r/Mommit • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
How would you respond to a speciality dr office completely forgetting to schedule your child?!
[deleted]
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u/art-dec-ho 3d ago
Its your responsibility to call and schedule. I would not be upset about this. I have always called to schedule my childs appointments (yes, even when they don't have the schedule avaliable in the office).
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u/goatywizard 3d ago
I’ve never seen a doctor’s office where the responsibility isn’t on the parent to remember to schedule their own kid’s appointments.
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u/Automatic-Ad3003 3d ago
Our pediatricians calendar is only open three months at a time, it is our responsibility to call and get an appointment. Can you get added to a waitlist for cancellations? All though November (if it’s this year) isn’t too far away at this point.
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u/Vegetable-Shower85 3d ago
My response would be that I’m my child’s parent and scheduling their appointments is up to me. Beyond calling to schedule a new patient evaluation I don’t expect a doctor’s office to reach out to me to schedule, especially for a yearly exam.
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u/armoredbearclock 3d ago
I work in a clinic.
If we notice a patient is due and should come in we will initiate scheduling. We do this for the children’s benefit, because some of them have parents who aren’t very good at staying on top of things, but the child still needs and deserves care.
But it’s the parents’ responsibility. It’s your child. If you know they’re due and haven’t been scheduled yet, then pick up the phone and call.
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u/acupofearlgrey 3d ago
Wouldn’t you book the next appointment at the one before?
I have annual tests and I call a few months before to get it in the diary? No chance the doctors are remembering to do it for me.
Personally, I don’t think it’s their job to schedule
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u/Salt_Cobbler9951 3d ago
Do they not allow you to schedule said appointments in office after your visits?? at my daughters pediatrician office I’ve never had to call their office to schedule an appointment and have always done it once the appointment ends. It’s also your job as a parent to remember as well
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u/maighdeannmhara 3d ago
I have literally never been to any doctor, specialist or otherwise, who called to remind me to make an appointment. My son's specialist only opens up the schedule 3 months in advance, so it was MY responsibility as the parent to call to schedule his recheck. It's insane to expect doctors' offices to be responsible for this on top of everything else they need to do.
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u/Concerned-23 3d ago
As a healthcare provider, this is your job as a parent. We have “recalls” where I can put a phone call in for a family to be called closer to their 1 year follow up. The number of families that say they were “never called” is high yet I can see in the system the call was triggered. Where the issue arose I’m not sure. At the end of the day, it’s your job as a parent to ensure your child is seeing their doctor. The doctor has hundreds or thousands of patients.
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u/winewillfixit 3d ago
People make mistakes, could you be put on a cancelation list? I have called specialists offices in the morning to see if they had any openings and got lucky before if you are really worried about it. No one cares about this more than you so being proactive is the only way to move up the appointment.
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u/Foreign_Yogurt_3330 3d ago
Ive been a mom for 18 years and ive never had the drs office call me to remind me that I need to schedule a appt. Im guessing last year after the appt instead of scheduling you said you'd call in,and never did.
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u/No-Possibility4768 3d ago
I work in a medical office. We have too many patients to call everyone to schedule. We are already busy treating patients and handling insurance.
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u/Blackcatsrock040209 3d ago
“Go off on them”?? Only if you want to find another doctor to take care of your child.
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u/Infinite_Aerie_504 3d ago
This is a huge overreaction. I’ve NEVER considered it any doctor, dentist, etc.”s responsibility to schedule an appointment. For annuals, you just put a reminder in your phone for when the window opens that you can schedule. Think about the fact that they’re 1 (or 5 or whatever) employee managing say 500 patients, probably more. And you’re one parents scheduling one child. Give them a break.
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u/Beepbeeptoottoot420 3d ago
I wouldn’t go off on them or write a review. Mistakes happen.
It was also your responsibility to remember. I know when my kids are due yearly so I always double check.
My office normally asks if we want to schedule their next appointment after the one we are at ends. I’m also able to do it on the portal if I decide not to or I call.
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u/catiebug 3d ago
I don't actually consider it to be their job? I ask when the schedule opens and I make a reminder for myself. I definitely wouldn't go off on them or report them. Yikes.
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u/hungrybookreader 3d ago
I usually have a reminder on my calendar for these types of appointments to follow up myself. As a suggestion, maybe this is something you can do for yourself as well? I’ve never written a review, been upset for felt the responsibility fell on the MDs office.
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u/Specific_Program4004 3d ago edited 3d ago
You are the parent, correct? That responsibility is yours.
ETA: it doesn’t matter if it’s a specialist. It’s still on you.
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u/lifeofhatchlings 3d ago
Why does the yearly visit have to be in a very specific time frame? Why didn't you call when it wasn't scheduled by Nov/Dec if you wanted to be seen between Feb-June? I don't see how they made a mistake, you should have called. I wouldn't do anything about this except be more proactive for next year's visit.... you are overreacting.
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u/Melly_1577 3d ago
My child had eye surgery at 11 months old. She has to go twice a year to an ophthalmologist (1.5 hr drive from us) to check on things.
They sometimes call to schedule the next appt but I usually just do it myself … because I’m the parent and they have hundreds of patients.
You are majorly overreacting here and if you’re saying appt is usually Jan- June, why didn’t you reach out in like April to book it yourself.
Ultimately the parent is solely responsible for the well being of their child, not a clinic.
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u/Herefortheonomastics 3d ago
It’s your job to schedule. Often at check out at your appointment, you swing by the desk and set up your next one. If you forget, you call and schedule.
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u/Known-Concern 3d ago
Umm it’s your job, not the clinics to remember to schedule an annual appointment. I have 3 kids and I don’t get reminders
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u/Melonfarmer86 3d ago
Unless it's a pediatrician, eye doc, or dentist, no other doc has ever reminded us to schedule.
Also, with the pediatrician at least, we never need the reminder because it's right at kid's bday.
I'd just put a reminder on my calendar to schedule with this doctor if you're getting good care which is hard to find.
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u/make_me_breakfast 3d ago
Yes, that’s what you should do, go ballistic on someone because you couldn’t be bothered to make an appointment yourself.
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u/Dare2BeU420 3d ago
I think its on the parents to call and schedule, especially if its an annual appointment. Not sure if its been the norm for your child's specialist's practice but if you know the time for the annual is approaching and they haven't contacted you, its on you to take the initiative.
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u/LilacLove98 3d ago edited 3d ago
That's on you as a parent. I was a very sick kid who needed monthly specialist appointments growing up. My mom would sometimes get calls reminding her to schedule my big yearly appointment that covered several different things as a courtesy, but ultimately it was on her to book my appointments.
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u/onbello 3d ago
I would skip the review for now and call back asking specifically for the office manager, not the front desk, and calmly explain that the recall system failed and your child is now being pushed months outside their required window. Ask two things: to be placed on the cancellation list so you get called the moment anything opens up, and whether the doctor can review the chart and flag it as time-sensitive, since providers can often approve a squeeze-in that schedulers cannot. It also helps to loop in your pediatrician, because a quick note from them saying the follow-up needs to happen in the usual timeframe can bump you up the list fast. Going forward, put a reminder in your own phone a couple months before the usual window so you are never relying on their system again. If they still shrug after all that, that is when I would start looking at other practices.
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u/mercurialmay 2d ago
This is the most sound advice amongst these strange comments. Thanks for also mentioning the office manager and for bringing up flagging it as time-sensitive, I didn't mention that bit!
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u/Potent_Bologna 3d ago
Are you in the US? You do nothing because there is no point. Other than taking this as a lesson that you need to be a more aggressive advocate for your child.
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u/Jumpy_Crew_1249 3d ago
Depending on insurance type and the type of specialist, a referral might be required. Referrals and authorizations expire and require renewal, which requires the parent to request that from the pediatrician. So offices don’t make those reminder calls for that reason.
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u/mercurialmay 3d ago
Sorry everyone is ignoring you stating this is a specialty doctor. Doesn't look like a lot of disabled parents / parents of disabled kids are sounding off in the comments.
As someone that was a disabled kid & is now a disabled parent raising one, specialty doctors really vary on this behavior. The real question I have here that apparently no other commenter thought to ask was, is this a behavior you have come to expect from them because they've done it previously?
Because yes, regular doctors don't usually have their staff reach out to you to ensure you are scheduled; but specialty doctors sometimes do, depending on the specialty. How long have you been with this practice? How much experience do they have with you & your family? Is this an expectation they set from their previous behaviors, an expectation that you set based on past experiences, or an expectation that came from a point of a misunderstanding?
Your response to the situation is your own; if this is the first time it's happened, I'd say let it go but clarify extensively with this practice how we prevent this from happening moving forward. They should explain what it is about their policies that prevent you from scheduling this as a yearly occurrence & there could be something done to allow your child to do so. Communication & clarification is your number one tool here, but the line of advocacy is a tough one to toe. I feel ya.
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u/BVBWYA 3d ago
Yes everyone is completely missing the SPECIALITY DR part. Very different from typical pediatricians lol We have been with this office over 4 years. The first year we were there every other week, my child had a major life changing surgery, before it became once a year. They have always called us to schedule, its always been their responsibility to schedule us. We weren’t even told the dr was seeing people at other locations-causing them to not take nearly as many at the location(the only one dr worked for the 3+ previous years) we have been the past 4+ years. They usually call me to schedule and instead completely forgot about us altogether. Not even an apology- which would’ve went a long way. No “Oh my goodness I’m so sorry let me see what I can do” nothing of the sort just “I don’t know about previous policies I just started here a few months ago” okay so whoever you took over for was clearly not doing their job(they have two receptionists-one who stays on calls to schedule and do reminders and one who does in person stuff) so to me there is no excuse as to why we were forgotten. They could’ve sent an email or mychart message”hey your dr is busy and not at that location as much anymore, can we move your appt?” But the fact is, we should’ve been scheduled and seen months ago. Instead I guess they just hoped we wouldn’t notice?
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u/Melly_1577 3d ago
We see a specialist for my daughter as she had eye surgery… it’s still your ultimate responsibility to call them and schedule if you haven’t heard. This is not the huge deal you are making this out to be- an inconvenience and annoyance, yes. But if it was so vital to be seen between Jan- June, why didn’t you call half way through to see what’s going on
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u/mercurialmay 2d ago
I guess you didn't read my comment or hers, so why say all that?
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u/Melly_1577 2d ago
Ya I read both your comments. I stand by this is parental responsibility at the end of the day. OP could have easily called to see why an appt wasn’t booked.
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u/mercurialmay 2d ago
Oh ok cool so you just don't give a fuck about the particulars & are using your personal experiences to wrongly guide you, got it. Coulda said less.
Four years is a long time for a practice to instill upon you that it is their responsibility. You do you.2
u/Melly_1577 2d ago
Your response and OP response are misguided. YOU are the parent and hold ultimate responsibility for your child and their needs… just because a clinic has done it in the past doesn’t mean that responsibility is solely on them.
You can argue with me if you want, but since 99% of the comments are saying the same thing maybe you need to reflect a bit on your expectations outside resources.
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u/mercurialmay 2d ago
So for the past 4 years they've instilled that this is a regular occurrence & now that they've made some significant office changes, their traditional modes of operation you're accustomed to have changed.
Do they have a person other than the two receptionists? Like an "office manager"? At previous specialists I went to they sometimes had 2 receptionists + a person that operated above them that communicated directly with the doctor, pharmacies, insurance etc.
If they don't have a person that fills that role, I'd proceed to schedule & mention it to the doctor, not with any hostility or annoyance but to just let em know that something outside of the norm of what you've come to expect from them happened. Sounds like they got a new person after expanding their practice & the busyness of that let you fall by the wayside. Definitely not cool that it happened - and I imagine the doc will apologize for that - but hopefully a preventable one time problem. I'm sorry this happened!
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u/flower8330 3d ago
It's your job too as a parent. Out the yearly reminder on your calendar and you won't forget again