Do you have patience when it comes to waiting for doctors or dentists?

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• Thank you Inquisitive.:-)

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  by Zack on October 21st, 2008

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• What about emergencies?

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  by Dr_Dredd on October 23rd, 2008

• There are emergency rooms for emergencies. However, if said doctor I had a contracted appointment with is unavailable at the contracted time, he should either rebate the time I had to spend waiting, not charge fully. Or, if the wait from the contracted time conflicts with my schedule, I should be able then to assume it is breach of contract on his part and assume appointment has been cancelled, and no charges will be applied. An emergency on his part hardly means it should turn into an inconvenience on mine.
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  Fair?

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  by Simply99 -- Not a fan favorite. on October 23rd, 2008

• If that's fair, then I should be able to tell you to leave when your allotted appointment time is up, even if you're in the middle of a sentence or still in a gown. It works both ways. I expect that I'll be running late for some patients, making them wait, but I also expect that patients will sometimes need more time or run late for their own reasons, making me wait. I'd like to think that everyone will be in both categories at least once, so it should balance out.

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  by Dr_Dredd on October 23rd, 2008

• I'm just saying that it's a contracted obligation, and both sides should be responsible for their end of the contract. You are right, if the patient is late, then they have breached the contract, and by doing so, you have the right to assess penalties as prescribed by the contractual obligations both parties have agreed on. I am NEVER late for appointments, and expect the same respect in return. If the doctor is geting too booked, he should lighten his schedule, or refer patients to other doctors who have room in their schedule to take on more patients. is that fair, Doctor?

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  by Simply99 -- Not a fan favorite. on October 23rd, 2008

• One problem with lightening the schedule is that physicians aren't allowed to set their own fees. Medicare does that, and the other insurance companies follow along. The amount of money Medicare pays won't even cover overhead for many offices, so the solution is to increase volume. Don't like it? Talk to your Congressperson.
  
  Another problem with lightening the schedule is that fewer patients can be seen in one day. Waiting times for appointments will then increase, and physicians will start closing their panels to new patients in order to accomodate the ones they already have.

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  by Dr_Dredd on October 23rd, 2008

• OK, Doctor, please allow me to ask this. What should be a reasonable average waiting time for a patient before they are allowed to walk, and not pay?

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  by Simply99 -- Not a fan favorite. on October 24th, 2008

• I never charge patients unless they actually complete an appointment. If they wish to leave, that's fine, but they'll have to go to the end of the line to reschedule.

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  by Dr_Dredd on October 24th, 2008

• Don't want to give you averae wait time? LOL that's cool. I'm not picking on you, really, it's just that you're the only doctor here who challenged my answer, which is always welcome. Happy flu season!!!!

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  by Simply99 -- Not a fan favorite. on October 24th, 2008

• Ack! Flu season! Don't remind me...
  
  To be fair, my average wait time is probably between 10-15 minutes. It tends to lengthen as the day goes on.
  
  Cheers!

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  by Dr_Dredd on October 24th, 2008

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