Real Poll:Does your doctor make you wait longer than 10 min. past your appt. time?

[Jean in Newcastle]

This is the real poll. I messed up the other one.

 

I mean on a regular basis. I do not mean the one time when there happened to have been an emergency (happened at one of my appointments - I'm glad that the doctor revived the patient and waited for the ambulance with her). I'm making this multiple choice since many people have more than one doctor. (Because of the way these polls work I will post choices for doctor #1 - 5. If you only have 1 doctor you'd only have one choice to make. . . ) Between my children and I, we see at least 6 doctors and they rarely make me wait. Am I unusual? Or is it a myth that doctors always keep you waiting?

[nukeswife]

Yes, My PCM usually has taken into the exam room write on time, but then I end up waiting in there for 15-20 minutes.

 

My GI doc, is worse and I never spend less than 30-45 minutes waiting, which really ticks me off.

 

My kids Ped is usually between 15 and 30 minutes of waiting in the exam room.

 

 

This is one of my pet peeves. I understand if an emergency comes up, but if not there is no excuse. If someone before me is late for their appointment, well then I feel they should have to reschedule or get less time in the room. Sorry but if I show up the 15 minutes prior to the appointment time to allow for the desk clerk to check what she needs about insurance and the nurse/PA to do vitals and the like, then why should I have to wait well past my appointment time just because other people can't be bothered to show up the requested 15 minutes early.

[HayesW]

YEs for my pediatrician. YES for my OB. Yes for my psychiatrist. No for my psychologist.

[Desert Strawberry]

My OB keeps me waiting for.ever. My ped has a lengthy wait time, but he spends a lot of time with us. My FP is reasonable. My endo is in and out. I rarely see more than one other patient in the waiting room, if that.

[Mom23Boys]

I only have one doctor out of all the ones my family sees where we wait more than 10 or so minutes. It is my PCP and I am changing because of it. I don't believe there is an emergency every single time I go. Plus, although I like her and think she is a good dr, she is fairly easily replaced.

[Mergath]

Yes for our family doctor, our developmental pediatrician, and our geneticist. However, they also spend as long as it takes to answer all of our questions and are amazing doctors, so I have no complaints. :001_smile:

[Audrey]

This is the real poll. I messed up the other one.

 

I mean on a regular basis. I do not mean the one time when there happened to have been an emergency (happened at one of my appointments - I'm glad that the doctor revived the patient and waited for the ambulance with her). I'm making this multiple choice since many people have more than one doctor. (Because of the way these polls work I will post choices for doctor #1 - 5. If you only have 1 doctor you'd only have one choice to make. . . ) Between my children and I, we see at least 6 doctors and they rarely make me wait. Am I unusual? Or is it a myth that doctors always keep you waiting?

 

 

No. I am rarely kept waiting when I have an appointment. There have been a few times when I was "last minute sick" -- like my last UTI -- and was told to come in at a certain time and that they would squeeze me in as they could. Those times, I do have to wait, but I don't think that should count since it was not a pre-arranged appointment.

[beaners]

The pediatrician usually gets us into the exam room, where we wait for up to half an hour. That's always an adventure with little children. I've never had him in the room with us within ten minutes of our on-time arrival, even when we have an early slot. He's nice, and his staff is very friendly, so I don't mind that wait.

 

The OB office...oh, that's an awful one. An hour from arrival to exam room was "good." Then you have at least half an hour waiting in the exam room. I'm still displeased with the way the office was handling appointments at the end of my last pregnancy. Apparently one of the OBs left the practice abruptly. The receptionists told everyone that they were double booking slots because they were short-handed. Apparently they were double booking, but then deleting prior appointments to triple book. I was told that I wasn't scheduled for any upcoming appointments. I had the card in my hand! I was told that I was late for my appointment and I would need to reschedule. Again, I had the card in my hand! The receptionists there were beyond tacky. They would complain about the patients who had the nerve to say something about the scheduling, with the glass window to the waiting room wide open. They also openly accused patients of lying about their appointments. I truly understand being short-staffed, but you don't take that out on your patients.

[Impish]

GP- Rarely. Usually in and out in under 20 mins.

 

Pain specialist - once in almost 3 yrs did I wait 10 mins.

 

OB - with Princess- frequently late. Made me nuts. But...he also would spend a half hour answering every single question, run out to attend a birth, etc. He was excellent, once you were in the appt. He also fought to have me induced.

[craftyerin]

My OB and pediatrician do.

[tex-mex]

WHOOPS... didn't know Jean started a new poll. This is from the earlier thread she started. I voted in your new one, Jean. :)

 

------------------------------------------

Son and I see numerous doctors and specialists for our rare liver disease. I have to admit the higher price the specialist, the less time for wait. We get immediately seen.

 

But to see the specialists, son and I have to travel by airplane monthly for the 2 hour appointment. It makes for a long 10 hour day of:

 

Waking up at 5 am and no eating (minimum of a 4 hour fast), then a 6 am taxi ride to the airport, TSA lines, waiting for the 9 am plane to arrive, then a 50 minute flight, depart the plane and catch a taxi, arrive 30 minutes later to the hospital, go up 15 floors in an elevator, and go to the doctor's office by 11 am where we are promptly greeted and ushered inside to get vitals like blood pressure, temp, weight, and height. Then we go to a patient room and begin blood labs, ekg, the fellow resident first comes in to assess basics like coordination, the FDA study coordinator then comes in to ask questions, and more. By then, it is noon time and we are starving. Once we get released by 1 pm, we head to the 3rd floor of the hospital to the cafeteria. Then head back to the airport by 2:30 pm and head home. We get home by 6 pm. We do this every month. Love my specialist... but despise the travel needed to see him.:svengo:

 

At home, when we see our GP or pediatrician, it is with little wait time. Same with Optometrist or dentist. Their waiting rooms are empty with 1-2 patients. But I deliberately schedule my appointments during school times so I avoid packed waiting rooms. ;)

 

However, if I have no insurance (it happens) and have to go to a county clinic or doctor who takes medicaid... I do wait and the waiting room is packed regardless of the school factor. Which may suggest how many people cannot afford medical care? :glare:

[TravelingChris]

NOne of my current doctors do for either myself or my kids. I live in an area with a high percentage of doctors for the population. When I lived in areas with low percentages of doctors for the population, I did wait.

[tex-mex]

NOne of my current doctors do for either myself or my kids. I live in an area with a high percentage of doctors for the population. When I lived in areas with low percentages of doctors for the population, I did wait.

I think this is the variable. I agree.

[keptwoman]

My first GP didn't when I started with her, but the practice got busy and I was routinely waiting, for any of the doctors in the practice.

 

I left and got a new one who never runs more than 5 mins over, the whole practice is punctual. I assume this is because they schedule catch up appointments. Also they have a clear policy that if you want a longer consultation, you book it up front.

 

None of the specialists I have seen here run late.

[ejadragna]

my pediatrician is no less than 1 1/2 hours per visit! if more than 1 of my kids is being seen you can up it a bit

[texasmama]

I usually wait for a doctor more than 30 minutes, often with many or all of my kids in tow. The last time I visited my gynecologist, I sat in the crowded waiting room with my 5, 8 and 10 year olds from 11:30 - 1:30. Yes, I waited two hours before even being called back. When I was called back, I left my boys in the waiting room and took my 5 year old with me. We were in the back for an hour. If she was not the best doctor and the nicest person ever, I would leave and never return. But she is...so I do.:001_smile:

[CalicoKat]

Yes, and after I was kept waiting 2 hours at my gynecologist office once I always ask that if there's going to be a delay greater than 15 minutes to let me know and I'll gladly reschedule. I hate waiting.

 

They haven't had to do this once. :D

[kalanamak]

I admit I was a "late" doctor. I was in with my ex, and got all the anxious patients. He would click right through patients and I ran late. However, there were days when every single patient cried. You just can't boot them out sobbing. I did a count one week. 70% of the patients had psychiatric issues, with 50% anxiety and depression and the other 20 schizophrenia, bipolar, or a combo of the two.

 

Once a man lost his long term girlfriend when she'd had it with his coke use. He wept and pounded the walls. My nurse went and got my ex, because we didn't know the patient from Adam. Standing outside the door she asked him if he thought I had a knife to my throat. He listened a moment and said "she's either letting him vent, or she's letting him vent with knife to her throat" and walked off. It was that kind of practice. The people who wanted punctual would gravitate over to my ex. We actually were a good pair in practice. :001_smile:

[Guest jab300]

The pediatrician always is a wait. The ob/gyn is the worst, but think about it, they are constantly pulled away for those unpredictable babies!

[Peela]

Generally, with whatever general practice doctor I go to, yes, I wait longer than 10 minutes. I try and make my appts at the beginning of the day because it is less likely i will have to wait so long. But then ,I went this week and had the first appt of the day- and i was 5 minutes late, stressing, but the doctor arrived 15 minutes late. So, what to do.

I have frequently waited 20-30 mins.

 

Our orthodontist is great- no waiting- 5 minutes max.

[historically accurate]

GP -- I wait every time. He has a lot of patients and takes a lot of time with them. He's never running on time.

Oncologist -- often I wait, but sometimes he surprises me.

Plastic Surgeon -- I barely open up my book after changing into the gown, and he's there.

[Paige]

We see a lot of doctors/specialists and most of them make us wait well over 15min before getting to a room. The wait after that can be even longer. The only ones who we didn't usually wait for were for my DDs physical therapists and orthotics specialists, but they aren't really doctors.

[OrganicAnn]

It is the only thing I don't like about my doctor's office. The wait is on average about 45 to 1hr 1/2. I may look for a new doctor just because of this. It is so annoying that you have to wait so long.

[beaners]

The ob/gyn is the worst, but think about it, they are constantly pulled away for those unpredictable babies!

 

That excuse hasn't worked for any of the offices I've used. They always have a doctor, and usually a midwife too, scheduled for the hospital to do deliveries. Other doctors and midwives are scheduled for the office to do visits. :001_smile:

[Ottakee]

I think it depends on the doctor, type of doctor they are, and how long they allow for appointments.

 

Our primary care allots 20 minutes per patient. Some are quicker, others a bit longer but generally they run fairly on time. They are rural though so if there is an emergency then you might have to wait. Then again WE have been the emergency more than once---stitches, broken arm, swallowed Christmas tree light, baby with trouble breathing, head injury, etc. I try to keep that in mind before getting frustrated if they are running late.

 

Some doctors though are ALWAYS running late. I did call and complain after our girls' mito specialist was almost 3 hours late with NO reason given, etc. My girls get very upset in his office and if they had told us he was late we would have gone shopping or something for 2 1/2 hours. We had driven 3 hours to get there too :-(

 

Now, the psychiatrist has been late once in the 12 years we have been using her. I understand though that in her practice there are emergencies that come up.

[lauracolumbus]

This is my biggest pet peeve. Almost every doctor I have ever been to has always made us wait more than 10 minutes. It's always been an issue b/c as a homeschooler, I'm usually dragging 3 kids w/me to an appointment. I almost never go to a doctor for myself (except when I tore my ACL) and am glad that my kids only need to go for the annual check ups.

 

My kids' dentist is the only one who is always on time.

 

Laura

[Jenny in Atl]

On average... 30 mins to 1 hr. (Pediatric Endo/Regular Ped/Ob/etc).

It's incredibly frustrating. The only one we don't wait on is the dentist. He seems to be able to handle a ton of patients with out any wait.

[QuirkyKapers]

My naturpath is great- never more than 10 min wait. My kids pediatrician, the one office is less than 10. The other office, I once waited over an hour and a half. Needless to say, that is why I don't go to the one location unless no other option is available.

[Lacie]

Pedi - yes (very long wait, especially for sick appointments)

GI - yes (not too long, but more than 10 min)

Eye - no

Allergist - yes (not long in the waiting room, but a long time in the exam room before the dr comes in)

Urologist - no

 

Dentist -no

[Paige]

That excuse hasn't worked for any of the offices I've used. They always have a doctor, and usually a midwife too, scheduled for the hospital to do deliveries. Other doctors and midwives are scheduled for the office to do visits. :001_smile:

 

That won't work if you see a Dr who has his or her own practice. My first OB was the only Dr in the office and there were no midwives. If he had a delivery or emergency, you would be waiting hours! I started asking the receptionist when I checked in if he was running behind or if I should come back in a few hours. They would never tell anyone who didn't ask, but when I did ask they were happy to tell me to come back 1-3hrs later. It made me mad that they didn't offer that info when everyone signed in.

[Parrothead]

No, not really. I did once wait for a longer than usual time then was asked if I wanted to reschedule because the doc was called to the ER.

[dsmith]

The only doctor that doesn't make us wait is the pediatrician. We see her at her house, and are the only patients there. Only once have I seen other patients while we were there. She also sees us in bare feet. :D We are never rushed, and she has even offered to make house calls. Oh, and no answering service either. We have her cell phone number for emergencies, or we can text her. We moved 45 minutes away, and I refuse to find a closer dr. I will never take a kid into the sick room again!

[joannqn]

Our pediatrician is very popular and very busy.

 

Sometimes he'll have a lot of kids admitted or born over the weekend or overnight, making rounds go long. He can be quite late just arriving in the morning; so I never take one of the early morning appointments.

 

The reasons we put up with long waits is probably the same reasons many of his families put up with long waits. He respects parental decisions, include those to not vaccinate, not to circ, extended breastfeeding, homeschooling, everything. He also takes as long as necessary with each family rather than rushing. He'll even check siblings not originally scheduled (as in they happened to come down ill the night before). You simply can't give that kind of care when you insist on adhering to the schedule no matter what...so we wait.

[Tap]

Two of our doctors are consistently on time. They are in small private practices that they own/co-own. The appointments never feel rushed and they have plenty of time to answer questions.

 

 

The rest of our doctors....yes, they make us wait.....ridiculous amounts of time, often 30-60minutes or more. It would be one thing if it was an occasional thing, or if they were OB drs, with surprise deliveries or complications. But, they aren't. They are traditional drs, who just are poor schedulers or who work for practices that force short appointment times, despite the need for longer ones.

 

 

I once had an eye appointment for dd4, when she was 2yo, which they insisted had to be one of the first appointments of the day. The dr didn't fill the spot after our appointment, so the dr purposefully came into the office late, so he wouldn't have an hour of down time after us. His office staff let is slip, and I was not too nice to the dr when he finally decided to appear at our appointment. I had sat for 30+ minutes trying to entertain a 2yo in an eye drs exam room, full of electronic gizmos, fancy cameras and manual exam equipment. I was never so mad at the pompousness of a dr in all my life.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Wow, I'm glad that I did this poll! I guess we've been really, really lucky!

[AndyJoy]

I usually have to wait for my OB because he gets called to a delivery. I really don't mind because he is EXTREMELY busy due to the difficulty of attracting doctors to our somewhat remote desert location. We literally have 2 OBGYNs for a town of 30,000. He is 80+ years old and still practicing!

 

My pediatrician is generally prompt. We usually spend less than 5 minutes waiting in the exam room after the nurse does the initial temp/weigh-in/height measurement.

[MHowell]

The only Dr. that makes us wait is my Hubby's and I think it is because he also runs an urgent care center though his office.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My pediatrician is generally prompt. We usually spend less than 5 minutes waiting in the exam room after the nurse does the initial temp/weigh-in/height measurement.

 

That's the other thing. Once I'm in the exam room, I might have to wait another few minutes but usually someone comes in (PA or nurse) to take my history, to take blood pressure or our temperature. The doctor comes in shortly after they leave. It seems to be a well streamlined thing.

[kolamum]

I voted, but I might have done it wrong..

 

We had a Dr in the US who made us wait so long it was maddening. Im' talking I showed up on time, I showed up x amount early, I showed up x late .. it never mattered I was guarenteed a 30 minute or longer wait. An hour long wait was never "absurd". Angering, you bet your bottom dollar it was!, but not out of the question. *sigh*

 

Once, while pregnant I was left waiting so long I honestly fell asleep in the waiting room and would you believe the whole bloomin office went off to lunch. A nurse poked her head out to check and be sure no one was in the waiting area and nearly had a heart attack when she saw my dh sitting there with me sound asleep. They'd all ready let the Dr go to lunch and everything.

 

Did this change anything? Nope. The only thing more maddening was that by the time we were seen the nurses would come in and ask questions and pull the Dr out. Can't tell you how many times I saw the actual Dr and then forgot to ask half the stuff i wanted to ask/address. It wasn't the same if I saw someone else in that office.

 

The Dr we see now.. No, we don't wait. We rarely sit for more then a minute. ONCE, and only once, did we have a long wait.. and I mean more then 1-2 minutes. The Dr was extremely apologetic but they'd had some kinda emergency come in and it backed stuff up.

 

However, due to the first Dr we had and that horrible long wait I am officially burnt out going to the Dr. As in I REALLY put it off. I'll admit my children haven't been in for their well check in 18 months. Naughty I know, but the Dr has yet to complain when he does have to see them. That said they are rarely sick.

[Guest]

I never have to wait, but I also make a point to schedule their first appointments of the day.

[Pam L.]

The absolute worst was going to the specialist and we had to wait an hour in the exam room.

 

Okay, so doctors are busy - especially if they are a specialist. But, this guy was in the next room for 45 minutes talking to another person (doctor - ?) about his new sports car!!!! We could hear him!

[TeacherZee]

With my old GP you could wait FOREVER. I think my longest wait was an hour after my appointment (I was pretty ticked off that time). But like others have said he really took his time with you, so mostly I didn't mind. (the only reason he is my old GP is because he is currently on a sabbatical).

 

I've only seen my current GP once and I didn't have to wait at all. But I had one of the evening times which means he has had time between me and the day patients.

[Ginevra]

I don't have a big waiting-time issue with either my GP or my children's pediatrician, although we have recently changed pediatricians and I have only seen the new one once. I didn't wait a long time, though.

 

I've never had a waiting issue with any dentist. It seems (if I can actually remember back that far) that my OBGYN kept me waiting fairly long, but canceling was never a good idea; they are booked so far in advance. The perinatologist (high-risk specialist) did always run long if I remember correctly.

 

Although I am one of the "punctuality nazis" on this board, doctor-waiting doesn't bother me so much. I am more bothered by going into a doctor appointment and being whisked along as though they can't spare a moment. I have changed doctors because of this. Given a toss-up, I'd rather wait a while to see the doctor than be rushed through the appointment while he has one leg out the door.

[Alice]

My personal goal is not to make anyone wait more than 15 minutes, which is the grace time we give patients before asking them to reschedule if they are late. I'm usually on-time or only a few minutes late barring the occasional emergency.

 

My opinion is that if you have a doctor that is habitually late something is wrong with the way the office is run. Either it is being run inefficiently (they don't schedule correctly, they are understaffed) or the doctor has some issues. In a practice of 10 doctors (2 offices) we have one who is always running very late and it's a huge problem for the rest of us. The reasons she is late are her own and I won't put them all out on a message board but she also has a following of patients that like her for other reasons and are willing to wait.

 

The reason we run late in general is usually a series of small problems rather than emergencies. So, the first patient of the day is a newborn who is 15 minutes late but we still see them because they are a newborn and we understand. Now we are 15 minutes behind. The second patient is scheduled as a regular check-up but parents have a lot of questions about school problems so a 20 minute appointment turns into 30. Now you are 25 minutes behind. The third patient is a sore throat but the sibling has a rash that the parent wants you to see but didn't call ahead to put on the schedule. Now you are 30 minutes behind. Etc. Add in a walk-in emergency or a call from the ER about a patient who needs to be admitted to the hospital and suddenly you are 45 minutes behind. I also find that the later I am the the later I get as I feel like if someone waited to see me 40 minutes I need to answer every question even if it's something like chronic constipation and they scheduled for a wart and I'll see all the siblings.

 

BUT, that kind of day shouldn't happen regularly. There are lots of ways to schedule to make sure it doesn't. We alternate blocks of well and sick patients, build on extra time to appointments, have enough nurses so that one person is being put back and gotten ready, one is being seen and one is leaving/getting treatments, etc. We also have in our computer scheduling system a way that for certain patients a message pops up to the front desk to add an extra ten minutes to any appointment. That might be for patient with autism who we know always takes longer to examine or a patient with a complicated illness or just a parent who always has a bunch of "oh by the way questions". We also have the nurses be in charge of any over-booking that needs to happen. They are much better than the front desk at looking at the schedule and seeing places that we are likely to have an extra few minutes and can fit someone in.

 

My point being that lateness happens but that if it happens regularly, something is being done wrong.

[Lizzie in Ma]

This may sound crazy but for the 16 years we have gone to our family doctor, we habitually are there for a minimum of 3 hours.

I have learned to bring a decent snack and water for all of us and school.

I went in for a check up last week. I got there at 3:45 for a 4:00 appointment.

I left the building at 7:15. This is normal.

The thing is, she takes however long she needs with each patient and is really good about getting you in if you need her. If it happens to be you that needs her for 3 hours and a hospital run, than you get her for that time.

We trade off timeliness for her dedication to each of us.

[SunD]

Our pediatrician is pretty punctual. You're called back to the exam room at your appointment time, which bugs me a little ... my appointment to see the dr is at 9:00, not my appointment to get weighed! ... but he's there within 10 minutes.

 

The OB I saw with my last pregnancy was AWFUL. She knew I had to bring kids with me since I had no one to watch them, but they would still make me wait ages, and make faces at me through the window when the kids got rowdy. I think most 2yos will do that after about an hour! (I wasn't letting them run circles or anything, I'm talking about standing up on the chair or moving magazines from table to table, or crying.) THEN they would call me back, check BP and such, and then ... send me upstairs to the lab! I would wait another 15 minutes in the lab, do whatever test they wanted, come back down, and usually wait ANOTHER HOUR to be called into the room. Then another 15 minutes at least to see the dr. She was highly recommended and I couldn't get in with anyone else at the hospital where I wanted to deliver ... but never again!

[SweetMissMagnolia]

regularly yes---!!! very annoying-have thought of changing drs because of it especially with my family dr....

[flyingiguana]

My doctor generally keeps me waiting, undressed in a cold room, for at least half an hour. A couple times it's been longer. She never has an explanation, and she always seems really eager to rush through the exam. (And if she knew she was running late, why didn't the staff know this and not have me sitting unclothed in a cold room for so long?)

 

I'm in the process of looking for another doctor, but I would be doing that anyway due to a mix up we had with a prescription a couple months ago. Their office didn't get the prescription to the pharmacy on Friday afternoon, so my daughter was suffering from untreated asthma through the entire weekend. We called the dr to get her to resubmit the prescription, but she refused to talk to us (even though she was the one on call). We had the pharmacy call her and she apparently used some rather choice language to let them know that she shouldn't be disturbed. And she still wouldn't resubmit the prescription.

 

I'm not quite sure why she thinks no one should call her when she's on call. Or why she thought a trip to the emergency room was a better choice than just resubmitting the prescription. Not very professional, on a number of counts.

 

Occasional delays, though, I can understand. I wouldn't switch a dr just because they had kept me waiting a couple times.