How long would you wait...

debodun said:
I just cannot condone physicians that treat clients like cattle - get' em in, get' em out, send bill to insurance. It's just a conveyor belt to get as many patients through as possible. Unfortunately, sometimes I have to see a specialist, like this coming Monday I have to see my retinal surgeon. The telephone appointment reminder call said to expect to be there 2 to 3 hours! Then it will be:
Doctor: "How's your vision?"
Me: "About the same as it was the last time I was here."
Doctor: "Okay, then, I'll see you back in six months."
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Your specialist doesn't examine your eyes at all during this appointment?
 

Blaze Duskdreamer said:
It is bitter. It is not extreme. What's extreme is expecting my ill behind to sit in your waiting room with several chronic conditions in chronic pain while you take your sweet time getting to me.

Doesn't matter if it always takes them two hours or not. I threw that number out there as an example. I have no idea how long it takes them to do rounds. But they should allot the longest time it takes and not schedule appointments until after it. Go get a cup of coffee and enjoy a leisurely breakfast after on a quick rounds day.

The only reaosn these greedy SOB's don't do that is because they're money hungry. Money, not caring for people, is the sole motivation of the great majority of today's doctors.
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everybody has to wait - if you get in sooner, somebody else has to wait longer

Being thorough or 'taking your sweet time' when needed is providing good care

No it would be ridiculous to not schedule appointments until after the longest possible time taken to do rounds or call outs before surgery - that would be an enormous waste of time on most days and mean less patients were able to be seen that day - since there is a shortage of doctors that would mean patients waiting longer to get an appt.

and of course you can't employ staff to be there at variable opening times - that would be silly for both staff and patients if they didnt know until the last minute when the surgery was opening that day

If GPs were money hungry they woudnt stay GP's - far more money to be paid as specialists.

and nurses certainly don't stay in general practice for the money - is not at all a highly paid job.
 
Blaze Duskdreamer said:
Not if they didn't overschedule.
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Most over scheduling happens because people have urgent issues and get squeezed in - we could turn them away but then I'm sure you would be first to complain about that too
One ca n keep some appts open for urgent issues - but then again that is so variable that one cant always predict how many there will be on any given day - likewise one doesn't know when a patient is booked in for a quick repeat script or when there is a long list of concerns or complex issues

Everybody would love to make perfect time every day - I have given you some first hand experience reasons why that is not always so

I t could be, as you think, that all doctors and nurses are money hungry SOB's and bullies - or it could be that there is 2 sides to the story and you are only seeing one.
 
January said:
Most over scheduling happens because people have urgent issues and get squeezed in - we could turn them away but then I'm sure you would be first to complain about that too
One ca n keep some appts open for urgent issues - but then again that is so variable that one cant always predict how many there will be on any given day - likewise one doesn't know when a patient is booked in for a quick repeat script or when there is a long list of concerns or complex issues

Everybody would love to make perfect time every day - I have given you some first hand experience reasons why that is not always so

I t could be, as you think, that all doctors and nurses are money hungry SOB's and bullies - or it could be that there is 2 sides to the story and you are only seeing one.
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You even said how urgent calls could be resolved within your reply to me. Doctors are so money hungry that they can't risk a half hour breather if there are no urgent calls that day. Also see my discussion of my past doctor that I did appreciate and sorely missed.

He resolved this by either staying late and seeing you after his last appointment or sacrificing at least part of his lunch hour to see you. (If it seemed more urgent than that, he'd send you to ER/Urgent Care which makes sense as he is not equipped for someone bleeding out or something.) Of course, he is the one doctor I remember because he was motivated by caring for people not money. He did not get rich.
 
January said:
everybody has to wait - if you get in sooner, somebody else has to wait longer

Being thorough or 'taking your sweet time' when needed is providing good care

No it would be ridiculous to not schedule appointments until after the longest possible time taken to do rounds or call outs before surgery - that would be an enormous waste of time on most days and mean less patients were able to be seen that day - since there is a shortage of doctors that would mean patients waiting longer to get an appt.

and of course you can't employ staff to be there at variable opening times - that would be silly for both staff and patients if they didnt know until the last minute when the surgery was opening that day

If GPs were money hungry they woudnt stay GP's - far more money to be paid as specialists.

and nurses certainly don't stay in general practice for the money - is not at all a highly paid job.
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Nothing ridiculous about it if you're not so money hungry that you have to herd them through like cattle. The shortage of doctors is a whole other discussion and is not resolved by giving the patients you do have inadequate care.
 
Blaze Duskdreamer said:
You even said how urgent calls could be resolved within your reply to me. Doctors are so money hungry that they can't risk a half hour breather if there are no urgent calls that day. Also see my discussion of my past doctor that I did appreciate and sorely missed.

He resolved this by either staying late and seeing you after his last appointment or sacrificing at least part of his lunch hour to see you. (If it seemed more urgent than that, he'd send you to ER/Urgent Care which makes sense as he is not equipped for someone bleeding out or something.) Of course, he is the one doctor I remember because he was motivated by caring for people not money. He did not get rich.
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yes I said how it can be managed t o a degree - I also said there are too many variables for it to work perfectly all the time

and doctors and nurses need a lunch break like everyone else - and to finish work like everyone else - of course there are exceptions in emergency situations
 
debodun said:
Last year in April I tried to book an appointment with my gastro. Whomever I spoke with said they were booking appointments in September. Now that's a LONG wait. I thought, "By that time I'll either be all better or dead." Are there that many sick people and so few doctors they have to book patients 5 months in advance?
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For some specialists, yes. that is the case here too

Of course they could do what Blaze duskdreamer suggests and book less people so they were keeping perfect time - but that would mean even longer waiting time to get an appt. 🙅‍♀️
 
January said:
yes I said how it can be managed t o a degree - I also said there are too many variables for it to work perfectly all the time

and doctors and nurses need a lunch break like everyone else - and to finish work like everyone else - of course there are exceptions in emergency situations
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Well, nothing's perfect. Of course. But making patients, especially when you know them to have severe health conditions that make that debilitating, wait for an hour or more is not an acceptable degree of imperfection.
 
January said:
For some specialists, yes. that is the case here too

Of course they could do what Blaze duskdreamer suggests and book less people so they were keeping perfect time - but that would mean even longer waiting time to get an appt. 🙅‍♀️
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You felt that necessary why? We can't disagree and remain civil because...?
 
Twostep said:
Often a patient's need for an immediate appointment is self diagnosis via iternet, lack of planning, ego.
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Yes, and I also find it disturbing that many doctors are giving in to their demands that they be given advertised drugs and such. Just another reason I hate them. You're the doctor. Stand your ground and tell them, no, you don't need that.

I kid you not. I read an article a few years ago where doctors were complaining that their patients actually insisted on getting advertised drugs. All I could think was well wth is wrong with you that you actually would write the script knowing it was not something they needed and once again, the answer was obvious. They'd doctor shop 'til they found a weak doctor that would give into it so these doctors decided to be that weak doctor who would take their money even if it harmed their health instead of doing the right thing and refusing. It just keeps coming back to their being money hungry.

Health care really declined once they allowed big pharma to advertise to the general public. And it declined even further with the internet.
 
I must be blessed. Last Monday, I messaged my doctor about a neuro problem that had gotten worse. Specialist's office called -- "How does Thursday sound?" Went to appt.; they ordered MRI -- hadn't even gotten on the bus to come home when Radiology called me and set up an appointment for next week.
 
Blaze Duskdreamer said:
You felt that necessary why? We can't disagree and remain civil because...?
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My posts were remaining civil - but yes, I felt it neccesary to point out that the only way specialists could book less people and then keep perfect time would mean people waiting longer for appts.
Same as in GP land.

it is one of those things you can't have both ways.
 
Most PCP doctors, in my experience, are just in the referral business. However, with some insurances, this is the route a client has to go. I've also found that cold calling a specialist can't get a fast appointment. For some reason, when another doctor calls a specialist, that seem to be able to get an appointment much sooner.
 
debodun said:
Most PCP doctors, in my experience, are just in the referral business. However, with some insurances, this is the route a client has to go. I've also found that cold calling a specialist can't get a fast appointment. For some reason, when another doctor calls a specialist, that seem to be able to get an appointment much sooner.
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My DIL, a doctor of optometry, got the head of the department for my lung surgery. The top guy! World renowned. No kidding.
 
Silver Turtle said:
I must be blessed. Last Monday, I messaged my doctor about a neuro problem that had gotten worse. Specialist's office called -- "How does Thursday sound?" Went to appt.; they ordered MRI -- hadn't even gotten on the bus to come home when Radiology called me and set up an appointment for next week.
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That is pretty much how it works here. I hope all will be well.
 

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