Going to the doctor

So I escorted my wonderful wife to an arthritis specialist Monday morning. The wait for the appointment was four months.

We arrived promptly to find a waiting room absolutely packed with people wearing coats.
Our appointment was for 10 AM. She was called at 11:30 to pay in advance, then a few minutes later was called to the examination area.

Making clients who all have appointments wait for extended periods of time in a inadequately heated waiting area is extraordinarily offensive. Not only do I find the scenario extremely vulgar, it shows absolute disdain for the clients who pay the facilities salaries.

The implication as I see it is that since everyone in the waiting area is in pain and absolutely needs to see a specialist, they do not say anything for fear that their personal needs will not be addressed if they do. Apparently the doctor either does not recognize this or does not care. He or she found a personal rationalization for their behavior. I think it is a case of scheduling incompetence,greed, lack of professionalism, or indifference. In any other profession this type of conduct would be rewarded with severe consequences.

What it implies is that money is so important to a staff that undoubtedly earns more than almost every one of their clients, is they cannot be bothered to monitor the thermostat to make sure the people who pay their salaries are comfortable. Furthermore, rather than schedule patients in a timely and courteous fashion, they are packed into a time frame that consistently requires everyone except the very first clients of the day to wait for extensive periods of time. (Because they can get away with it.)

As a general observation and based on my experience, a conservative estimate of 40 people a day wait on average a minimum of 60 minutes (we waited 90) for an appointment that everyone in the room has scheduled in advance.

40 people a day waiting 60 minutes is 40 hours a day x 5 days a week = 200 hours x 40 work weeks in a year = 8000 hours. So clients spend 8,000 hours a year wasted waiting to see just one doctor who is obviously unconcerned about their being inconvenienced but very concerned about getting every single person in the door possible.

In some cases the average reasonable person takes off a half day thinking a 10 AM appointment is a 10 AM appointment and they will be back at work in the afternoon. NOT

I am sure these numbers are very conservative.
Their is no excuse.
I think everyone should bill the doctor for any wait of a non – walk in facility at their pay grade.
(Of course the doctor would probably raise his rates in response.

Irritating