But if you're 3 minutes late they throw a hissyfit

I actually did ask my Doctor about why this happens once. Mainly it's because if a patient before you has something that needs more time it messes up the schedule for every patient after... and this happens every single day. If no one cancels their appointments, then this problem just continually compounds throughout the day. The best bet to being seen on time is to be the first patient of the day.

Or just intentionally show up a few minutes late and take the mild scolding from the receptionist. It's not like they're going to turn ya away

46

They will totally turn you away. Because of traffic I was 10 minutes late to my general practitioners office a few months ago and they refused to see me. I was pissed.

18
- I wouldn't call 10 minutes "a few minutes"
  
  5
- Doc was behind already and had something after work they were not going to miss. Did they also charge you for missing the appt?
  
  Docs could schedule in some extra time to better accommodate the eventual appts that run over, but then that doesn't maximize profit.
  
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- Doc went to medical school and you didn’t, therefore he is a better person and you will wait for their special attention. If you have to wait, that’s your fault for not being a doctor. Oh you’re an ace engineer? Fuck you I’m a doctor
  
  Source: related to a couple docs and they are fucking insufferable
  
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- Think about it. If the clinic staff are slow to room the patient, the physician likely tries to account for that. Additionally, your doc may have been rounding on folks (checking in on other patients) in the morning - e.g., say they did a surgery the day before, it's often best practice to drop in to make sure people are recovering well.
  
  All of this adds complexity to an MDs schedule. Not to say that timeliness doesn't matter or that your time isn't important, but it's not always a matter of someone being late - it could be the result of patients not being roomed on time for the last 2 years, so your doc shows up at 8:15 because the clinic staff don't normally have the first patient roomed by 8 am.
  
  Source: wife is an obgyn
  
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you'd think they'd leave some gaps between their appointments to compensate for this phenomenon?

9
- For the US: Sometimes the physician doesn't actually control scheduling, it is done by whoever owns/runs the clinic. Also, there arent scheduled gaps because lots of things need to happen when a patient shows up. So while the physician finishes up with the last patient and is doing their documentation, an MA or RN will start intake on the next patient taking them to their room, getting vitals, etc. Then the physician sees them. So even 20 min appointments are generally longer because someone might arrive on time at 1pm, then by the time they're checked in, in a room, done with vitals, it might already be 1:10. So there are like natural gaps that occur in the schedule. But I agree that the lack of transparency in the process really makes it difficult to stay on schedule. Ideally there'd be 1:1 appointment: documentation time for each patient, however payment structures are not designed for this. Instead they like to maximize the number of patients seen per day.
  
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10 minutes? bro I've sat unattended in the room 40 minutes before

37

Try 2h and 21 min. I left

18
- I would not try that, personally
  
  11
- it's been said in other words here, but that should be good news to you. you're probably waiting to hear that you're in good health because your doctor is busy telling the guy next door how long he last left to live.
  
  i once waited 7 hours once for stitches in emergency because i cut my hand on a broken glass. the guy that came in after me (AFAIK) was an OD in an ambulance.
  
  I don't think they care about our Yelp reviews.
  
  5

Cats sitting up like that make for some of the best memes.

28

This is one of my favorite pictures on the internet.

14
- What a magnificent strut
  
  5

a good doctor would print and hang this as a poster in the exam room

20

You guys are getting to see your doctors?

16

Probably not american

1
- Nor UK. Lucky if you can get a phone appointment these days.
  
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Life pro tip: if you're going to be a bit late, call them and let them know. They just want to know if you're still coming dawg.

15

I was late to an appointment with my psychiatrist last week for the second time in the last few months, but the doctor and the people at the front desk were so kind about it both times. They checked to see if she could fit me in as a walk-in, and then apologized to me when they couldn't. They let me reschedule and didn't charge a fee (even though I checked, and the intake paperwork I'd signed at the beginning said that they could). They didn't even act annoyed with me for wasting their time, they were gentle and understanding even though I'd messed up and wasted their time and it made me feel infinitely better.

Idk, it's probably weird to post this here, I'm just really happy about it. Oh well.

7

It reads like scifi. I've been to 3 pain management specialists in 3 months each one more apathetic than the last. and i cant blame them. they are all burned out, have heard every legit, and bs reason to get pain meds. I get upset with the situation not the individuals, but it does mean i have to move one and keep looking for a proper Psyh/Thera/Pain provider. The field is woefully understaffed, under funded and overwhelmed with tertiary problems it can't properly execute its own mandate effectively. (im trying to keep Crohns and genetic liver failure at bay, so its not like im random junkie #3402020, but maybe i am, am i so out of touch?

4
You probably just put them back on schedule for the day so they were happy you got them out on time lol

3

I heard from a guy once that the reason they have you sign in with a time is so they can bill the insurance for your entire time you are at the clinic. Those 30 min waits that seem the normal now really makes me wonder. I mean I can't get out of a routine checkup less than an hour and a half. With about maybe 5-10 mins actually with my doctor.

6

I had this exactly happening to me one time while I was bleeding (not too seriously though). I had hold my shirt away from my body, while I was sitting there, in order to not cover it in blood. It was a bizarre experience to say the least ^^

2

Their time is more important than your time because they've triple booked all their patients in order to maximize profits. I hope 7min enough to discuss your entire physical health and chronic pain treatment options. If not they'll have to schedule you a follow up because there are other patients waiting! /s

2

Of course, they’re just greedy bastards. It’s not like there were too few doctors for too many patients.

Every minute you’re waiting your doctor is caring for someone else.

1
- Most doctors would absolutely love to spend way more time with each patient, but they're not ultimately the ones in charge. The hospital administrators are absolutely intentionally overbooking their doctors to maximize profit. That's not even a thing they'd disagree with if you asked them. That's just how for profit healthcare works. America having a shortage of healthcare professionals came after that, because most people don't like working under those conditions.
  
  1
Growing up with a sibling who needed some pretty serious surgeries early on (and then needing some myself as a teen), I spent a lot of time as a kid in doctor's offices. I learned very quickly that going to a doctor's office and waiting is a good thing, because it means you are not the most urgent problem the doctor has to attend to. Someone else could be currently getting their cancer diagnosis explained to them, or the odds of making it alive through surgery, or any other dire shit people hear in doctor's offices. Just because you're there for antibiotics for a sinus infection it doesn't mean everyone is.

Like yeah, it's annoying to wait. You literally have the internet in your pocket though, you can entertain yourself. If you keep getting rushed out of appointments because you have too much to discuss you need to tell the front desk when you call that you need to be scheduled for a longer appointment. If your schedule allows it always do early morning appointments, they have shorter wait times because you're not dealing with 15 other people with appointments before you all being 5 minutes late and fucking up the schedule.

You are now subscribed to Crip Facts.

1

Finally !I enter doctor office ! wait 30 minutes in doctor office

1

insurance forms waste everyone's time. med groups should collect premiums and cut out middleman

1

It's because they took advantage of the lockdowns and the superior position it put them in to assert control over their customers -- as in you. You're not a patient to them; you're a customer. They do stupid shit like that to make sure you know they're in control of the interaction. They've been doing it since 2020 and will keep doing it until people push back, somehow.

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