When you walk into a doctor’s office, or any patient waiting area, when there’s a television on, go ahead and get comfortable, because you’re assured of a wait. Patients hate to wait on doctors as much as doctors hate to wait on patients. And office personnel get stuck in the middle. ER’s in some hospitals now offer a free visit if seeing a doctor takes longer than a specified time. As if “seeing a doctor” is the same as “being treated by a doctor!” Shopping mall based physician practices now offer patients restaurant style pagers to notify patients when their (exam) table is ready. What’s too long to wait? Should there be financial consequences for late or no-show patients or “my time is more valuable than your time” attitude doctors? What are your ideas or what have you seen that works to minimize “waiting?”
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What works to minimize waiting…….let’s see, common sense and courtesy come to mind first. And this involves the patient taking a proactive roll in helping themselves and considering others. (is that a totally new concept or what????) When you call the doctor’s office to schedule that appointment don’t forget to tell them that besides your regular blood pressure and med check that you have this funny bump behind your knee that you want doc to check on, and you want to show him the article in Reader’s Digest about the new energy pill and discuss if you should run down and get a box, and you also want to go over the lab results again of your visit four months ago because your Aunt Lillie asked you if there was a possibility that your blood sugar might be up because she just had hers checked and she is now a diabetic and you can’t remember what yours was four months ago……and there is something else that you wanted to ask doc about but you can’t remember it right now, but you are sure you will by the time of your appointment. Now….the office staff will take all this into consideration and book your appointment for a little longer than just a “blood pressure check.†But your proficiency may not keep YOU from waiting. However if the people who are scheduled before you would practice the same courtesy, it would also keep you from waiting. (Gee…people helping people??…what would this world become???)
And if you find yourself waiting and becoming mad and frustrated consider this: My husband has been in Iraq for 15 months. During that time I have waited countless times to hear his voice and know that he is okay. I have waited to open my e-mail and see something from him. I have waited for the mail to be delivered to see if there is a letter from him. I have also waited for that dreaded phone call….the one that says “This is General So and So from the Department of Defense and your husband has been severely injured.†I have apprehensively waited for that knock on the door wondering if this is the time I am going to open it to find an Army Chaplain there with the speech that begins…“we are so sorry to inform you…..†I am still waiting for the day I can throw my arms around him and say “Welcome Home.†Waiting some extra time in a doctor’s office doesn’t bother me (I’ll use it to pray for my husband and all the other troops waiting to come home).
Sharon Nelson
Liberal, Kansas
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