Community Chat

[Sunnycorle]

really depends on the appointment.  I did walk out on a last appointment with a opthmologist that would make people wait a couple of hours.  It was the worst run office I have ever been to.  I made sure to let them know too.

  Rude!  we all have scedules and its out of control with some doctors. 

That being said, I would wait all day for my oncologist.  

[Imaoldhippie]

Having worked in doctors offices for over 20 years, I know that there are sometimes unavoidable delays.  But if a doctor is constantly "running late" there is a problem, and I would not wait and find myself another doctor in that case.

[sunshine45]

generally, as long as it takes.....

my father was a doctor and i worked part time for him for a while. sometimes, it just happens. he had patients sometimes waiting up to an hour or so. he would be stuck at the hospital with an emergency or surgeries are backed up or other patients take a longer time. you cannot rush a doctor. everyone deserves the best care possible.

if you dont have patience or have something else scheduled, you can reschedule or find another doctor.

i make sure to schedule doctors appointments on days when i dont have to do anything else.

[Bird mama]

@I am still oxox  I had a doctors appointment last Friday for 10:30.  I pre-registered the day before and got to the office at 10 am.   I don't know exactly when I was taken into the exam room, I wasn't watching that closely.  I got out of there at around 12:15.   It's a once a year thing - didn't bother me.

[chrystaltree]

I wait until I'm seen.  I like to make my appointments as early as I can in the morning before they get backed up. I never have long waits.   I find that if I wait until afternoon, I won't be seen on time.  I'll have to wait.  It's just common sense.  Regardless, I always take my Kindle with me so that I have a book to read or music to listen to or I can surf the web.  I wouldn't even consider 45 minutes to be such a long wait.  I only walked out one time in my life and that was when I was seeing an orthopedic doctor and the receptionist apologized and told me that he was in surgery and it was taking much longer than expected.  She had no idea when he'd get back to the office but she thought it would be in less than 2 hours.  I didn't stay,  I made an appointment for the next week and left.  

[Jordan2]

My doctor schedules patients every 15 minutes, which isn't always enough time with the doctor, hence the running late. What they should do, but won't,  is leave 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon free as a way to catch up or squeeze in someone with an emergency.

[Lipstickdiva]

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@Jordan2 wrote:

My doctor schedules patients every 15 minutes, which isn't always enough time with the doctor, hence the running late. What they should do, but won't,  is leave 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon free as a way to catch up or squeeze in someone with an emergency.

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@Jordan2, that may not be up to the doctor. So many doctor's work for a particular practice or group and they have no control over their schedule.  I know in my area, The Cleveland Clinic requires that doctors' appointments be booked every 15 minutes.  That was a huge bone of contention with many of them because it's not enough time.  I had a belove ob/gyn that quit over it.  In order for the Clinic to pay a portion of her malpractice insurance, she was required to see X number of patients.  On her own, she couldn't afford the insurance.      

[Lipstickdiva]

Knock on wood with my current PCP I have never waited more than 5 to 10 minutes.  Usually I don't even get a chance to sit before they are calling me in the back.

A couple of years ago I was having shoulders issue and was seeing a specialist.  He was never on time no matter what time I made my appointment.  One morning I was his second appointment and he was already running 45 minutes late.  One afternoon I left work early for a 3:30 appointment only to not be seen until shortly after 5:00. 

Back in the day it was pretty common to wait to be seen by my gyno because she often had a delivery, etc.  But now that babies are delivered by whichever doctor is on call, that doesn't happen because she can schedule around that.       

[OKPrincess]

We try to schedule first thing of a morning.  DH just scheduled an 8 am in May.

Even though we don’t have far to drive, we’d wait.

And knowing me, I’d voice an opinion and be nice about. But by the tone of my voice they’d know I wasn’t pleased.

[2blonde]

This has happened with my OB/GYN.  I have to go in mid-afternoon because I work (I leave early from there).  Sometimes he has had to deliver a baby.  I waited over an hour once, but he's a great doc and I wouldn't trade him.