This is ubiquitous in medicine. I used to work in a psychology/psychiatry practice. When I lived in another city, a lawyer billed his doctor for the time he spent in the waiting room. It went to small claims and the lawyer won. After that we had to put a sign in our waiting room telling patients to notify us if you have waited 15 minutes beyond your appointment so we could offer to rebook. Often the doctors in our practice were running late because of a suicide attempt but obviously I couldn’t tell people that.

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.

I ran a clinic a few years ago. The amount most physicians in general practice make is not going to make them rich. Their overhead is high. In addition to seeing patients they are getting calls from the pharmacy, hospitals (or home health agencies or SNFs or rehab), not to mention triage from the nurse phone or telemedicine calls and emails. Theme there is the paperwork- not just charting but a number of other regulatory requirements such as pre-authorization, remittals for denials, etc.

In addition, there was a 15% No show or cancellation rate at our practice. This was not unusual.

I agree with OP- someone should let patients know AND give them the opportunity to r/s, but no one is getting rich off of insurance or self pay patients these days.

Also, flu is really, really hitting hard right now. Be sure to get your flu shots!!

I waited 2 hours beyond my appt time for a neurosurgeon once. That was a long wait.

But I was smart enough to know making any kind of fuss wouldn't benefit me. Also I didn't feel well enough to make a fuss.

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.

That’s so hard. We’ve experienced that as well. And my pelvic floor was not in great shape at the time so stress incontinence and needing to nurse in office. Thankfully there was nothing remarkable to note at wellness check and we could go home knowing all was well. We did eventually change practices but most peds run late fwiw.

I’ve been the patient whose kid made other people’s appointments that late. More than once. We didn’t go home and didn’t know all was well.

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.

If you stick, "I'm sorry" on the front, that's an apology.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

That’s so hard. We’ve experienced that as well. And my pelvic floor was not in great shape at the time so stress incontinence and needing to nurse in office. Thankfully there was nothing remarkable to note at wellness check and we could go home knowing all was well. We did eventually change practices but most peds run late fwiw.

I would be finding a new practice. Ours schedules well checks at a specific time of day to reduce germ exposure, particularly for newborns. It was always midday. By the same token any same-day sick appointments are always at the end of the day like 4 pm or later. It's a good system.

Our pediatrician had a separate waiting room for sick kids.

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.

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.

It happens when one of their patients winds up getting admitted to the hospital that morning and they have to go check on them, when they get stuck on the phone with an insurance company that's trying to deny coverage for a procedure the dr is sure the patient needs, when the parent of a patient waits until the dr is walking out to say "Hey is this huge lump a problem? Oh and I know you're not seeing my other kid right now but he has a rash that's been spreading steadily since last night and now is saying he can't breathe - is that a problem?" And then he has a patient puke on him and he has to change all his clothes. And then he's human and needs to take five minutes to eat breakfast because he hasn't eaten yet that morning and is starting to feel lightheaded. That's how that happens.

Our former ped was always late for the first appt in the morning. Private practice with no hospital privileges. Turned out he was driving his kids to school each day, but the office would schedule at that time anyway.

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?

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.

It happens when one of their patients winds up getting admitted to the hospital that morning and they have to go check on them, when they get stuck on the phone with an insurance company that's trying to deny coverage for a procedure the dr is sure the patient needs, when the parent of a patient waits until the dr is walking out to say "Hey is this huge lump a problem? Oh and I know you're not seeing my other kid right now but he has a rash that's been spreading steadily since last night and now is saying he can't breathe - is that a problem?" And then he has a patient puke on him and he has to change all his clothes. And then he's human and needs to take five minutes to eat breakfast because he hasn't eaten yet that morning and is starting to feel lightheaded. That's how that happens.

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.

I also had a doctor almost 45 minutes late this morning but they had someone come into the exam room at the 25 minute mark to apologize and assure me I was next and hadn't been forgotten, and then the doctor apologized when he came in and again when he left.

Your doc should have apologized pro forma, but many times they can't help it and it's just how it is. The appointment I went to today was a clinic for a rare speciality that deals only with cancer patients. Nobody is quick in and out and they can't rush anybody because every patient has something complicated and possibly life-threatening. My visit today was pretty brief but the initial visit last month, they spent almost an hour with me trying to figure stuff out. Walk out and find another provider? There isn't one, unless I want to drive to Hopkins in Baltimore and waste even more time. I've learned by now that doctor's offices always run late and to arrange my day accordingly and bring something to do. I've got no choice. We are all running at the extremes and everyone is about to snap. He should have apologized but I seriously don't know what you think your response accomplished.

If a patient were 45 min late, they’d cancel the appointment and bill you for it.

He should apologize and the office should call and warn. I’ve had that happen often but usually they are fitting in emergencies and have fit me in so I’m ok with it and expect it.