Post by Captain Serious on Oct 11, 2014 9:13:24 GMT -5
It depends on the doctor. I had one that always made us wait, but when she was in the room with you, she took all the time you needed, and things were never rushed. She was a great diagnostician. If rather wait for her than go someplace else and not have to wait. I just tried to book first thing in the morning it right after her lunch break, so she wouldn't be all backed up.
Depends on the specialty. At my PCP, never. at the OB/Gyn, all the time. I assume it's the nature of the practice, more emergencies and unplanned things to deal with at a practice that deals mostly with pregnant women. It's easier to stay on schedule when you are dealing with flu shots and strep throat all day.
Post by trafficgirl on Oct 11, 2014 9:16:08 GMT -5
I think I've only waited that long once, and they told me at check in the Dr was running really late. Most of the time it's like 10 min max. But I go on weekdays and just take time off work.
My GP is always at least an hour late. I usually go check in and then tell them I'm leaving and ask when I should come back. Then I go spend money at Michaels. There's a doctor shortage here so I don't have the option to switch or I would in a heartbeat
My Endo is usually only about 15 max but I would wait until the end of time for him.
PCP, anywhere from 15-30 minutes. At the gyn it's only about 10, and my neurologist can be 30-60 but he doesn't rush his patients. He's taken an hour with me before, so I just try to get the earliest appointment I can and plan to wait. If I do get the coveted 8:15 slot, I still might have to wait if he's coming from rounding at the hospital.
I've been lucky in that as an adult I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 15 or so minutes at the doctor's office. But I'm relatively healthy and have never been to a specialist. I think under an hour wait times aren't unheard of unfortunately.
As someone who works on the health care side of things I'm honestly sometimes surprised that doctor's are able to have minimal waits at all. There is a lot going on in the background! EMR is definitely changing things and I think are making wait times longer anecdotally and it sucks that more work is done by doctor's at home too. But that's a completely different topic.
It depends on the doctor. I had one that always made us wait, but when she was in the room with you, she took all the time you needed, and things were never rushed. She was a great diagnostician. If rather wait for her than go someplace else and not have to wait. I just tried to book first thing in the morning it right after her lunch break, so she wouldn't be all backed up.
This is how my gyno is. I have to wait an hour to see her, but, to me, it's worth it because I get such great care from her.
My kids' pedi is always less than 10 min, which I really appreciate b/c it's so hard to keep them entertained while we wait.
Post by Norticprincess on Oct 11, 2014 10:02:30 GMT -5
The doc I see the most. It seems like I wait forever, but I get lab work first. Then need to wait for it to come back before I see my doc. If the lab is quick 30 minutes. If not 3 + hours. It is normally the lab that has him behind. Or a crisis. I've been that crisis several times. I think all of his patients have been at one time. It's oncology. Stuff happens. Issues don't always fit in 15 minutes.
My Pcp if I get the early appointment 5-10 minutes waiting for her staff to get things turned on. Later in the day you call before you go to see how backed up she is-they give you a time that is pretty accurate for when to arrive. She spends forever with you.
Urgent care varies by which one I go to and how busy they are at that time.
Post by lightbulbsun on Oct 11, 2014 10:13:03 GMT -5
At my PCP, usually about 5-10 minutes. At the gyno, anywhere from 30-60 min. My PCP is a very small practice, and they only have 2 doctors and one nurse, and usually there's only 1-2 patients there besides me. The gyno is always insane. Last time I waited almost an hour.
Post by Jalapeñomel on Oct 11, 2014 11:23:55 GMT -5
Well I waited over four hours to see the orthopedic doctor for my back, and two hours the previous time. I waited almost an hour for the pediatrician last time we went.
Post by dragonfly08 on Oct 11, 2014 11:29:06 GMT -5
At my pb/gyn, pretty much always. The nurses always get me prepped and in an exam room pretty much on time but then it's 50/50 that the doctor is moving along on schedule. I get it; she's dealing with a lot of pregnant women and there's just now way to accurately judge how many questions someone will have, or if there's an unexpected issue that needs dealing with.
My dentist, on the other hand, is very prompt, as is my kids' dentist. Their pediatrician, on the other hand, is often 15-20 minutes behind. When we first started going there 10 years ago she was always prompt, but the practice has grown so much that even after adding two partners they're always crazy busy.
My pcp and the pedi has been up to 1.5 hours. Why is it so long?
It could be a variety of reasons depending on the practice and physician.
Rounding on patients in the hospital morning took too long Patients showed up late Calls to insurance, pharmacy, other doctor's, etc Calls to patients Finishing up notes in between patients Patient had a more complex problem than initially scheduled, so appointment ran longer than anticipated
These are just the most common things that happen multiple times per day and I could probably think of a list 5 times longer of other scenarios that come up that delay things.
My pcp and the pedi has been up to 1.5 hours. Why is it so long?
It could be a variety of reasons depending on the practice and physician.
Rounding on patients in the hospital morning took too long Patients showed up late Calls to insurance, pharmacy, other doctor's, etc Calls to patients Finishing up notes in between patients Patient had a more complex problem than initially scheduled, so appointment ran longer than anticipated
These are just the most common things that happen multiple times per day and I could probably think of a list 5 times longer of other scenarios that come up that delay things.
Do you think that doctors are pressured into shortening appointment times? Like, I'm wondering if they're only allotting 10 or 15 minutes per patient, which is just not realistic.
It could be a variety of reasons depending on the practice and physician.
Rounding on patients in the hospital morning took too long Patients showed up late Calls to insurance, pharmacy, other doctor's, etc Calls to patients Finishing up notes in between patients Patient had a more complex problem than initially scheduled, so appointment ran longer than anticipated
These are just the most common things that happen multiple times per day and I could probably think of a list 5 times longer of other scenarios that come up that delay things.
Do you think that doctors are pressured into shortening appointment times? Like, I'm wondering if they're only allotting 10 or 15 minutes per patient, which is just not realistic.
Yes, it depends on the practice. There are a certain number of patients you need to see per day.
15 minutes is no time when you have to fool around with EMR and do stuff in between patients.
I know a pediatrician and a family med doc that specifically opened their own practice a couple of years out of residency because they didn't like the pressure of seeing patients every 15 minutes in their group practice.