Frustrated by late appointments

[irishgal 0]

Each time I've been to the surgeon's office I've had to wait nearly 1 hour beyond my scheduled appointment time to be seen. Does anyone else have this problem at the surgeon's office? I don't mind waiting 10-15 minutes beyond my scheduled time. But, this 60 minute wait seems to be the norm at my surgeon's office. Hey, my time is valuable too.

One other thing I noticed (while sitting in the chair fuming and listening to the lap band ad play over and over and over on the tv) is how rude the receptionist is to all the individuals who call. She's only mildly more pleasant in person.

Does your surgeon's office call a few days ahead of time to remind you of your appointments? Mine doesn't. Every other doctor I've seen over the last several years, and goodness knows we see alot throughout this process, has called to remind me prior to appointments. Even my hairdresser calls to remind me a few days prior to my appointments.

All in all, I'm pleased with the surgeon's skill and the hospital. The surgeon's office staff gets a C- on a grading scale.

Ok. Enough grumbling.

Edited January 29, 2009 by irishgal

[Mr. Green 3]

I feel your pain!!! I waited about an hour past my appointment to talk with the doctor for a total of 10 min. She said I was a good case for the band and I my insurance would approve it, I was good to go. I spent some time with a resident or PA giving my history, but just a little time with the doctor. It's amazing from all the research you do that you really don't have a lot of questions. The rest of the staff is pretty good and thank God I bring a newspaper and my I-Pod.

[Happy_Girl 0]

You should talk to the doctor about his support staff and mention the appointment times consistently running late.

Remember he's running basically a small business and he probably isn't aware of the bad conduct of his staff or the scheduling problems that are going on. If you were the doctor, wouldn't you want someone to let you know what's going on? I would. Spin it as you are just looking after his best interests and the interests of his business.

A trick I try to use for all doctor appointments is to schedule the first appointment or two of the day or right after their lunch break. That way they're not running behind and my wait in minimized. I even call my hair dresser and see how she's doing on time before I head her way (she's always running late, too). Time is money, baby! :bored:

Hope this helps!

[irishgal 0]

Hi Happy_Girl. Your suggestions are excellent. I just don't know if they would go anywhere. After I completed my last presurgical tests I called the woman in the office who was in charge of scheduling / insurance. I wanted to find out if my file was complete so that I could get a surgery date. My sister was going to travel from out of town for my surgery. We needed to review work schedules and purchase an airline ticket. I left a detailed message for the woman. She returned my call and left a message saying, 'this is x from Dr. X's office". That's all. I called her back to let her know she could leave me a private message on my voicemail. When I didn't hear back from her in two days, I sent an email message. No response. I continued to try to call but always got her voicemail. In the second week I called and asked to speak with the office manager. He said he'd have X call me back. That's all. In the meantime I wrote an email to the doctor outlining my frustration with the lack of communication. No response..........until three weeks later when he forwarded my email to his business manager/office manager. By then, I'd finally been able to confirm my surgery date. Honestly, during that process I very seriously considered and researched changing doctors. But, I didn't want to put myself back 6-9 months.

As you said, the doctor's office is a business. And, if I was the doctor and my staff was compromising my business I'd want to know.

[babbs3772 1]

I understand how you feel and normally if I am ticked off because I am waiting more than I think I should I will say something. And yes, I have also commented on nasty or unpleasant staff.

However, there have been times where I just shut up LOL and that is not like me! I just want my friggen fills sometimes and I have found that I kill people with kindness - it makes me feel better.

But....if given the crappiest treatment and I was feeling especially unhappy I suppose I would be more assertive and really explain to my surgeon how I feel.

[SanDiegoPhotog 0]

Sometimes I've had to wait, sometimes they've seen me right away. Usually when I've had to wait there is a really good reason (like emergencies and stuff like that).

But the staff are always pleasant and helpful. There is just no excuse for rudeness, IMO (which is part of why I left UCSD and went with Dr. Bhoyrul). Turns out, I was STILL able to get my surgery faster with Dr. Bhoyrul than UCSD even though I thought it was going to set me back. It was a good decision all the way around.

Good luck to you. That really sucks on the wait times. :thumbup: