry your problem is more complicated than the 15 minute slot you reserved, so you’ll have to make another appointment and come back to finish another time, etc.”

BTW, you have serious anxiety (or entitlement?) problems if you think 45 mins at a doctor’s office is worth blowing a gasket over. Yes, your time is valuable but other people’s lives are also valuable. Either that (anxiety) or you and your children have led an extraordinarily charmed life if your experience has been pediatric visits are all 15 min. pop-in/pop-out never break the schedule things. So far.

Please see a therapist about your anxiety.

Interesting. Sounds like you all have a lot of complex health issues. Am glad you don’t mind the wait, given how often you are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If needed, you could have reasonably come out at the 20 minute mark and asked what’s up or to be rescheduled.

We waited longer than that at our pediatric practice the other day. It was SLAMMED. Lots going on, lots of illness. Doctors and nurses still burned out and staffing shortages following COVID. You are OK.

I came out at 30 minutes and asked and was told, "He'll be in a minute.". Fifteen minutes he showed up. I had already wasted 3/4 of an hour waiting. Their burn out should not be the problem of patients. My appt.
was 9 a.m., supposedly 2nd patient. This was orthopedist so no emergencies.

What? Orthopedists have huge emergencies. Broken bone, fractured ankle. They need to squeeze these people in. Plus post-op appointments they need to schedule whether they have a spot or not.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised by the lack of empathy and understanding here. I feel like this is typical for drs offices. I have two family members who are young physicians and I see how insanely hard their jobs are. They work so much harder than most of us honestly (especially post pandemic when many of us are enjoying flexibility and more WFH). It has given me such empathy for my own drs. It's a systemic issue usually, and usually not the dr. There can be so many reasons for it - emergencies of other patients, patients that take forever and hold them up, or that they try really hard to give patient's a little more time than insurance allows basically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If needed, you could have reasonably come out at the 20 minute mark and asked what’s up or to be rescheduled.

We waited longer than that at our pediatric practice the other day. It was SLAMMED. Lots going on, lots of illness. Doctors and nurses still burned out and staffing shortages following COVID. You are OK.

I came out at 30 minutes and asked and was told, "He'll be in a minute.". Fifteen minutes he showed up. I had already wasted 3/4 of an hour waiting. Their burn out should not be the problem of patients. My appt.
was 9 a.m., supposedly 2nd patient. This was orthopedist so no emergencies.

What? Orthopedists have huge emergencies. Broken bone, fractured ankle. They need to squeeze these people in. Plus post-op appointments they need to schedule whether they have a spot or not.

+1 I broke a bone as a teen and my orthopedic surgeon’s office was ALWAYS behind and I still remember it! They’re the most behind of all the doctors I swear. 45 minutes behind was typical, one time we waited 1.5 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many reasons doc run late that have nothing to do with actual appointment times. They really are often doing their very best and skipping lunch to catch up. I’m sorry you had to wait. Someone should have let you know they were behind too. Extend compassion as we often receive the same in kind when having very human moments.

For a doctor who couldn't bring himself to apologize for keeping someone waiting, and who got upset at the idea that someone else's time might be worth something too? Compassion seems a little excessive.

So you wanted him to spend a bunch of time apologizing and getting further behind?

An apology can take less than 5 seconds.

Did you even read the OP? He said “we’re trying our best” which to many would address it. An apology that made the OP happy was not going to be less than 5 seconds.

OP back. All any doctor's office needs to do is let the patient know that doctor is running 30 minutes or more late. I think we all know there is always going to be a 15 minute wait but 45 minutes is inexcusable without the courtesy of advising the patient. "We're doing our best" is not an apology.

My day was also messed up as this made me late for two appointments. My point is that we all have busy schedules and lives. We make other appointments scheduled around medical appointments. The patient's time is also important and has been pointed out if I had been 45 minutes late, my appointment, rightfully, would, and should, have been cancelled.