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Soap opera in gastro's waiting room!

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/20/2009 5:35 AM (GMT 0)
While witnessing this scene, I thought about forum members & what you all might say if you heard about it. A 35-40 yr-old well-dressed woman arrived just ahead of me & immediately handed out elaborate "goody-bags" to the receptionist on duty. She instructed: "Give one to whoever else sits in the receptionist spots." (In other words, she did not actually know the staff!) She took a seat & was soon joined by her husband, who started making a series of annoying cell phone calls re his business interests. There were already a couple other patients waiting for the doctor besides us. Within 15 minutes the well-dressed woman started loud-whispering complaints to her husband about having to wait when there were so many other things she could be doing! At that point a calm-looking middle-aged woman arrived & seated herself between me & the impatient patient with husband in tow. She initiated a few remarks of greeting to this new arrival & then began complaining to HER about having to wait to see the doctor! The calm woman asked how long she'd been waiting & then commented that it wasn't that long. She also asked how many times the impatient one had been to see our gastro. The reply: "It's my 2nd time here, but I asked the receptionist when I phoned for this appointment to give me a time slot when I wouldn't have to wait, and they said "O.K." Well, both the calm woman & I were trying not to laugh at that-- because there is no such available time except when the office is about to close for the day!!!!!!! It's an extremely busy medical practice at a well-known urban medical center. (So I guess the "goody-bags" were intended as rewards for not having to wait, but it didn't work out as she had expected.) I began to wonder how this woman's husband puts up with her ... / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 5/20/2009 11:42 AM (GMT 0)
I hate that when people start complaining about having to wait. If it was an extra long time, lets say over an hour or two, then I can understand but not when they just get there. I've seen this happen so many times myself and it really annoys me. The way I look at it is if there is a wait to see the doctor then maybe that doctor is actually SPENDING TIME with each patient as opposed to rushing them in and out.
Posted 5/20/2009 1:22 PM (GMT 0)
Exactly, Sherry. Or they had to fit someone in who had an emergency; which could be any of us!

Posted 5/20/2009 1:59 PM (GMT 0)
Why complain in the waiting room? To impress others with how important you are, I guess. No one in the waiting room can help you.

If I have to wait longer than I think appropriate, I complain to the doctor. That's the person who can do something about it.
Posted 5/20/2009 2:06 PM (GMT 0)
And the goodie bag maneuver was intriguing too. Hmmm....I'll have to give that some consideration. Just kidding!

Posted 5/20/2009 2:07 PM (GMT 0)
In my experience, setting an appointment as early in the day as possible is the best way to ensure you don't have to wait too long. The farther you are into the day, the more likely the doctor will be running behind.

It is frustrating when doctors overbook, which seems to be more and more common. I had a GP I loved, but he was so popular, the wait got worse and worse. IMHO, no one should have to wait an hour or more. I finally told the receptionist I couldn't wait any longer and would have to reschedule. I found another doctor. Better to do something about the situation than to sit around ya-yaing to everyone else in the same boat.
Posted 5/20/2009 2:28 PM (GMT 0)
I had a very long wait for something minor. I was my reg doctor and my appt was for 4:00 and I didn't get in til after 5pm. This was a regular doctor not GI. That's something to complain about. Now, for GI, if that's different. You always need to bring something to keep you occupied because you don't know what to expect. You can't rush people, you can find out on the status of your doctors schedule though. If they are running behind, if so how long, stuff like that. Just so you can know what to expect. A appointment scheduled a head of time still doesn't give you priority. Each day is different just like in Child care, you never know what to expect until the day happens. Some people are just impatient and not understanding.
Posted 5/20/2009 3:23 PM (GMT 0)
I also love first thing in the morning appointments, because the doc is less likely to be behind. I totally understand why they get behind, though. Sometimes patients have a lot of questions, and I know I really appreciate it that my GI takes a lot of time to answer the questions I have...that's what I like best about him. My GI was really apologetic the last time I went to see him because I had to wait 30-ish minutes! I told him that it was absolutely not a big deal.

That woman sounds seriously annoying. I bet she thinks nothing of it when she's running late, though, because she HAS to be the most important person in the world.
Posted 5/20/2009 3:33 PM (GMT 0)
If the woman who tired of waiting would only control her stress level she might not need a GI at all!

Sue
Posted 5/20/2009 3:35 PM (GMT 0)
Or maybe she needs to ask her GI about the procedure to remove one's head from one's @ss.
Posted 5/20/2009 5:29 PM (GMT 0)

Old Hat said...
She took a seat & was soon joined by her husband, who started making a series of annoying cell phone calls re his business interests.

I began to wonder how this woman's husband puts up with her ... / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])

There's your answer LOL...he spends alot of time on the phone devil

:)

Posted 5/21/2009 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
i want a goodie bag!
Posted 5/21/2009 3:12 AM (GMT 0)
shakehead I wonder what that lady would do if she had my ob/gyn visits. I think out of my last 5 visits I've had to reschedule 3 and had to see the PA for 1 because the doctor got called away to deliver babies or was sick. I always expect to wait when I go to the doctor's so I bring my book or my laptop and just wait my turn. I figure there's someone else in there that's asking all the questions like I have had to ask in the past or getting the unplanned tests. I'd rather wait my turn rather than have the doctor feel rushed because then there's a chance that if the doctor tries to rush through patients when I need extra time I won't be able to get all my questions answered because of the time restrictions.
Posted 5/21/2009 3:52 AM (GMT 0)
Sue, that was my exact thought when the impatient one started to rant for the 3rd time about all the other things she could be doing! Why was she stressing over such nonsense-- because it was something like having to pick up dry cleaning which couldn't be delivered to her home & other petty stuff. Alas, she was in with the doctor when I finished up and left-- so I didn't get to observe what she said or did after her turn in an exam room. (It remains to our imagination how she behaved in there!) The gastro WAS doing a procedure, though, during part of our wait, and when I came back out after my check-up concluded, there were 5-6 additional patients newly arrived in the waiting room. So it's unlikely that anyone pampered her on the way out ... her husband was not there, either! Meanwhile, I think that Princesa makes a very valid point about doctors' overbooking. In this case it could be because the doctor is too busy with other professional activities (teaching, research, publishing) to hold office hours more than 3 days per week and/or because the doctor is also responsible for managing this subdivision of the medical center and strives to keep it financially "healthy" with high patient volume. Aaaargh! / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 5/22/2009 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
How Im-por-tan-te was she!

I find doctors are a lot better about not overbooking than they used to be.
And I think I was told once that there had been an emergency, and I just figured someone else is having a worse day than me.
Now if only the hairstylists would stay on schedule...
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