<p>It’s really common in the elderly. My personal thoughts on that are that yes, in isolation, each drug might make sense. But I have a hard time believing this can be good for anyone to be on that many meds once you consider them in total. I very reluctantly agreed to go on blood pressure medication and that’s my only medicine. I’m trying to find the right exercise regimen that might help me go off them. Though my sis, who is a krav maga and exercise fanatic, and a size 0, is very hypertensive no matter what, so it may be a fruitless endeavor in that one respect. </p>
<p>I’ve often had doctors apologize for keeping me waiting, even when the wait wasn’t unreasonable. But I don’t stay with a practice where appointments are routinely running behind. It is possible to find one, at least in my area, where lateness is the exception.</p>
<p>More exercise might help you need less drugs to get your blood pressure down to good levels, even if your genetics are unfavorable enough that you cannot get your blood pressure down to good levels with more exercise alone.</p>
<p>The average doctor visit in the US is now … 6 minutes. With scheduling like that, if anything goes wrong or takes extra time, the delay affects every subsequent patient. </p>
<p>The wife and I see a nurse practitioner whose shortest appointment time is 20 minutes. She is rarely behind schedule, but if she is we get an apology and an explanation. We have time to discuss more than just the immediate issue and I get a hug when I leave. </p>
<p>Yeah, I know. I’m not on a big dose, but I’d love to get it down and be thrilled to be off. I’ve recently bought a bike and love riding it. Getting my mileage up slowly, so who knows!</p>
<p>One doctor I had spent so much time with his patients that he got into this kind of trouble with long waits. I really liked him, though, and the compassion and attention he would give. He finally went into concierge medicine, where he could actually spend this kind of quality time with patients without getting into overlapping appointments. It doesn’t make sense for me to go to his practice financially, but I do miss him. In fact, several of my good doctors have gone the concierge route. </p>
<p>If only we could walk a day in each other’s shoes … </p>
<p>Military health care has been “single payer” for ever. In the 20+ years we’ve been in that system (as both patients and as provider (husband is active duty physician) so many of these issues have been addressed and improved.</p>
<p>Guaranteed appointment within 30 days for routine, non-urgent care.
Guaranteed appointment on the same day for urgent care, or referral for same day care in a civilian urgent care clinic.
Prominent signs in waiting rooms state: “If it is 15 minutes past your appointment time please let us know.”
Patient advocates serving every military treatment facility, who are the ultimate momma bears in getting to the source of a problem, addressing and correcting patient complaints.
Patient satisfaction survey arrives at our house about a week after every appointment. The surveys are read, and taken seriously at the departmental and facility level. (Husband attends meetings where surveys are discussed, and providers are contacted about both positive and negative surveys.)
All patient records are electronic, and can be accessed by any provider within the military healthcare system. The days of having to check out your records to hand carry when moving or when referred to a specialist have been gone for at least a decade. All providers can see all of your prescriptions, all of your vaccinations, all of your visits…</p>
<p>It isn’t perfect, but I have never had to wait an hour past my appointment time, and I know there are resources available to address my complaints when I have them. I once dropped off paperwork to have vaccinations verified when my oldest was enrolling in college. Two weeks later, the physician had not yet signed off on the paperwork, and I was told it would take a few more days. I left the clinic, walked down the hall to the Patient Advocate’s office, and within half an hour I had the paperwork signed and in my hands.</p>
Oh my word. There are all kinds of professionals out there who have put in time and money to acquire their skills, and they still manage to run the businesses with efficiency and courtesy. I’m an attorney. I never considered that the amount of money it cost me to attend law school entitled me to be be rude to my clients and run my office so haphazardly that they had to set aside hours of their day to see me.</p>
<p>I do understand the points that many have made regarding the unpredictability of appointment length and the potential for unexpected urgent calls in the medical field. But these situations are in fact the norm for doctors, and there’s no reason why a medical office can’t take them into account by leaving adequate buffer time between scheduled appointments. Any medical office where the patients have to routinely wait 30-60 minutes or sacrifice an entire afternoon to see a doctor is either one that is mismanaged or one where maximizing profit is more important than serving patients. (I actually left a pediatrician because even though I liked him a lot, his office was so chaotic that I had to get camp forms to them weeks in advance if I had any hope of getting them back in time. My new pediatrician’s office would complete them while I waited.) </p>
<p>But my main point was not wait times, but courtesy. I highly doubt that any doctor is unaware that he or she has kept a patient waiting a long time, and in any case that problem could be easily taken care of by the low tech solution of putting a post-it note on the patient’s chart with the appointment time noted. I would have left the office in a much better frame of mind if my new doc had simply apologized–even better, if he had offered a simple explanation, e.g. “I had an emergency situation,” or " I think my staff overbooked me today," and then was able to offer some assurance that this was not typical of his practice.</p>
<p>I think we all understand that there can be emergencies in a medical setting that require unexpected extra time. My kids pediatrician has a sign up thanking us for this understanding. That has nothing to do with the fact there waiting rooms with people out the door and no daily traumas going on inside the exam rooms. That said, I was 24 minutes late to a doctor’s appointment last week because I got on the wrong freeway and there was no fixing it fast.They saw me before making me fill out the paperwork and if they hadn’t I would have understood.</p>
<p>My dentist, bless him, I have been with him for over 15 years and is always on time. His staff schedules realistic treatment times. One time, he kept me waiting 20 minutes because of an emergency and he apologized, explained and the staff gave me a small gift card for a bookstore. They actually keep a small stack on hand, just in case. This cheered me up and I didn’t feel so bad, especially since it does not happen often. Once in 15 years is a good record. This person has spent a lot of money and time on schooling but he has not forgotten his manners and customer service. He is one of the top dentists in my region but he has not let it go to his head. Everyone I have referred has stayed long term.</p>
<p>Now, otoh, I was once referred to a neuro ophthalmologist, at a well know hospital, for my daughter and I had to wait 2 hours, without apology. I had to endure his rude office manager who demanded co payment in the waiting room in front of everyone. She actually walked over to where I was waiting and loudly demanded $$ as if I was going to run out the door and not pay. Then, she barged in and interrupted the exam with a question about an insurance claim for another patient. He stopped the exam to talk to her and never even excused himself. I didn’t need to hear another patient’s issues. I was so appalled I wrote a letter to the referring doctor about how unprofessional the experience was. </p>
<p>Many years ago, I worked for an orthopedist. He was the nicest man ever but everyone waited at least two hours because he had us plan an unrealistic schedule. He often came in late from hospital rounds, took meal breaks and sometimes even walks with his dog during office hours (yes, he’d sneak the dog through the back door). He was clueless about patient inconvenience. We tried to convince him to let us schedule less people and none during meal breaks but he always felt he could manage it. He could not and it drove us mad. </p>
<p>My doctor (internist) has the WORST BEDSIDE MANNER ever. I I still love her - she’s just kind of brusque and no-nonsense. That being said, even SHE apologizes profusely when she’s late, and she’s rarely even late.</p>
<p>My dentist gives any patient who has to wait more than 15 minutes a gift card for the local movie theater. Awesome!</p>
<p>A couple of years ago I decided to go with a concierge physician. I have his personal cell phone number, if needed. I’m never kept waiting, and he spends plenty of time with me. I just couldn’t deal with traditional practices anymore, although I do have to when I need a specialist (although he tends to make referrals to people who try to utilize the same philosophy as him even I they aren’t concierge physicians). </p>
<p>I’m prompt by nature, if I’m not ten minutes early I consider myself late. I see a lot of people arriving late for appointments, especially in the afternoon at the pediatricians. They leave work later than expected, the traffic is bad, Kaitlyn or Braden took their time coming out of practice, etc. Should I get their appointment if I’m there before them but I was on the schedule later? That parent may wonder why their doctor is taking so long to see them.</p>
<p>A top notch specialist at a top notch hospital was waiting for us in the room when we brought our daughter in to see her. She had her assistant and my daughters latest tests and complete files on the computer. A specialist I see bring in many patients in at one time and you just wait while they get everyone in there. It runs pretty efficiently and you can see where you are in line.</p>
<p>My ob was always really late so I’d call and find out how late they were running. </p>
<p>What I dislike is being put in the room forever, let me sit out in the waiting room, surfing on my phone and reading magazines at least.</p>
<p>This is slightly related. My husband went to the dentist last week. Booked a 10:00 AM appointment and got there at 9:30. The dentist didn’t come in til 1:00 PM and then the receptionist had the audacity to make my husband leave the office when he expressed his displeasure with the insane wait time. Because he had almost 10 people ahead of him, he would’ve been there til almost 2:00! Rest assured, we will NOT be going back to that dentist.</p>
<p>^^^^^That is outrageous. Really, really outrageous. I would actually write a letter to that dentist. And put a review on whatever web site. Even if the letter ended up in the trash, I would still feel better. I wouldn’t have waited more than an hour or so. NO way would I wait 4.</p>
<p>I am pretty punctual, always apoogize, even when it’s the patient that is late (I am apologizing that we won’t have as much time as I would have liked), and rarely run over…“tell your story walking!”…jk. If I really need to run over I do, but I am sure some feel rushed. </p>