Why does the admission procedure in these clinics get so long drawn and delayed? Be it the clinic of a gynecologist or a general practitioner, a wait time of an hour and a half almost gets mandatory. This has been my unfailing experience each trip to the Doc. Pinch says that THAT should deter you from falling ill or having to use the medical system as far as possible.
Case: An annual physical examination(fairly simple and elementary, as I realised later: a blood test, a basic physical examination, a urine sample- all less than 10 minutes!)
My appointment time:11:00 am and Pinch had his scheduled half an hour earlier. We reached there on time, in fact, 15 minutes prior. Waited endlessly trying to control the hunger pangs as we had been fasting since the past 12 hours. At about 12 pm, my head started hurting and I was at the end of my patience. We were debating whether to go ahead and cancel the appointment when Pinch’s name was called. He went in and gave the attendant nurse a earful, I guess. When she attended to me, she looked like she had been punched in the stomach.
Well, she said that a 90 minute wait was pretty usual!!!
At the end of it, the entire test took a mere 10 mins or even lesser…
arunshanbhag says:
Not good! Tell them about customer service and get a different (PCP) Primary care physician. Before you pick one, ask about they waiting policy. Also, before you leave home, call the office and check what is the expected time for the doc to see you.
Shanti! Shanti!
June 3, 2004 — 7:28 am
Lakshmi says:
🙂
Am ‘Shanti’ currently… Yes, we need to check those things before our next visit.
June 3, 2004 — 7:40 am
parag says:
You should look for another Healthcare provider. Sign up with another HMO. You shouldn’t pay for such horrible service. I have never waited for more than 10 minutes at my doctor’s office.
June 3, 2004 — 7:51 am
Lakshmi says:
That’s great. I’d almost come to believe that this was de rigeur…Extremely exasperating!
June 3, 2004 — 1:04 pm
hemya says:
dreading the wait..and the lethargy too….i have refrained from utilizing any of the services i can get a discounted rate thru my health insurance….not good…but what to do:)
June 3, 2004 — 7:51 am
Lakshmi says:
Sunaao them about customer service, I guess…
June 3, 2004 — 1:02 pm
hariputtar says:
One way doctors can remain rich is, by controlling the demand-supply ratio. 🙂 [ this is what my cousin says; he is a med-student in UTMB].
Besides, with all the insurance-bound choices for PCP etc, what can one do but endure it all. for almost 2 years i never visited any docs. After my knee got twisted while playing soccer, a couple of weeks back 🙂 i had to. the 1st time i went there, i went to an ER; i did not even have my insurance card with me (but i had the various # and ids – from online site); the insurance card was still in the mail-envelope as i found out later. later i went for PCP appointments; and for orthopedic surgeon as well. i found the experience quite wonderful [ apart from the wait 🙂 ]; the staff is quite competent; hospitals / clinics are one-stop shops – they got me the equipments (crutches, knee-braces), and fast. it turned out i had been living with a ligament tear for 10 yrs almost – and docs in india had diagnosed it as a cartilage tear. i guess, even if it all involves a bit of wait, the quality of service makes up for it. 🙂
June 3, 2004 — 11:30 am
Lakshmi says:
The quality of service seems like a meek compensation for the lousy wait… it doesn’t make up for it. Besides, a simple check-up doesn’t even bring any quality to the fore…:-)
June 3, 2004 — 1:06 pm
anindita says:
I had to undergo the required medical exam for INS about a year ago and the thing I remember most from it all was being poked not once, not twice, not thrice, but nine times before they could get my blood for all those tests.
Nine times, can you imagine?
Oh well, no justice in this world and so on, I know:-)
A
June 3, 2004 — 1:38 pm
arunshanbhag says:
i would have been screaming bloody murder!
nine times!
I am terrified of needles, so I always find the ‘oldest’ nurse around. They have the most experience and always hit it on the first shot!
June 3, 2004 — 7:09 pm
Lakshmi says:
Me too.. I am s&*^$ scared of all needles.. But I thought that I was the only baby around, Arun…:-)
June 4, 2004 — 5:40 am
arunshanbhag says:
errr… did you just call me a baby?
*time to through a tantrum*
June 4, 2004 — 6:02 am
Lakshmi says:
:-)) Did I???
June 4, 2004 — 6:08 am
arunshanbhag says:
*giving you strange look*
chalo, maaf kar diya!
🙂
June 4, 2004 — 12:56 pm
anindita says:
🙂
At that point of time, all I needed was medical tests done and in a timely manner.. so I was a good girl and threw no tantrums(for a change)!!
June 4, 2004 — 6:55 am
Lakshmi says:
Was it because they couldn’t find your vein to draw blood? Can’t imagine the need to draw it nine times, in any case…
June 4, 2004 — 5:38 am
anindita says:
Basically they could not find the veins and the veins kept collapsing on them… so thats why they had to keep poking till they got enough blood out of me!
The Suckers!!
June 4, 2004 — 6:57 am
Anonymous says:
Same here in Singapre !
Have the same problem with doctors in Singapore and 30-40 minutes waits are the norm even if you are 10 minutes early.
Raju@Singapore
June 5, 2004 — 12:05 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: Same here in Singapre !
Really? I didn’t face this in B’bay… ever.
June 6, 2004 — 8:55 am