Waiting for Appointments

Recently as I sat waiting for a medical appointment that began more than 45 minutes after it was scheduled I was reminded of an editorial I had read in the Free Press a couple of months back. The piece was written by a person in automotive sales who complained that the practise of medicine was in desperate need of some of the customer service skills so essential to his business. His concern was primarily service in public hospitals, but having been so poorly attended to by my doctor on this day I am sad to report that this intolerable level of service extends into the realm of family medicine.

As someone with an inflexible work schedule that is based on hourly pay I do my best to schedule appointments so as to miss as little time as possible. However my doctor does not seem to appreciate that her way of doing business causes inconvenience for working people. This is demonstrated in the way that her office made me book two appointments in the same week in order to arrange a thirty minute physical exam. When I was ushered into my first appointment, after more than half an hour of waiting, I was told that this was strictly a “meet and greet” session where the doctor wanted to get to know about me and my health concerns. At no point did she think to apologize for keeping me waiting for thirty minutes or give any indication that she recognized my time as being as valuable.

After an interview that lasted less than half an hour I was told to return to her assistant’s desk to arrange a physical. I started to wonder just what the doctor was charging me for this inane song and dance, realizing that I have no power to control the services she decides to offer or what she can charge for them. My bill goes directly to the government, and any objections I might raise to her display of arrogance would be counter-productive. My only other choice was to roll the dice on another family doctor and risk more of my valuable time for someone who may or may not be more respectful. Reluctantly I booked another “appointment.”

On the occasion of my second visit my wait time was extended to 45 minutes. When I finally was ushered into her examining room she offered no apology and seemed a bit taken aback when I confronted her with the issue. She excused her tardiness by explaining a fire had blocked traffic on her route to work. I did see her arriving to the office at around 9 a.m. and did hear news reports of the fire she spoke of on my way to the appointment. However it was my view that her first priority on arriving late should be to get me into her examining room as quickly and apologetically as possible rather than having me sit for another fifteen minutes without any sort of communication. Instead she left me seething in the crowded waiting room forced to listen to a loud soft-rock radio station that cut out intermittently while her busy minions did their best to avoid eye contact.

Sadly, the lack of choice when it comes to medical services gives little incentive for medical practitioners to go that extra mile for their patients. I would gladly pay an additional appointment fee to reward a doctor who showed respect for my time as well as my health. But our system does not allow for this, nor do I have much chance of finding such a doctor except through trial and error. I do not believe my doctor is consciously tardy, but that’s just the point. She does not seem to understand or care that I have a life outside her waiting room, and I do not have any power to prevent her from continuing to waste my precious time.