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missbrz

Doctor Office Etiquette

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The list is very reasonable in my opinion. If you should show up at an office where DD works, show up early AND drop off a minimum of 2 cases of TUACA:)




I like that list....:ph34r:
TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

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And if you were a patient in our office who did that shit you would get a bill via certified letter as well as a letter firing you from our office. Yes, we have done that before. Oh, and it is on your permanent record as to why you were discharged. ;)

TPM Sister#130ONTIG#1
I love vodka.I love vodka cause it rhymes with Tuaca~LisaH
You having a clean thought is like billyvance having a clean post.iluvtofly

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I only get really pissed off when I walk in to my appt 10 minutes early, write my name on some scribbled on piece of paper, never have the clerk look up at me or acknowledge my presence and then continue to sit in one frikking spot with 8 year old magazines for 4 hours while nobody goes IN OR OUT of the office and no one acknowledges NO ONE .
WTF?>! ARE WE INVISIBLE?
skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

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I only get really pissed off when I walk in to my appt 10 minutes early, write my name on some scribbled on piece of paper, never have the clerk look up at me or acknowledge my presence and then continue to sit in one frikking spot with 8 year old magazines for 4 hours while nobody goes IN OR OUT of the office and no one acknowledges NO ONE .
WTF?>! ARE WE INVISIBLE?



I corrected the entry of the lady before me when we were at the opthamologist.

Her appointment time was 2:10pm, said so to the clerk.
This was after she literally sprinted past me, almost knocking me over in the process just as I was going to pick up the sign in sheet pencil.

Amusing thing was that I saw her sprinting from the parking lot.

SO - My appointment was at 2:30 - I was 10 minutes early so my SIGN IN time was 2:20 -After she almost knocked me over I allowed her to go ahead and sign in - I did NOT appreciate that she lied about it, though.

So I looked at the receptionist and said I'd have to correct her entry, as it was no longer five minutes after two. So I lined out her entry and fixed it to the correct time of 2:20.

I went back up and had to correct it AGAIN as she evidently heard me and really wanted everyone to think she was there on time.

This time I asked for a PEN and made the corrections that way.

As I left the office, there was a pencil mark scrtaching out her arrival time and again,, i was forced to correct it again.

Some people.:D:D
I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun

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V walked out on a GP one time. It was about an hour after the appointment time, we had been back in the room for half an hour, and the doc and nurses were down the hall just socializing. Valinda just walked out and never went back. I still see that same doc once or twice a year, routine physicals, etc. But V? No way. :D

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I only get really pissed off when I walk in to my appt 10 minutes early, write my name on some scribbled on piece of paper, never have the clerk look up at me or acknowledge my presence and then continue to sit in one frikking spot with 8 year old magazines for 4 hours while nobody goes IN OR OUT of the office and no one acknowledges NO ONE .
WTF?>! ARE WE INVISIBLE?



That drives me bonkers!!! At least make eye contact or smile.

I am a rehab therapist in a hospital. I would say less than 5% of the time I am 5 minutes late for an appointment and about 1% of the time I am 10 minutes late or better. If I'm running late then I call and let the front office staff know so they can notify the patient (typically someone with a new stroke failing a swallow evaluation and needing some extra time/attention).

I'm sure doctors have more excuses for being late, but there are scheduling solutions that should be able to prevent frequent conflicts. I strongly suspect the problem lies more in attempts to overbook and maximize profit.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

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I absolutely understand that there are emergencies that take precedence, and I will acquiesce gracefully.

When I arrive, make eye contact. Say something understanding like "the dr is in an emergency just now. He may be a while, would you like to reschedule?" My time is valuable too!

We once scheduled an eye surgery, for 6 or 7 weeks out as that was the 'earliest" available. 4 days prior got a phone call that the dr would be "on vacation" that day and that the next Tues would be the ONLY avail day for months. Took the only available time (2PM) and CHARTERED a plane to get home from a business trip in time for the appt. Sat in the office til nearly 5 PM. no in's no out's. No one making eye contact.
Went and picked the kids up from day care and brought them back with a pack of crayons and no coloring books.
It was amazing how fast we got in, and how much in front of other waiting clients!
Hey, Just talk to us! We are people too! We make not make 1800 bucks an hour, but our time is valuable to us!
skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

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When I was a resident, I did my best to say on time in a private practice office. However that doesn't always happen, as people and their medical problems are a dynamic issue, and a schedule is a static object.

How do you suppose I handle it when I get to the door and my patient says, "oh by the way doc, I need to tell someone. I tried to kill myself this morning, but couldn't go through with it".

A) Address the issue (yes it's happened)
B) "that's nice, I have patients waiting"

A respected teacher of mine once told me "Medicine is very easy, right up until the point when you add patients". Most of us are not out to get you, or profit exorbitant amounts off of you. However, every person is different, and that does not always fit nicely into a defined time frame. I've been late to the start of clinic hours because I had to finish delivering a baby. Do I leave the patient I have been with all night, that is my patient, 15 minutes before her delivery to make sure my clinic starts on time?

Basically, we try. People are complicated.

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I only get really pissed off when I walk in to my appt 10 minutes early, write my name on some scribbled on piece of paper, never have the clerk look up at me or acknowledge my presence and then continue to sit in one frikking spot with 8 year old magazines for 4 hours while nobody goes IN OR OUT of the office and no one acknowledges NO ONE .
WTF?>! ARE WE INVISIBLE?



That drives me bonkers!!! At least make eye contact or smile.

I am a rehab therapist in a hospital. I would say less than 5% of the time I am 5 minutes late for an appointment and about 1% of the time I am 10 minutes late or better. If I'm running late then I call and let the front office staff know so they can notify the patient (typically someone with a new stroke failing a swallow evaluation and needing some extra time/attention).

I'm sure doctors have more excuses for being late, but there are scheduling solutions that should be able to prevent frequent conflicts. I strongly suspect the problem lies more in attempts to overbook and maximize profit.



When I was preggers, my gyno had lots of emergencies (understandably) so when I had an appt, I would call in advance and his schedulers would tell me whether he was in the office, or making a delivery.
If he wasn't in the office, they would tell me to stay at work til X time and then come to the office. They would put me on the list so that I would not miss my appt. It worked out fine. Being on a tight schedule, it would be great that I would not miss too much work just sitting there waiting for someone else to deliver and six previous clients to get their appts in!
skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

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I guess the really big problem is the lack of communication between groups A)Doctors B)Staff C)Clients
If I had my druthers, as a client, I would like to have staff acknowledge my presence, as Staff, I would like to have the Dr. tell me that he was going to be tied up for a while, as a Dr. have malpractice insurance that I could afford while I took care of the crazy who threatened suicide today.
Guess it's not a perfect world for any of us, but if we all realize that we are ALL in a state of flux, maybe it will be just a little bit better for all of us.
One thing that I have realized in the last two years of our on going medical problems is THIS

I am the customer. I pay the bill. I educate myself on the situation, weigh my options, and vote with my pocket book. It took Scleroderma Sine Scleroderma and $100K in medical bills one month to find that out, but HEAR ME ROAR!
skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

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I work in an urgent care facility now. No appts. All walk-ins. On avg, I take 15min per acute care pt throughout the day. I base the avg on my times for between 7-10k pt visits per year. My front desk is very clear on how many patients I have ahead of them when new patients check in. I make it a point to poke my head in or have my office staff update the patients in rooms if I know something is delaying me. Usually if I have something serious enough to send to the ED, the ambulance pulling up tends to explain my delays for me.

Communication is key.

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You are where I want to be when someone in my family needs care!
I have figured out that you can change care providers if necessary, and it isn't a matter of "hurting someones feelings" it's business.
We left a hospital that Streaker had been dying in for 21 days. He had lost 53 pounds in that 21 days, had had a lung resection biopsy, had NEVER had his sheets changed or room cleaned, and I had to beg for help to get him to the bathroom while his O2 dropped to 53%. I told the staff to call an ambulance to take him someplace where I knew he would get some attention, clean sheets and a clean bed. I was not a popular person, but he is still alive.
Anyone who goes to a hospital needs an advocate, because the doctors have NO idea what is going on there! And in our case the staff didn't really care.
skydiveTaylorville.org
[email protected]

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:)
WOW! That was a refreshing release to give a picture of a "day in the life" for those that haven't a clue... then to delete it. The delete was VERY NECESSARY because I understand that the reality is that most people don't WANT to see anything by any perspective but their own. And in a "customer service" type practice, we have to make you believe that there is no other perspective to reality than what YOU see.



But ya know... life would TRULY be such a better experience if EVERYONE tried to be more understanding of the fact that the world does NOT revolve solely around them... and that applies to patients, office staff and the care providers.

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Ok, complaining about missing our appointment... Maybe more people would make their appointment on time, if it was possible. It doesn't matter where I call, it is always the same answer on the phone "we can scribble you in 3 weeks from now at this time. well, I'm sick now, not in three weeks, and that time doesn't work for me, ever.
CLICK HERE! new blog posted 9/21/08
CSA #720

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Arrived at 14:20 for third post op with the orthopod. Scheduled for 14:30 and we are still waiting as I write this at 15:15. if it was any other provider I would leave but I like to have a good sawbones. His receptionist has come out twice and given us NCAA score updates, so at least its an acknowledgement we're out here.[:/]

It's called the Hillbilly Hop N Pop dude.
If you're gonna be stupid, you better be tough.
That's fucked up. Watermelons do not grow on trees! ~Skymama

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I personally have *never* been seen by a doctor at the agreed scheduled time. I have always arrived early and been seen late.

Yes, unforeseen incidents *do* occur, but precisely because they are so rare you would never have thought they would happen, these are exceptional. And yes, some problems cannot be resolved (budget restraints, et cetera).

What I don't understand is why it seems like the same things are always causing delays? If something happens again and again, shouldn't there be a "plan" to prevent this regular occurrence from causing delays? Why plan the schedules as if nothing is going to go wrong when you *know* it will?! Why not have agreed courses of (corrective/preventative) actions to deal with these (regular) occurrences? If we know something is a problem and happens regularly, it's not unforeseen - it's unfortunate. It should be dealt with.

If you consistently let the same problems cause delays without doing anything about it, you are effectively sending the message that you don't care about wasting the patient's time - you don't care that you are making them wait.

But I agree that yelling at the receptionist solves nothing. And being mean to a cranky/ill patient likewise.
"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse."
- Chris Hadfield
« Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. »
- my boss

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