I have doctors that range from same day to about 9 months out for a first appointment… at least.
What kind of doctor and visit?
Hi @CaliCash long time no see!
:-h
If your situation is urgent, then you need to let them know. If you’re in pain, you need to tell them that. If they still won’t let you be seen in a timely manner, then sometimes you have to go the extreme route and go to ER and then the correct specialist will see you (if your situation warrants immediate attention.)
I’ve heard of specialists that are booked months in advance, but I’ve never experienced it. Most doctors I’ve seen can be booked at least with a month (for routine or specialties). For urgent matters I usually get same day (for PCP) or within a week (for specialty).
I’ve booked doctors 6 months in advance (when they say “see me in 6 months”) but even then if I’ve needed to change the appointment once I’m closer to the date I’m usually able to change it within a week or two of the original appointment.
Three months seems a little long to me unless this is a super specialist.
My D was having visual disturbances in one eye and frequent headaches with profuse vomiting. She went to the ER and had a few tests that were ok, but she was told she needed to see a neurologist asap. It’s impossible to function in law school with constant excruciating pain, vomiting, and occasional blindness in one eye. The staff of the first neurologist I called took her medical history, all her insurance information, etc, and then said “okay, let’s get her booked. Our next available is in five months.”
Really? I was so annoyed that she neglected to tell me this until I’d spent at least 15 minutes on the phone with her.
The next doc I called got her in the next day after hearing about her problems.
Before you go,to,the ER, go to an urgent care center if that is the type of appointment you need. Some insurance companies will NOT pay for ER visits that shpuld not be ER visits.
If you are making an appointment with a specialist, you could try asking your PCP to try making an appointment or,calling on your behalf. Sometimes that works to speed up,the process.
VERY true. In D2’s case, she did go to an urgent care center, and they sent her right to the ER.
I have a friend who works in an urgent care center, and she is amazed at the numbers of heart attacks and strokes in progress that show up.
I am in two hospital systems. One is the University of Michigan hospital system and one is another more local one.
Getting into see a specialist in the U of M system can EASILY take 6 months. I have to go in for a sleep apnea test and my rheumatologist (who referred me and is in the U of M system) told me to get an appointment in the other hospital system as I probably won’t get in to see a U of M sleep specialist until late summer. Even in the more local system, my appointment isn’t until mid-May.
My PCP can usually get me in same-day for an urgent thing. If not, I got to the local urgent care. For me, the co-pay for urgent care and the PCP office are the same.
Some of these wait times really do surprise me. As someone who lives in a country with the dreaded universal healthcare, I have never experienced wait times like this.
The longest we have waited is four YEARS for D to be seen at a specialty clinic with an urgent referral. Her appointments since then are about 4 or more months from when she calls to schedule. I’m seeing a new doc and called in Dec. I got his first and only available at the end on March. My lung specialist I had my allergist refer me in March-- I was seen for initial visit with my HI lung specialist in July. In between, I saw two specialists in CA and an entire team of specialists in Denver.
Most of my docs don’t have you wait too long in the waiting room. If I’m made to wait for extended time repeatedly (30+ minutes), I will find a new doc who is more considerate of patients’ time and tell the doc and staff that’s why I switched. An emergency I can understand but consistent overbooking and hours past the appointment one is unprofessional and unacceptable. I used to be more patient and understanding but have decided life is too short to spend it on people who don’t respect the schedules of others.
Sample of one. Kid went to his PCP and really had the flu. They told him if his symptoms got worse to go,to the urgent care. He passed out which he felt,was worsening symptoms…a friend drove him to the urgent care. The urgent care wouldn’t see him, and sent him to the EF. His insurance would NOT pay for,the ER visit…saying it should have been at the urgent care (which turned him away).
He appealed the $3500 insurance denial for the bill…and the appeal was denied. He worked out some thing in terms of payment with the hospital. But…sheesh.
When I moved to a new area and needed a new doctor, I discovered most doctors weren’t accepting new patients. I managed to squeeze into a doctor’s practice. I had to wait 8 months for my appointment. The kicker – I was told that if I needed to reschedule that appointment for any reason, I couldn’t - they wouldn’t see me. (I made the appointment, I like the doctor a lot, and they are much more flexible once you’re a patient.)
@thumper1, that’s awful! I’d report that Urgent Care–they don’t sound very good! Id appeal all the way up on that case! Sheesh! Too bad the initial PCP wasn’t more helpful.
The original PCP was fine. But the pass out occurred on a Sunday…of course. PCP had given him a tamaflu shot…but it may have been on the late side.
The urgent care…was not worth Dealing with.
My DD has had issues with urgent care as well. She had pink eye. I sent her to the Minute Clinic…where it was well treated. The urgent care she went to when she was sick charged her a fortune. She will never go back,
I too had a really bad experience with our local urgent care. The urgent care is the exhile for docs who no one wants to see as a PCP, at least here. The doc there suggested that the sharp piece of glass in my foot did not need to be taken out because our bodies deal with foreign objects just fine - eeek. He did not recommend going to the ER… And that’s where I went! The ER doc was appauled that I was given such a terrible recommendation and extracted the glass using portable ultrasound for guidance. I still get angry every time I think about that incompetent urgent care doc!!
My SIL is a PA (physician’s assistant) and has worked on and off at urgent cares. For her and the people she knows it is basically a lifestyle choice so she can spend fewer days at work (and less management of chronic conditions) for similar money. I don’t think around here it is full of otherwise bad docs.
You have to check to see if the Urgent Care takes your insurance. Some of the ones closest to here do not. I have had some good experiences at one where the doctors seemed competent and one I spoke to was doing it for family flexibility. My son got stitches in one, because the cost of going to the ER would have been much higher, even with insurance.
I didn’t read all 16 pages of posts on this thread, but I know that some of making patients wait is on purpose. I always schedule the early morning appointment with my OB/GYN every year, 9am. The staff door to the office is behind the reception area, so each year I see my doctor arrive to the office at 9:30am. I’ve been observing this for years, so it’s not a fluke and has nothing to do with emergencies, she does not schedule herself to arrive until 9:30am although they make patient appointments starting at 9am. When I asked the receptionist about this she told me that it’s because patients do not show up to appointments, so rather than have the doctor waiting around twiddling their thumbs . . .
^^ Seriously? I WISH my group would tell patients to arrive just a little bit early. My schedule starts at 8:30. First patient often arrives a little late. With our electronic medical record, by the time a medical assistant has filled everything in, 10 minutes have gone by. My first patient is now ready to be seen 20 minutes after the appointment started. I am late out of the gate every single day, and delays just accumulate from there. Sometimes I get someone with a simple problem, which allows some catch-up, but most of my visits are long and complex. Being half an hour late is par for the course, but occasionally it’s longer. I don’t think I have ever been more than an hour late, though.
I can’t think of a single doctor I know who would come in late because their patients likely don’t show. Those no-shows are work precious moments for catch-up time.
My clinic (located next to a large hospital and in its network) makes everyone arrive 10-15 min earlier to make sure all of the needed paperwork is filled out before the appointment time. My new gyn showed up 30 min late, but I was warned by the nurse that the doc had to rush with one of her patients to the hospital because an emergency procedure was needed. The doc apologized and did not rush my appointment even though she could have cut some corners here and there. She is a keeper. 