Unrealistic expectations of my obgyn office?

[Deleted]

I'm sitting here in my obgyn office. My appointment was at 2:45pm, which means i left my office at 2:25pm. It's now 3:30pm and I'm still in the waiting room. If past experience serves as a guide, I won't actually see the dr for 20-40 minutes once I've been taken back by the nurse.

This happens every time. I've tried scheduling way in advance to get first thing in the morning appointments and last thing appointments. Her earliest appt is 10 am and latest is 3pm.

I try to be respectful of their time by being on time for my appointments. And I understand that things come up (babies beig born and whatnot). By by the time I see the dr I'm usually so irrationally pissed about waiting for 1.5 hours that I'm short and pissy with her. We've yet to establish a good rapport because of my feeling like their office is disrespectful of my time. I feel like every hour I sit in the waiting room is one less I get for maternity leave.

I'd understand if this was a one time thing. Or if they called me the day of my appointment to say she'a running late. But this is annoying.

Or are my expectations unrealistic?

[slug*bug]

Not unrealistic at all. I agree that it's a case of whether it's an occasional thing vs. and every time thing.

I had one very lengthy (maybe 60 min.?) wait for my OB over the course of two pregnancies (which is what, a billion visits, lol?) He was doing an emergency C-section: I was really surprised it didn't happen more often, but of course I understood. The other waits were usually 10-15 minutes.

FWIW, rightly or not, I think MDs get a pass in this area that no other profession does. Really...would you routinely wait for your dentist for 90 minutes? Your hairstylist? Most people would not. It seems like there's an expectation that everyone runs on time...except physicians, which I don't understand.

[Brie]

That would bug me.

Any chance of switching to a larger practice? There are 8 OB/GYNs and 2 NPs that take appointments in mine. I'm always in and out of routine prenatal appointments within half an hour. They run that place like a military operation. Yeah, it's less personal than a smaller practice, but I'm still happy and don't waste half my day waiting. And I schedule my next visit when I'm in the office, so 4 weeks out and I'm always able to get an appointment before 9 am.

Honestly, one of the reasons I switched from my midwives (among others) was because the office just did not have their shit together and I could never get a hold of them when I needed them. It's bad business.

[Mushe]

That would bug me, too. My practice was pretty small (2 OBs and 2 NPs), but I only had to wait like that twice during my pregnancy, when one had an emergency and the other OB was covering.

[rex]

My appointment a couple weeks ago when something like that. I had the last appointment of the day. I arrived 20 min early for my appointment, and no other patients were in the waiting room. In the 20 min before my appointment I saw one woman leaving the office. I then waited another 45 min before the Dr. saw me. No patients left the office in that time, so I know I was the only patient there. My doctor saw me another 20 min after I was taken into the office, to then only spend 5 minutes talking to me.

I was extremely annoyed. Luckily I've never had this happen any other time and I find myself in my OB's office way too often for someone who can't get/stay pregnant and doesn't have kids.

I think sometimes it's just a busy day and stuff like that happens. But if it's a constant thing I would switch to a different office.

[beaver12]

I would be very annoyed. I see a midwife, but I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes in the lobby and 15 in the exam room. It might be worth looking for a new provider.

[Deleted]

I try to schedule my doctor's appointments first thing in the AM to avoid this.

This has happened on rare occasion but I think it was because one of the OBs was delivering a baby and the other OB was trying to see all the scheduled patients. I guess its to be expected with a doctor's office like an OB.

However, if this happened ALL the time, I'd find a new practice.

[jenny1223]

Ugh. I hate that. This is part of the reason why I switched from the OB I saw for my first appt to my midwife. I sat in the exam room for almost an hour waiting for the doctor. I suppose it's to be expected at times (babies don't come on schedule and all that), but I would find a new practice if this happens for every appointment.

[sarahbear]

I've never experienced that at any OBGYN office I've been to. My last practice had a wait time of about 5 minutes and then another wait of about 10 once in the room. My current practice has always been ready for me at appointment time, except for one time when there was an emergency visit squeezed in before me. If it happened at every appointment I'd find a new doctor.

[dutchgirl678]

I hate that. Unfortunately we see a dr in Family Medicine that we love but she's always so busy that we have to wait. Even last Saturday (yes, she sees patients on Sat. morning, love that!) we had an appt at 10am for DS 1-year check-up. We were called out from the waiting room on time but after the nurse check-in sat there for 45 minutes. Just leave us in the waiting room then until the dr is ready. My DH and DD had to leave bc my DD started throwing a fit, so they waited out in the waiting room until we were done.

[ECB]

Speak up and say something. While it should be obvious what the issue is, if you're just pissy but never tell them why- they aren't going to "know".

My OB always ran late, but she is a sole practitioner and if there is a baby to be born, there is a baby to be born.

Knowing how my labor and birth was, and seeing the contact the nurses had w/ her, and how she showed up right when she was needed - I am patient w/ her now when I'm just going in for a check-up. She gave me the exact level of attention that I feel was needed when I truly NEEDED her, and I have no problem w/ her doing that for other patients.

[my4girls]

my old office was like that- it's one of the big reasons I switched. I used to call them before I left my office though and ask how late they were running so I wasn't stuck sitting there the whole time

[isabel]

I actually just switched to a new doctor because of things like this (the office at my old doc was an absolute wreck too, especially in regard to billing, appt reminders, etc.). I personally would find it unacceptable if I had to wait an hour past my appointment time to see my doctor. I'd be looking for a new ob-gyn if I were you.

[mollybrown]

I'm seen promptly at my OB's office. I don't think this is a midwife vs. doctor issue. I would find another practice, because that's a lot of time to spend sitting around waiting once you have to go once a week towards the end of the pregnancy!

[jennlin]

my ob was great about seeing me on time....my pedi on the other hand.....

[vanillacourage]

I would switch offices. That's excessive (since it happens every single time) and disrespectful of your time.

[cjeanette]

That is not okay. I never waited more than 10 minutes without notice that the Dr had to run to the hospital. Except the one time the office staff didn't tell the dr I was there. Not happy.

[6fsn]

I try to give OB's the benefit of the doubt since they do have real emergencies. I would want them there if I was having a problem. The fact that this is happening every time and to that extent is ridiculous though.

We had an appt scheduled at 1230. We were called back on time, but the nurse immediately explained the doc was called to a delivery at 11 and hadn't returned. She offered to rebook us right away. DH had taken the day of so we said we'd stay. At 1 she checked in and said the doc had ~another 30-40 mins and wanted to make sure we still wanted to stay. She gave us water and made sure we were comfy.

[zeewifeandmama]

WOW. thats insane! My OB is the only one in her practice and I am seriously in and out in under a half hour for a normal check up. There have been few times that things have been re arranged because she had to run into surgery, or go deliver a woman...but overall the practice is wonderful. I might consider switching.

[brit1017]

May 23, 2012 16:52:33 GMT -5 beaver12 said:

I would be very annoyed. I see a midwife, but I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes in the lobby and 15 in the exam room. It might be worth looking for a new provider.

My first pregnancy, I went to an obgyn and regularly waited 1.5 to 2 hours. With mmysecond, I switched to an obgyn office with midwives (I saw the midwives) and never waited longer than 20 min - usually it was less than 5. After seeing how efficiently the second office was run, I was annoyed that I had wasted so much time at the first one.

I would find a new practice. After that experience, we refused to accept practices that did not run on time. We have found a great practice of internists for DH and I and a fantastic peds practice for the kids- we never wait more than 10 min, even for same day sick visits. Your time is valuable too.

[GailGoldie]

a well run office shouldn't have it that way EVERY time you go. My OB's office will always tell you how far he's running behind when you check in, if he is behind. I think the most i waited for him was an hour once- but i knew ahead of time that I'd have the wait... and was OK with it- b/c even when he's behind he still gives me all the time I need and never rushes.

of course- with all doctors- esp OB's, there are chances for emergencies to happen and cause delays- but if EVERY visit is that way- and they aren't warning you - that isn't good.

You should call ahead and ask about delays in the future if you don't want to change docs.

[Deleted]

You guys seriously rock m socks off. Thanks for not making me feel like a whiney entitled yuppie.

I made it very clear to the nurse when she came to get me an hour after my appointment that I was displeased. She was kind of flippant about it and suggested I schedule my appointments early in the morning and gave me a "well this is just how things go," kind of answer. I told her that I felt it was unfortunate but every hour i wait in their waiting room is one less hour of maternity leave. I was pretty straightforward about voicing my frustration.

The doctor came in promptly and apologized again for how behind they were. I asked her about strategies for avoiding long waits like that and she also suggested early morning appointments. Apparently I've been unable to schedule early morning appointments because I haven't scheduled far enough in advance. Once I got my frustration voiced I felt a lot more calm and we were able to discuss my pregnancy symptoms in a much better atmosphere.

As I left the office I actually was able to schedule my next five appointments all the way to August 31. I was able to get 8:45 AM appointments which should help prevent the long wait. I also requested to rotate through the other doctors in her office since we don't know who will be on call when I deliver.

Overall I feel a lot better about the situation after having Aired my frustrations. I'll give them another chance at the 20 week appointment and go from there. Thanks again ladies for making me feel validated.

[GailGoldie]

May 23, 2012 18:54:11 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

I also requested to rotate through the other doctors in her office since we don't know who will be on call when I deliver.

I'm shocked this isn't their policy - most OB offices I know require pregnant women to rotate through all docs so you are more comfortable at delivery with whomever you end up with.

glad you felt better and got early appts in the future!!

[pugz]

I have never waited but the practice is small, only one doc. They reschedule if he is delivering at that time

[cjeanette]

May 23, 2012 18:57:34 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

May 23, 2012 18:54:11 GMT -5 @idaholakelady said:

I also requested to rotate through the other doctors in her office since we don't know who will be on call when I deliver.

I'm shocked this isn't their policy - most OB offices I know require pregnant women to rotate through all docs so you are more comfortable at delivery with whomever you end up with.

glad you felt better and got early appts in the future!!

I wouldn't have gone to an office that forced me to rotate drs. I only saw others in an emergency.

[Ashley&Scott]

Not unrealistic. I never waited more than 10 min after my appt time to get into the exam room. After that it was usually another 10-15 until I saw the dr, most of that time was spent with the nurse.

[lala]

Wow, that is crazy. I would not be able to deal w/ it, especially since you'll be going every other week and every week at the end.

It is a matter of a well-run office in general, but I will say my midwives, at least, ran their office so differently from an OBGYN office. I think it is b/c their standard of care is so totally different. I never waited more than 5 minutes in the waiting room. I weighed myself & tested my pee as soon as I got there. Sometimes I'd barely sat down when the midwife would come out to get me. I think that's the big difference - instead of waiting for a nurse, doing stuff w/ them and then waiting for a provider, it was the midwife herself who got me and we went straight to the room. No waiting. They can't come get the next patient until they are done w/ the current one. Also, regular appointments are scheduled in 30 minute increments. I don't think many OB offices truly give 30 minutes in the schedule per patient.