Dr Etiquette Question

I had a horrible case of pink eye last week so I went to the Opthamologist on day 3 as it was still bad.

I had a follow up today. I got called in for a vision check 30 minutes after appointment time. I was told the doctor was running behind because of surgeries that ran over. I assumed he was here but just behind.

30 minutes later they tell us the Dr just finished the surgeries and would be there in another 30 minutes. I went home and came back since the office is within walking distance of my house but it’s now over 2 hours after my original appointment time.

Would you have expected a phone call prior to arrival to say how late the doctor was running and to come later? I think it would have been nice because of the fact that the Dr wasn’t on premises until an hour an a half after I was supposed to see him is beyond frustrating! Am I crazy? My kids were home and our tv and internet has been wonky today and my husband has the flu… they said I could reschedule but I had already devoted an hour of my day at that point…

Message edited 12/27/2023 4:53:21 PM.

Re: Dr Etiquette Question

completely wrong and unprofessional of them.
I find these doctor's offices get all upset if you are late or cancel too last minute but they have zero respect for the time of the patient.
At the end of the day these practices are businesses and their patients are customers. That is the wrong way to treat a customer.
I'd be pissed!

Message edited 12/28/2023 3:24:08 PM.

Re: Dr Etiquette Question

Only a doctor's time matters in their world.
The staff probably has no idea when the doctor will actually get there because anything can happen during surgery big or small and they're not big on reporting to their staff.
It definitely sucks.

Dr Etiquette Question

I would be annoyed. I had a follow up appointment at an eye doctor in September. First follow up - I was the 7:30am appt - first one of the day. I wasn’t seen until 8:30. Second follow up, I was seen 90 minutes late. My appt took 2 minutes total. I was fuming as I had to be back to work by a certain time and almost didn’t make it. I had allotted 3 hours which I would e thought was more than enough time. Apparently not.

Dr Etiquette Question

Thank you for justifying my feelings. It was beyond frustrating. There were still a handful of people waiting to be seen after I left.

I left my allergist as she kept on showing up an hour after my appointment… I understand sometimes they run late and I understand that but coming in consistently late or not being there and running over an hour late is too much… it was a less than 5 minute appointment!

Re: Dr Etiquette Question

Message edited 12/28/2023 3:22:46 PM.

Re: Dr Etiquette Question

Re: Dr Etiquette Question

I work with doctors every single day and if I disrespected their time like that, I would have no work. That is rude. Obviously, as patients, we need to understand that they have emergencies, surgeries run longer, have complications, etc. However, a little common courtesy would be nice. Moreover, maybe if they didn't quadruple book patients every 15 minutes, it wouldn't be so bad.

Re: Dr Etiquette Question