<p>Haven’t been able to read entire thread, so excuse if this has already been said:</p>
<p>My doctors now charge a $30 no-show fee. So if they no-show, I’d feel justified to write a formal protest and refuse them my next $25 copay. Were the doctor to see that, I think he’d waive the copay and possibly investigate the original complaint re: his first no-show.</p>
<p>When I was pregnant with my S, my ob/gyn’s office was in a building adjacent to the hospital at which she practiced. When she was delayed for an hour or two by attendance at a delivery, her office would call and let me know. I certainly appreciated it, and realized that it was part of the deal when your doctor had an active OB practice.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I recall having to sit in a doctor’s office in NYC for an hour and three quarters before being seen for ten minutes, then presented with a bill for over $200. Since I was being paid by the hour at that time, I was tempted to deduct the wages they had cost me from his exorbitant bill.</p>
<p>Here it is- 9:15. Patient and spouse were due here 45 minutes ago to fill out paperwork (new pt office forms, releases, all that stuff- takes about 1/2 hr and has to be done before the person can be seen). Their 1 hr initial appt was scheduled for 9, followed by several hours of testing with my assistant. They called a few minutes ago to say they were “on their way” but had forgotten to bring the forms that we mailed to them in advance to have filled out ahead of time. So, once they arrive, it’ll take a while to get this all done before they can be seen. This sets the whole day behind schedule, and there are other patients scheduled. I am not excusing Drs whose offices are chronically behind sechedule, but just sharing an experience from the other side of the fence.</p>
<p>I just wish both sides would consider a simple courtesy, and let the patient or doctor know what is happening. I expect Dr. schedules to OCCASSIONALLY get interrupted. I expect them to give me the same courtesy. My time (not necessarily my paycheck) is equally important. The key words are occasional, and courtesy (in my mind). If a Dr. is running significantly behind, why can’t the receptionist simply tell the waiting patient, and approximate a time frame? (they know if there are 2 or 10 patients ahead of them). Better yet, if it will be a 2 hour wait, why can’t they call a cell phone (if they have the number)? I would expect no less of the patient. If the patient is chronically late, then other rules need to be applied (extra payment, recheduled appointments – at times convenient to the practice, etc.).</p>
<p>Agreed,kjofkw. This is a two way street. With respect to calling patients, sometimes HIPAA guidelines and privacy issues may surface. The front office person may not know if a number is a cell, a private office #, etc., and would need to know in advance which #s are appropriate to call and if it is ok to leave a message. The receptionist may or may not have the patient’s chart/contact info in front of them. Depends on the kind and layout of the Drs office.</p>
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<p>This is obviously not an emergency situation. Why would you penalize your subsequent patients who arrive on time?</p>
<p>This is a multi-hour and multi-day evaluation. If we just sent him home, everything would have to be rescheduled. I have blocked several hours off for the assessment, arranged for my assistant to be here, have the 2 subsequent appointments (that require different lengths of time and not with the assistant but with me) all scheduled sequentially. If we rescheduled all of this, the appointments would be probably in July, and I would have had this assistant here for several hours for no reason. Also, the Dr. who referred the patient is waiting for the results of the evalutation in order to make his continued treatment plans, and to have to push the appts out another 2 months would be problematic. We do our best to accomodate everyone.</p>
<p>Okay, so believe it or not, one more little run-around. It seems incredible to me, but it happened again. I went into one of those “ready in an hour” eyeglass places with my son’s Rx in hand. Son spent an hour picking out a frame. He found one that he liked. Son and I like going here because we shop, and then turn around and glasses are normally ready for pick up. I paid by check. Payment is required before glasses are made. Paying by check, btw, was a mistake and I will never do that again. Glasses were promised in a 60-90 minutes. Fine. We came back 75 minutes later. We were told that they were “having some problems”, but they should be ready by closing. We waited an additional 90 minutes (walked around and came back). Still no glasses bc their equipment is not working and they don’t know what the problem is, but we can get the glasses around 2 pm the next day since their lab manager is in a bit before then. This time I called before showing up (the lesson learned from my other appt. if you read the thread). They told me that the lenses were made, but “the edges were rough”, so I can get them as loaners now and come back again, or just pick them up at 4pm. I told them that I want the glasses in perfect order and that I would come in at 4 pm. I showed up at 4:00, and they still “had equipment problems”. At this point the salesperson lied to me and said that he never promised them at 4pm. Even if this were the case, which it was not, they state that your glassses will be ready in an hour when you buy (in my case 60-90 minutes). Since I paid by check they would only issue a store check to be used this chain only, if I wanted a refund. My problem with this is that my son might not find a frame that he liked at their other nearby location. Stuck, even though I paid in full for a product that I never received. Fun, fun, fun. I lucked out at the end of the day with a different optician who knew how to fix the problem. The glasses look good to me, but I am not an optician, so I just hope that this is the right RX, and that the lenses are not going to pop out of the frame (there were problems with this, while making the glasses). The optician who was able to help was so pleasant, but the sales manager who waited on us was so abrasive. My son and I agreed that we would never buy glasses there again.</p>