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  1. #1

    How long would you wait at your doctor's office?

    To spare you the gorey details, had a fairly typical procedure done with a specialist last Monday. Spoke briefly with the doctor after waking up from anesthesia and he conveyed everything went well and I should be good. Asked me to make a follow up within two weeks to discuss results and recovery. Gave me normal discharge instructions with some stuff to do at home

    Made appointment for today. Arrived at 9:00 for 9:15 appointment. No one in waiting room. 11:15 ,I finally get called to the back. Get the usual blood pressure, weight etc, then taken to normal exam room. 45 minutes later at noon I'm still in this room with no one having come in to speak with me. I finally got fed up and left. 20 minutes later the woman in charge of appointments called me to ask why I left. Told her I didn't have all day to sit around just to meet with the PA to discuss the information the doctor already gave to me and my wife. She acted indignant at first then apologized. 15 minutes later the PA called me to discuss stuff over the phone. Nothing I didn't already know.

    I'm kind of pissed they wanted me to make an appointment just to discuss the same shit I already knew. Especially considering she ended up doing it over the phone anyway. Couldn't I have made an appointment for them to call me and discuss it over the phone without me wasting 3 hours.

    Would you have left too?
    How long do you feel is too long to wait at a doctors office ( non emergency)?
    Would you wait 5-6-7 hours?


    Before it gets brought up - We have really good insurance. Payment was not an issue. This was not a public hospital. It isn't in the hood and it's not some shitty doctor.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Kapadons View Post
    To spare you the gorey details, had a fairly typical procedure done with a specialist last Monday. Spoke briefly with the doctor after waking up from anesthesia and he conveyed everything went well and I should be good. Asked me to make a follow up within two weeks to discuss results and recovery. Gave me normal discharge instructions with some stuff to do at home

    Made appointment for today. Arrived at 9:00 for 9:15 appointment. No one in waiting room. 11:15 ,I finally get called to the back. Get the usual blood pressure, weight etc, then taken to normal exam room. 45 minutes later at noon I'm still in this room with no one having come in to speak with me. I finally got fed up and left. 20 minutes later the woman in charge of appointments called me to ask why I left. Told her I didn't have all day to sit around just to meet with the PA to discuss the information the doctor already gave to me and my wife. She acted indignant at first then apologized. 15 minutes later the PA called me to discuss stuff over the phone. Nothing I didn't already know.

    I'm kind of pissed they wanted me to make an appointment just to discuss the same shit I already knew. Especially considering she ended up doing it over the phone anyway. Couldn't I have made an appointment for them to call me and discuss it over the phone without me wasting 3 hours.

    Would you have left too?
    How long do you feel is too long to wait at a doctors office ( non emergency)?
    Would you wait 5-6-7 hours?


    Before it gets brought up - We have really good insurance. Payment was not an issue. This was not a public hospital. It isn't in the hood and it's not some shitty doctor.
    Could it be possible that the physician / PA was with a seriously ill patient? I find it incredibly unlikely that s/he was sitting around in the back surfing the internet just to screw with you.

  3. #3
    Dunno about other countries but here in Australia if you go to a doctor, be prepare to have your day wasted.
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  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mormolyce View Post
    Dunno about other countries but here in Australia if you go to a doctor, be prepare to have your day wasted.
    It's the same in Sweden.

    I was going to see a doctor after I had really bad fluid retention for some reason that they still don't know what caused it, my arms and legs looked like they were going to burst. I had to sit and wait about 3 hours past the time they told me I would meet the doctor and he just examined me in like 5 minutes and prescribed some diuretic and told me he doesn't have the tools there to examine me fully and I'd have to go to another hospital to get examined more thoroughly.

  5. #5
    Depends on desperation but no more than half an hour generally. Usually doctors require an appointment and there isn't too much waiting.

    That is totally too much time, OP. I would find a new doctor and never visit that physician group again. You should report them to your insurance as well.

  6. #6
    The Unstoppable Force May90's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mormolyce View Post
    Dunno about other countries but here in Australia if you go to a doctor, be prepare to have your day wasted.
    Yeah... When I was visiting my relatives in Sydney, my aunt had some kind of flu, and she went to the doctor... Well, we came to the clinic at around 10 AM, and, as far as I remember, she came home only at around 5. :/
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  7. #7
    Merely a Setback Sunseeker's Avatar
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    I don't have a primary care physician, as I don't have healthcare. I go to the local clinic, pay $100 bucks out of pocket every time but only have to go once or twice a year, the longest I ever had to wait was when I went in around the time they were doing sports physicals for the local JR Highs, and that was an hour. Wooooo, an hour. No appointments necessary.

    Suffice to say, if I make an appointment, I expect to be seen within 15 minutes of it. If the office is overbooked, understaffed or incapable of dealing with its current clientele, that's not something I'm going to pay for. If I have to take time off work, I'll start backcharging the office if the wait-time gets silly. If I had to wait 5 hours to see the doctor, the doctor would receive a bill for 5 hours of my time.
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  8. #8
    I'm in the US... so my wait time varies. I'm also a type I diabetic... which is caused by an autoimmune disorder. So I have to go get follow ups every 3-6 months, depends on what my a1cs (3 month average blood glucose level). I can honestly say I've had fast wait times and ones where I was waiting for hours. The military ones seem a bit more keen on getting you in and out on time, while civilian doctors made me wait.

    I've been having issues with a hyperactive thyroid, so my PCM sent me to an endocrinologist out in Everett, WA... which is an hour drive from where I'm at. Waited 2 hours to be seen... after my scheduled appt. Only stayed because this place was already booked up for 6 months, and that was the only appointment I'd have in months. Only for them to tell me... 'yeah, it's active. But it's going to go under active soon. So... come back in 6 months, and we'll check again.' That was a year ago... my PCM wants me to go back. But my blood work at my local naval hospital keeps popping up the same as it was then. I refuse to go back until it changes :P I refuse to wait for hours on end just to have them say 'oh... everything looks the same.'

  9. #9
    High Overlord Jestah's Avatar
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    At the cancer center it was 1-2 hours sometimes waiting for the doctor to actually show up. Mine's usually late. The nurse will take my blood and I'll sit for like 30-45 minutes in my room bored beyond belief. At my normal doctor, which I only go to for Adderall. It's at most 2-5 minutes and I'm in and out. I don't speak to him much, since he knows the cancer doctors already talk to me enough as it is.

  10. #10
    only time I've ever had to wait more than 15 minutes is at the walk in clinic

  11. #11
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    30 mins after my scheduled appointment time is the longest I would wait without any kind of explanation. After that, I would ask WTF is taking so long, then give them another 15 mins to get me in, and I would expect to see the doctor immediately.

  12. #12
    for profit medicine means the doctor will overbook and frequently force you to wait hrs upon hrs even horror stories excist of doctors booking patient when they arent even in the office just to be able to bill the insurance company

  13. #13
    Merely a Setback breadisfunny's Avatar
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    dunno haven't been to a doctor in years.
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  14. #14
    The Unstoppable Force Super Kami Dende's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mormolyce View Post
    Dunno about other countries but here in Australia if you go to a doctor, be prepare to have your day wasted.
    What a crock of shit, I've lived all down the coast of Australian from Nth QLD down through Brissy to now Melbourne, and apart from times where It's been an emergency without an appointment, no visit with an actual Appointment has ever left me wait more than 45min-1hr at most, usually about 20mins wait.

    The longest time i've waited was 2hr 45mins but that was with a minor injury waiting at a hospital that had just had to admit a bunch of people from a car crash.

  15. #15
    Send the doctor a bill for wasting your time.

  16. #16
    I don't recall ever having to wait more than 30 minutes for a normal appointment, and most of the time it's in like 15 min or less.

    The longest wait was I think a little over an hour at the emergency room.
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  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Calamorallo View Post
    Could it be possible that the physician / PA was with a seriously ill patient? I find it incredibly unlikely that s/he was sitting around in the back surfing the internet just to screw with you.
    THis was a specialist. At his own office. Can't imagine there was anything major going on. They don't do procedure there and the ER/hospital is next door so anything serious I imagine they would have been admitted.

    Little stuff like a cold I go to PCP and I'm in and out. This was the only doctor that I have visited here in San Antonio that's been like this. Had an issue with a chiropractor but feel that was my fault for not researching how big a piece of shit it was. Left there after 30 mins.

    We have an HRA that covers the deductible and they charged to it. I called my insurance and told them what happened and they said they won't pay the claim. Asked what if they try and send me a bill since insurance won't pay and they transferred me to a department that helps with the legal stuff of making sure they don't try to charge me or add to my credit since they never actually treated me. Was pretty surprised they would offer something like that.

    This was my second time being there, and the first was nearly just as bad. Like 2.5 hours start to finish. I honestly think they overbook or understaff. The front desk had 5 chicks doing check ins and appointment and insurance stuff and 1 person was doing blood pressure and such and 2 PAs actually seeing patients. Doctor does procedures on Mondays - he wasn't even there.

    Reading the google reviews after the fact, it seems this is a problem with this location. Gonna talk to primary care doctor and let him know. Maybe there is a different specialist he can start referring clients to.
    Last edited by Kapadons; 2016-10-18 at 04:05 AM.

  18. #18
    Over 9000! Kithelle's Avatar
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    Honestly I probably would of left after a hour or so, but I also suppose I've used to being seen by a doctor in less time at my doctor's office even from just a walk-in. I've never had a particularly busy doctors office.

  19. #19
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    I have probably had more than the average shares of doctor's appointments in my life due to various health issues. It has always been pretty normal here (in the US) to wait for a good deal of time. Doctors expect cancellations so they almost always overbook so they aren't losing that time. It can be worse if you have a specialist who might be on call at a hospital or have to respond to patient emergencies requiring immediate unexpected appointments. It was not uncommon for me to wait for 3-4 hours for my neurologist because he would be summoned for emergencies at the nearby hospital, for example. But even for my GP, I usually wait at least 30 minutes past my scheduled appointment.

    If a doctor is particularly bad without any real explanation, though, I would probably change doctors. For my neuro it was expected and reasonable given that he was the best in his field in my area and I was okay with the wait, but I probably wouldn't have tolerated it for a GP where there are plenty of alternatives.


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  20. #20
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    I can't say I've been to the doctors often, but I can't think of a single time I had to wait more than 5-15 minutes past the appointed time.

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