<p>Well said, teri, and so sorry for all your health challenges.</p>
<p>One of the differences with the legal system is that if someone is a litigation attorney and they think a case doesn’t have much merit, or will be subject to a med mal cap and won’t produce enough in a settlement or verdict, they can decline the case. Much harder to do in the medical system. If a provider is in network, or even if not, if the patient schedules and is seen by the doctor, they are typically seen, and then the dr has a responsibility to provide care or help to facilitate transfer of care to someone else if need be.</p>
<p>Many attorneys have expectations for billable hours, but they are able to charge for and be reimbursed for many things that become write-offs for doctors. Want to charge for a long phonecall to another physician ? Yes you can charge for it but rarely is it a covered service. Then if the patient is billed they become irate so it gets written off. And so it goes… </p>
<p>So, physicians are powerless in the face of a system imposed on them by corporations, and which happens to maximize their own patient load and income at the same time? In the end, every doctor has to decide how they want to practice.</p>
<p>I go to private hospital in a country which has an adequate supply of physicians, good facilities, good treatment, on time, and a reasonable price paid in cash. That makes me less tolerant of my occasional experiences in countries where the healthcare system isn’t all that focused on sick people.</p>
<p>Well, I will say the providers who only accept cash are generally very prompt and friendly. But, they are running their own businesses. Concierge may be the OP’s best bet if she doesn’t like the “system”.</p>
<p>Sorghum,
If you are not in the US then you do not understand the US healthcare system. </p>
<p>And yes, the doctors that accept no insurance are in a different situation, but many patients cannot afford to be self pay and/or file themselves.</p>
<p>Agree that the OP sounds like a candidate for a concierge medicine practice. Can’t wait to hear her response when she finds out what the up front annual fees are. On second thought… maybe I can…</p>
<p>If I have to wait for a doctor to see me, I figure it’s still SO much better than the medical care I got in the military. Wait forever for the dentist, and they always hurt you. Wait three hours for your OB/GYN appointment, every single time. Not purely because they were understaffed, but because they had no particular reason to hurry it up, no incentive, no consequences. You want pain medication during the birth? Ha! Suck it up. Call us when you see the head. Outta here. Price was right, though.</p>
<p>And when I moved to the PNW, my flight doc was really awful, but he always passed people. He was an old guy, might not even show up to the office until you’d been waiting 45 minutes, and then he’d spend forever just chatting with people, smoking a cigar. His office manager had no control over that office, he was there because he liked it. And every time I went in, he had a new dirty joke for me. I never understood it, but laughed anyways, thinking–Get me out of this place!</p>
<p>So I’m so brainwashed by terrible service, if I have to wait awhile, no big deal. And at least I can choose to not go back to that person.</p>
<p>I have lived in the US and I understand the system quite well (such as an $800 half-mile ambulance ride). Understanding it does not mean excusing its many deficiencies.</p>
<p>Full disclosure, I’m a medical practice manager. From my perspective, physicians that run late can be blamed on many factors. Of course, there if the doctor that arrives 30 minutes after his first scheduled patient. That’s just inconsiderate (and the exception rather than the rule). There is also the poorly managed practice (not enough staff, not enough exam rooms, lack of supplies, poor scheduling, etc). There are the patients that take longer than expected: complex histories, a medication list that has 30+ meds on it, elderly patients that can’t stay on point when describing their chief complaint. However, the most problematic is the way healthcare is delivered and paid for in the US. A new patient arrives to my office. They need to complete 5 pages of paperwork, we need it verify their benefits on demand which is no small feat; the most accurate way to do it (real time information) is on the phone which typically takes 15-30 minutes. The nurse or medical assistant must take their vital signs and full history including family history and social history (smoking and alcohol use). They must reconcile all their medications. All of this is mandated by CMS for us to meet Meaningful Use requirements for the privilege of Medicare NOT reducing our already crummy reimbursement. The physician eventually sees the patient and orders imaging and medicine they feel appropriate. Oh but wait, your insurance company won’t perform those tests without prior authorization which takes another 30-60 minutes to achieve. </p>
<p>We are so consumed doing busy work required by third party payors we can’t do what is really important, see and treat patients. </p>
<p>I agree with many of the posters above who are either physicians or married to them. Doctors want to be on time. When they run on time, they get home on time. The best thing you can do as a patient is arrive to your appointment early or on time. Be prepared for your appointment. Write out your medical complaints and questions. Bring any previous labs or imaging from other doctors. Guess what? All of these electronic health records don’t interface with each other. We don’t “automatically” have your information. If you need a referral as mandated by your insurance company, for the love of God, get it ahead of time! Know the particulars of your insurance policy such as which lab or imaging center to use. With a thousand patients and hundreds of different insurance plans, we don’t know all the idiosyncrasies of your plan. Also, please realize that overhead has increased for doctors in the last 10 years; that is why there are so few doctors in private practice now. Most of the doctors I know make significantly less than they did 10 years ago. </p>
<p>I believe that as America ages and medical schools graduate less physicians, this is all going to get worse before it gets better. </p>
<p>Good to see you, Jordansmom!! I was thinking about you reading this thread and the regurgitation of dr-bashing by people who do not understand the system.</p>
<p>And sorghum
Maybe at some level you do understand much of what is wrong with the US healthcare system. In a few years, private practitioners will be ancient history.</p>
<p>More practices are increasing the numbers of PAs or NPs that see patients. I think this is a good thing. They take more time than the MDs, and in many instances you don’t need to see an MD.</p>
<p>You still want an apology but not getting one? Three days later and still all hot about that. I have a solution:</p>
<p>Find another doctor…and when you find yourself sitting in the waiting room at your new doctor’s office, waiting and waiting, just as long or longer, get up, walk out and go find another doctor. Oh and make sure you have your medical record with you each time and get ready to repeat all of your medical issues to the new physicians. </p>
<p>Do it over and over again until you get so sick of it that you’ll see it makes no sense to be all hot just because you didn’t get an apology. God! I have had strangers, who have never even looked into my eyes, never took my temperature, never cared for me, bumped into me (hard too), and I don’t stand there all hot and expect an apology. </p>
<p>I get over it. Quick!</p>
<p>Relax and go with the flow. Getting yourself all worked up over not getting an apology only increases your blood pressure. More headache for your doctor but more money for the pharmaceutical companies…hahahahaha.</p>
<p>Or you can always go back to school, take the MCAT and then apply to medical school and become your own physician. I know if I am not satisfied with a service, I don’t come back. Why do you keep coming back to your doctor then?</p>
<p>It’s because you NEED him. Well, then stop complaining and say: “How is your day Doctor. Thanks for seeing me today. I have been bad. I got myself sick and here I am again. Sorry for bothering you and sorry for keeping you from seeing patients with more serious issues.”</p>
<p>It sounds like the OP was looking for a more personal relationship than this doctor was going to give her. That’s fine. Find another one. But, I do agree that this where healthcare is headed, fast.</p>
<p>That’s about the size of it.
That’s why I don’t go to the Dr. I see my naturopath, and I use medical marijuana as pain relief for my chronic condition. I leave the MDs for the sick people.
I do see my surgeons for followup when recommended. And a few years ago, I had a run to the emergency room every few months. That was weird. ( they were all unconnected for things like going into shock because of multiple hornet stings)
Don’t go to the dentist, or get any other screenings, except for my eyes. Neither does H.
An apple a day, keeps the Dr away!</p>
<p>I fired the doctors that kept me waiting. The ones I have is reasonably prompt. I also fired the one that I don’t always agree with, too aggressive for example, to clinical is another. Doctors work for me, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Okay, so OP went to a new doctor this week. Next week or next month, she’ll be at another doctor’s office. lol
Don’t you see? The issue is not about doctors not apologizing. It’s about people wanting the universe to revolve around them.
So what if the doctor is overbooked. If I were a doctor, I would overbooked too to cover for the patients who don’t show up, and I know some of you are guilty of this. Doesn’t matter if you re-scheduled. Your canceled appointment time is still open. I still have to make my money, to pay my nurses, pay my administrative people, keep the lights on, pay the rent for my office, pay my student loan, feed my family and pay for my car note so I can keep driving my Mercedes-Benz. lol </p>
<p>“So, physicians are powerless in the face of a system imposed on them by corporations, and which happens to maximize their own patient load and income at the same time? In the end, every doctor has to decide how they want to practice.”</p>
<p>My H is one of those dinosaurs - in solo private practice, not beholden to a group, so no one can tell him he must see X patients in an hour. But to handle it all, he has office hours 7 days a week - yes, including Sunday morning for the infertility patients. Any patient who needs him gets in that same day, even if he has to stay in the office til 10 pm. He is on call 24/7/365 at this point. And he does run a tight ship and keeps his appts on time - which means that “lunch” is a swig of Diet Coke and a banana, and dinner is at 10 pm when he gets home. He runs around like a chicken with his head cut off, but when he’s in the room, he acts as though he has all the time in the world. He does value promptness highly, but if he’s seeing a patient who is sobbing to him that she can’t get pregnant, or crying that she needs a STD test because she just found out her husband fooled around, or a new mom is exhibiting signs of PPD, he can’t just go “next” and escort her to the waiting area. And of course there are times when he’s had a pg woman turn south and he’s got to get in his car and drive her to the hospital stat and cancel the rest of the day. Luckily most people are understanding about it. </p>
<p>I hate to wait, too, but medical problems don’t always fit nearly into allotted times. If they did, my phone wouldn’t routinely ring at 2 am and 3 am and 4 am. Women in labor are one thing, but I get to listen to entitled patients who have had constipation or headaches for 3 days but decide that 3 am is the perfect time to call. </p>
Sadly, unless you pay out of your pocket, the Drs treat/care for you, but they work for the insurance companies or their group employer. It is a screwed up system.</p>
<p>Wow I feel like some of you are being a bit hard on the OP. I don’t think you have to get down on your knees and thank your doctor for doing something he/she is getting paid to do. I hope she finds a good fit for her. There are all kinds of doctors out there with all kinds of “styles” Sometimes it has to do with the system. .Sometimes not. Some doctors are just slow or disorganized or whatever. </p>
<p>Pizzagirl, your husband sounds like an awesome doctor, to care about his patients so much. I hope he doesn’t work himself to death, though.</p>
<p>Concierge medicine is a great way to go. I have a concierge doctor that never makes me wait more than a few minutes, and if I have to wait just a few minutes, she apologizes and tells me why. To which I tell her, I just got here, I didn’t have to wait at all, and change the subject. There isn’t even enough to talk about during the long period slotted for the appointment, so we end up just BSing about our kids. She is very relaxed and seems excited and thrilled with her job. But with our healthcare system the way it is, for most doctors, I see it going the other way. More patients, more work, and less time. I wouldn’t want to go into medicine now. Too much stress, work, and debt.</p>