How Long Do You Wait When the Dr Is Late

I wait 15 minutes..after that - I start charging them for MY time...It's just as important as theirs....my pediatrician knows this...if the doctor is running behind they ask me if I want to wait or reschedule...because I HAVE billed them for my time...

Updated

I wait 15 minutes..after that - I start charging them for MY time...It's just as important as theirs....my pediatrician knows this...if the doctor is running behind they ask me if I want to wait or reschedule...because I HAVE billed them for my time...

From the perspective of the doctors office - some doctors have 20+ patients on their schedules per day, seeing someone every 15 minutes. That is not ideal for them but sometimes the demand forces that type of schedule onto them. Then they have to deal with phone calls from other physicians and specialists about their patients and also calls from the hospital if they have patients admitted. The office visits are scheduled for 1-2 issues, a patient tells the scheduler they need to see the doctor about their sore toe and then they come in to talk about depression and that rash down there too which obviously increases the time the dr spends in the room. Then there are the emergencies, a patient comes in and a test shows that they have an emergent medical need and it takes the dr an hour to care for that need.

Here is how you can help your doctor's office. Tell the scheduler everything you need to see the doctor about - they have heard it all believe me - so they can schedule the appropriate amount of time for the doctor. Write a list of any questions or concerns you have so you can move through the appointment quickly. Stick to the issue you came in for. Doctors really don't need to know about Great Aunt Gertie's hemorhoids, just yours. And as fun as your last vacation was, talking about it takes away the time needed to talk about your problems. Also have a list of your history and medications for reference so time isn't wasted looking at the past records.

If even half of the people on the doctor's schedule did the above, the day would run much smoother and the doctor would be more on time provided an emergency wasn't pulling them away.

The way I see it is that if my doctor makes time to give me same day sick appointments every time I need them than I can cut him some slack when he runs a little late. Especially since he ALWAYS gives me his full attention and gives me all the time I need to discuss any questions or concerns.

When the wait is longer than usual I do appreciate it when the office staff keeps me up to date with approximate wait times.

Cheryl O. - are you serious??? I can't believe any doctor would pay you for your time. Geesh...

I must be the all patient one.

I have waited well over 2 hours for our ped for a standard check up visit, or when the the kids were sick and needed to be seen (nothing serious, just cold/flu).

We have since changed docs. The standard wait time there is about 40 minutes. I wouldn't know what to do with 10 min wait times!!

I find it extremely annoying when you wait and wait then the doc comes in and doesn't even acknowledge how late they were and no apology. I however have been the emergency appointment so I try to have patience. You just dont know what emergency the doc may have been dealing with. To answer your question I probably would have waited a hour and 15 minutes before leaving.

I took my son to the dermotologist once. I waited 2 hours. I again went up to the nurse and asked her how long and she wouldn't give me an answer. I told her that I was leaving and wanted to make another appointment. She had the nerve to tell me "I would be happy to but you know you will be billed for this one as well". I told her that I would not pay for this visit and that if they did, I would send them a bill for my time. She just looked at me. I then told her to forget the appointment and that we would find a new dermotologist.

Here is my Philosophy - doctors are service providers. If their service is not acceptable, I can find a new one. It is that simple. Now, some are better than others and of course I take that into account but my time is valuable as well.

I think anything past 1/2 an hour, and I'd probably start thinking about leaving. Luckily, DD's office runs on time.

depends on the reason for the appointment.

For a well check, simple stitches removal, immunization, other routine things, I would wait about a half hour or so, then re-schedule (assuming this is not normal for the dr; if he's constantly excessively late I'd find a different dr).

But for an appointment for a critical review of a serious issue, or an appointment with a specialist that it took 2 + months to get in the first place, I will wait as long as it takes. We had an appointment for an important re-check with a hematologist and she was on an emergency. We were told it would be more than an hour, but they wanted us to know we would be seen that day, if we were willing to wait. We went and got some food and magazines and came back and played games on my phone and waited. Eventually she came back to the office, apologized, and the appointment took place.

Wow! It's the medical field $&?! Happens. I've had to wait 40 minutes at a morning appt because our ped was held up at the picu why would I get upset/annoyed that my ped was taking care of a sick child isn't that their job I'd hope if it were my child at the hospital and I had questions he wouldn't go skipping out fast.
My ob I waited over an hour the other ob was sick so he had to co err maternity and patients I had the nurse weigh me, measure me, blood pressure, baby's heart beat and I rescheduled because the dr had to do an emergency csection was I mad...nope because I want the same attention he was giving the patients in labor that day.

I normally have along wait at any doctor appts we go to. Usually we are called to the exam room at the scheduled time of our appt and wait only about 5 after that for the dr so the few times something comes up and we have to wait I don't mind one bit. Like I said I am happy to wait because if my children or myself is ever the one with the emergency or extra questions I would hope that the doctor would take the time with me instead of rushing or passing us off

It is irritating but its unavoidable when the doctors are working at the hospital etc. I have found that its best to be the 1st patient of the day or just after lunch so they are the most prompt then. I have waited 2 hours for an ob appt and couldn't reschedule because I had to get a babysitter and all for the appt and didn't want to have to come back. But if its longer than that, I leave. My past obgyn was CHRONICALLY late like a minumum of 45 min plus every appt, so I ended up switching and am SOOOOO glad that I did. My newer ob doctor is prompt and fabulous. I wish I had done so a long time ago. GL

M

My friend waited 2 hours sitting in a paper gown waiting for her OB check up and had her 3 kids under age 3 with her, only to find out that her doc was in surgery....... I would have read the office the riot act!

I don't wait. I ask the receptionist if the doctor is behind schedule BEFORE I check in. If the wait time is longer than I care to wait, I reschedule. Thankfully, I have an incredible doctor who sees us in a very timely manner, and since he is so considerate, I don't mind waiting awhile if something urgent comes up.

This one burns me up! I think that I should be seen within about 15 minutes of my appointment time. If there is an emergency, then I understand. However, if every time I am in the office, there is an emergency then I don't think that the office schedules very well. I work full-time. Therefore, often I have to actually take off work in order to go to a doctor's appointment. I do NOT have unlimited paid time office and cannot afford to burn the time that I do have just sitting in a doctor's waiting room. It won't happen and I do let the doctor know. My time is important. I am a busy full-time working mom of two small kids. I don't have time for someone to jack around with me!

While I was pregnant ans when our child was an infant. I always asked the office to call me, 20 min. before the doctor could really see us. It made a huge difference and I was lucky we lived/worked close to their offices.

My OBGYN was an in demand doctor and always wanted to be at the delivery of each of her moms. I also wanted her to be with me, so I was willing to wait a while and then drive over .. I always took my paperwork with me..

For the first Pedi we had, he took care of primarily preemies and I knew he was excellent, so I once again had to wait a few times, but I knew he was worth the wait and his office staff was awesome about calling..

I am the caretaker for my Mom. A few years ago she had eye surgery to treat glaucoma. The doctor had done several surgeries that day and had everyone at the hospital at 7AM, then we had to report to his office at 4 PM, well again he scheduled everyone at 4 PM so we waited 1.5 hrs to see him. It was my only day off that week. So now it's 5:30 PM and I still have to drive my Mom home get dinner made and on the table and get to the grocery store.
As he was leaving the exam room I looked at him and said 'Doctor, I know you time is valuable but so is MINE. I explained my time constraints for that day and it was my only day off. I also explained that his staff should be calling patients and let them know if he is running behind. He told me it was my responsibility to call them to see if they are behind. I went off at him and explained that just because he is a doctor he is no smarter than I am he just read different books. If he has a schedule he needs to keep it and it's his responsibility to call us if he is running late. There are many other doctors in the area and I would find one who could accomadate us if he would keep us waiting. We didn't wait like that again.
You pay the doctor so he is like an employee. If you were a business manager/owner and an employee kept you waiting 2 hours would you put up with that? Explain that to your doctor -- Time is money and my time is as valuable as yours.

Not at the pediatrician, but at the obgyn one time, I waited an hour and a half after my appt time and they said it would be another 45 minutes at least. NO magazines in the waiting room. I was nursing at the time and told the gal at reception that I had to get home to my infant, that I'd have to reschedule. So I reschedueled for the FIRST appt of the day at 8am (I had to bring my infant with me this time around). We were there at 7:55. The dr showed up at 8:45. Needless to say I need to find another doctor for my next pregnancy.

Wow. This seems extreme to me and you're handling it so well! If I had waited in the waiting room for 15 mins and then another 45 mins for the doctor, uh, I'd have left too. And if this is the norm, I probably wouldn't be a patient there anymore. If this was just a one time deal and my kids were not cranky, yeah, I probably would have waited a few more minutes since they explained the situation...but probably not more than 10-15.

At our pediatrician's office we usually wait about 5 minutes in the waiting room, the nurse follows us and does her thing and then we generally wait another 5-10 minutes for the doctor.

At my OB I generally wait a little bit longer, but I'm still in and out of there in generally about 30-40 minutes tops, but I'm without my kids so I wouldn't care if it took longer! ;). If there is an emergency and he is unavailable then they usually call me or send me on my way early!

I am not very patient when it comes to waiting at the doctors. If they let me know what's going on, I'll wait an hour. Otherwise, I leave. Normally, I'm a very patient person but not a patient patient...LOL

Depends on why I'm there. If it was for shots or for a check up, anything that doesn't really require a doctor I wouldn't wait. You waited long enough in my opinion. Nurses seem to know as much as doctors within the pediatrician office most of the time so if i had a question about development or something, I'm sure the nurse could give me some advice. But you said your son was just doing a well check so I wouldn't have even lasted until 2. I remember going back one time at a previous pediatrician's office and I sat in the room for an hour before anyone came in. I went out, found a nurse, and said I was going to go the pediatrician down the street if he wasn't in in the next 5 minutes. 5 mins later she came in (doctor), did the shots, and I was done. I never went back but saying that lit a fire under them. It was irritating, especially because there was one other patient at that time.

I have waited and waited and waited, longest wait was just under two hours and that was for an obgyn dr visit while I was pregnant. I used to babysit so I would always schedule for off the entire day I had an appt, so rescheduling was never really an option.
It irritates me, but then what are you going to do, besdies rescheduling is a hassle, when I have had conflicts arise on my end it usually meant more than a week out to get a new appointment, and with little kids if you need to see the dr it is not always an option.

first off it is a whole different story if you have driven a long way, are seeing an in-demand specialist, etc. i would say, for a regular well-child checkup, well they cancel my appointment if i am 10 minutes late. (our ped's office does). i think that is more than generous on their part. i would give them a bit more time, dr's save lives and who am i to get snippy...but after 30 or 40 minutes i would be walking. also, i live 10 minutes from the dr. that's not necessarily enough to get me mad, but i'm sorry...i am (and my insurance is) paying out the YIN YANG for their services. sorry.

My son is special needs, we have waited for hours to see a specialist or for tests to be run...however for a regular doctor appointment I start asking when we will be seen after 15 minutes but I have still waited up to an hour or more. If the doctor isnt even in the building when I arrive then I dont wait.

I have waited up to three hours several times for my spinal surgeoun in Beverly Hills. I drove a loooong way to be there so I wasn't going to abandon mission. I needed to be seen.

I think waiting an hour to have doctor do their well-check is WAY too long, even if there is an emergency. They should have allowed either a PA, NP or another doc to manage your appointment or allow you to reschedule a full meeting with doc.

It depends on the doctor. I had to wait several hours because a heart surgeon was called to an emergency. They took our phone number so they could call me when he was on the way to the office so we didn't have to stay in the waiting room. Those kinds of things just cannot be helped.
But for a regular visit, if the doctor was chronically late, I would find another one.