<p>Thanks for all the different perspectives everyone! Attorney husband who represents over 100 doctors has advice to college kids at this point–Don’t go to law school or medical school!! You end up selling chunks of your life whether you bill by the hour or contract with hospitals and insurance companies!! Son wants no part of either–and I’m betting he will end up as lawyer or doctor before college education is finished!!</p>
<p>Toorich-
Now we deal with HIPAA privacy rules. You can’t always call to remind a patient (especially in my field) without running the risk of someone else possible getting the message on a home phone, or even on a direct desk phone, and violating privacy laws. Cellphones aren’t always reliable. It isnt as simple as that. Personally, I keep up with my own appointments. If I miss one, it is my fault, not someone elses.</p>
<p>jack my friend, you contradict yourself. If an MD schedule went according to your vision, then they would have a patient scheduled for each time slot, end at the precise time for the next patient, and tidy up their desk after their last scheduled case, at whatever time that was supposed to be. So, in your world, an MD who schedules the last patient for 5:30, should be able to pat them on the back around 6, maybe tidy up some paperwork and head for the gym.</p>
<p>jym: Did you miss my smilie face after the pharmacy school comment? While I realize many pharamacies are open until 10, you can bet that the pharamacist who opened at 8 am is not the same one closing at 10 pm.</p>
<p>Again, I’m sure being an MD is not a bed of roses everyday, but if it’s too much for you or anyone else in the medical field, go into another profession, or go into teaching, or whatever. Again, plenty of professions out there where the work is just as meaningful, the people just as dedicated, the workload just as difficult, and yet–probably pays less than an MD–and the whining is probably not as noticeable either. Seriously, though, if it’s too difficult, the hours too long, the rewards not satisfying, the pay not very good-- go into some other business. ;)</p>
<p>blucroo: Yes, in my world that is the way it would work, or does work. I’ll be honest, I don’t know when the university hospital-connected doctors go home. I also don’t know when their day starts, or when they have lunch. The few I’ve been to that are in private practice, who ae not connected to a teaching hospital, do stop scheduling patients around 4. I also know they usually don’t schedule anyone between 12 and 1; in fact, one will get an answering service if you call at that hour. Maybe they’re all in there working away between 12 and 1. I don’t know. But I didn’t contradict myself at all; I’m actually not the one that’s whining about doctors having to work past 5 pm and not getting a regularly scheduled lunch hour. I do know plenty of people in other professions, including myself, who don’t pack up and leave at 5 or 6 and who consistently eat lunch at their desk. I honestly never hear them complain about it, though.</p>
<p>We arent the ones whining, jack. We re responding to unreasonable, demanding people.</p>
<p>BTW, I am not an MD-- I am not the kind of Dr who really makes much money. And here i sit at the computer at 10:41, correcting and printing a report for work. No rest for the weary.</p>
<p>I don’t hear a lot of whining. I hear people who know what it is really like, trying to help patients be more understanding and realistic in their expectations. This started with someone c/o a no-excuses, no time limit cancellation fee (which we all agreed was bogus). Then, all the poor suffering masses starting bashing MDs, a popular sport for the uninformed.</p>
<p>Correct, bluecroo. And those lucky pharmacists-- they get a reasonable workshift! I had a flat tire this morning (had it fixed last week but it didnt work)- Had to be at the door of the tire place at 7am so I wouldnt be late for my patients (as would anyne dedicated to their job, no matter what kind of work they do, I expect). </p>
<p>My younger s is intersted in medicine- but is rethinking it after older s’s broken leg in March. It was a Sunday, and the orthopedic trauma surgeon who saw him in hospital A at 11 am was the same doc who completed s’s surgery at 11pm in hospital B, 45 miles away around a mountain road. It is not an easy job.</p>
<p>I look forward to my appt and the Doctor’s reaction, if any, about my comment to the receptionist. She said that she would put a note in my chart==and believe me, I WILL move on to another Doctor if this does not set well with the doctor! And, by the way, I hope that this thread did not turn into a Doctor bashing theme. It was not the intent–as eveyone knows, lawyers are probably bashed even more!! I have truly appreciated the comments as has lawyer husband, who by the way does not cause litigation for Doctors, but actually gets them out of the jams that many find themselves wrapped up in due to ever-changing tax issues and business laws with regard to insurance, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t whine much, but I do set limits. People who don’t like them move on. They do what they have to do, and so do I. I share a mutual respect with those that remain. It is too easy to sacrifice good medical practice for patient satisfaction. This is a particular concern for me as I treat kids. Not a lot of people can make it in private practice these days. I think it behooves all of us to value it when it works.</p>
<p>good for you shrinkrap. Boundaries. Limits. Correcto-mundo. Here’s a good example of what is happening in mental health- services are needed, insurance doesnt want to pay <a href=“http://www.ajc.com/search/content/news/stories/2007/06/11/natirtherapists0611a.html[/url]”>http://www.ajc.com/search/content/news/stories/2007/06/11/natirtherapists0611a.html</a></p>
<p>notre dame,
Unfortunately some of the posts do seem to have taken on the “doctor bashing” tone…
Re: the comment about being reimbursed if the Dr cancels, please don’t take offense, but, I will be really surprised if the Dr hasn’t heard it a million times before. Just as I’d love to be able to tell a pt I will see them “between 8 and one” or “between noon and 6” like the cable repair guy or the electrician, or the plumber…</p>
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<p>I don’t think so, my doctor and dentist leave me messages all the time.</p>
<p>Toorich-
That doesnt mean they aren’t violating HIPAA . So, shall I call your home and remind you that you have an appointment at the shrink’s office? Would that go over well? :D</p>
<p>Mental health issues are handled a little move discreetly.</p>
<p>I think you are mixing something here. These are regular doctor and dentist appointments. I’m not seeing a shrink, not yet anyway.:)</p>
<p>jym: Sorry, I thought that was your earlier post “whining” about quick yogurt/cottage cheese lunches at the desk. I must have dreamed that or confused your post with another.</p>
<p>As I stated before, I have been fortunate to have had excellent medical care over the years, but that certainly didn’t happen overnight. I, too, set boundaries, limits, and–yes–moved on. Yep, I think that’s a good policy, for both sides.</p>
<p>My point exactly. So if a patient “forgets” their appointment, they have to take some responsibility, because we try to protect their privacy. That said, HIPAA has really changed how procedures should be handled. In the ideal HIPAA world, no patient should hear another patients name called, see it on a sign in sheet, on a chart on the dessk or on the wall, should not be able to overhear conversations in which other patients names are mentioned, etc. There is no easy answer. If a person doesnt get a remider call, the Drs office is wrong. If a person gets the message on an answering machine that their kid hears (“Your appointment with the oncologist is in the morning”) the Drs office is wrong. Its just far more complex than people realize.</p>
<p>no Jack, I was merely responding to the “gee sometimes I don’t get lunch because of a meeting” post by another poster.</p>
<p>No it’s not wrong, but they should not charge if the person did not show up.</p>