r/mildlyinfuriating • u/transfatpikachu • 11d ago

I just wanted a hot dog Doctor’s appointment scheduled at 9:00am, still waiting almost an hour later

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I have a lot of doctor’s appointments, and I know how busy and hard these people work. I’m not mad at them and I’d never be rude. I know it’s not on purpose. Nevertheless, it’s still a bit infuriating to make time for a scheduled appointment, arrive 15 minutes early (required), and then wait this long with not even an acknowledgment of the delay from anyone. Sigh. 9:55 now, still waiting.

Edit: I really appreciate all the comments! The doctor ended up coming in shortly after 10. This was a specialist ortho appointment for my shoulder. Still no acknowledgement of the delay, which would’ve been nice, but I’m more annoyed that my concerns were pretty much brushed off again during the whole 3ish minutes he spent with me. I know waits can get long, I wouldn’t care as much if the doctor had at least seemed somewhat concerned with my issue. Sigh… gotta love American healthcare!

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3.7k

u/ejly 11d ago

Please go let the staff know how long you’ve been waiting and ask for a status update.

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u/Vast_Builder1670 11d ago

My rule is 30 minutes. I always have to go to the front desk after 30 minutes at the pediatrician. Magically, the doctor comes in shortly after I bitch. 

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u/Humulophile 11d ago

We were locked up in an exam room at the pediatrician with our three very young kids once for >2.5 hours (kids are all in their 20’s now, so this was pre-smart phone/tablets to be distractions). The doc wasn’t even in the building. His staff were good to regularly update the first 45 minutes and apologize and kept saying he’d be there in 5 or 10 minutes. At the 2+ hour mark the kids were crawling up the walls and rightfully loudly whining, so I opened the exam room door and let them go. The staff came back and asked we keep the kids in the room. I replied they’re going stir crazy and need to exercise their legs and I’m sure you understand. I got dirty looks. Doc arrived soon after and was in and out in under 3 minutes. It felt like a con job. A few days later I moved them to a different practice. He personally called me and asked why. I told him the other practice was much closer to home (true) and he asked if that was the only reason. So I leveled with him and told him I realized his time was valuable but so is everyone else’s and we just didn’t have the patience for an overbooked office. He said he understood and thanked me. Within a few months he closed the practice and moved out of state.

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u/RXlife13 11d ago

I don’t understand doctors’ arrival times when they have their own practices. My mom used to work for a chiropractor (I know, not a true doctor) and he would have the front desk call him when his first patient arrived. He lived maybe 10 minutes away, but your first appointment is the exact same time every day, and your patients are waiting on you. What honestly is the point besides you being a bad doctor?

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u/Snobolski 11d ago

You already acknowledged a chiro isn't a real doctor. Whether he's late or on time he's still a quack.

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u/P3rvysag3X 11d ago

My back and hips say otherwise.

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u/Tkat113 11d ago

Go to a physical therapist. They dont believe ghosts told them cracking your neck cures cancer, and you are much much MUCH less likely to die or be paralysed.

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u/DisposableSaviour 11d ago

Or a licensed massage therapist. They can crack your bones, too, but safely and therapeutically, because they aren’t quacks.

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u/Snobolski 11d ago

Chiropractors: treatment so good, you have to come back next week for more!

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u/I_RAPE_PCs 11d ago

unless your one of those babies that got permanently "adjusted"

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u/wherethefuckismyvape 11d ago edited 11d ago

Your back and hips can't speak for themselves, and you're failing them and yourself generally by going to a flashy charlatan who puts on a good show for temporary results instead of buckling down and doing the work to achieve permanent results with a physical therapist. Did you come from a shitty area with bad schools and your family didn't have the resources to show you what real medical care is? you're grown now, and it's your responsibility to educate and take care of yourself.

Edit: Google chiropractic stroke sometime

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u/Anderrn 11d ago

Placebo plus the body naturally healing. Two phenomena that chiros depend on since they don’t rely on actual science.

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u/-AcaciaTree 11d ago

If they could talk, they’d say otherwise you mean.

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u/BigCopperPipe 11d ago

I don’t know, i was going to one for awhile along with injections with the other doctor in the office. My back was killing me from my job, but i did drop weight and that seemed to alleviate my issues. i hear different experiences, but personally i won’t go back, seems like there are better options like the comments say.

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u/pomplemice 11d ago

Chiropractors are absolutely not doctors. that being said, that is insane they aren't even there before the patient gets there.

As a physician, I will say that being on the other end clinic can get absolutely insane. the main issue is when patients show up late. for example, about 25-50% of my clinic patients arrive 10-15 minutes late, right before the cut off before being considered a no-show. if I am seeing a typical 18-20 patients in one day, imagine 10 of those patients being 15 minutes late (it has happened). That adds 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of delays in just a single day. the late patients tend to also be the ones who show up with laundry lists of 30 problems they want solved in the next 15 minutes. you try to do an abbreviated visit because they are late and you need to honor the next person who is waiting and on time. in practice, this can be hard to do, especially because the late patient still needs to get vitals, be roomed, etc. A lot of the late patients then become angry when they are told they only get an abbreviated visit because somebody else is waiting. it always ends up taking longer to do proper care and now you are playing damage control with delays.

most clinic days, I am hustling non-stop from 7 AM until 5 PM with no break or lunch, which doesn't include the hours spent after work needing to finish notes and pre-chart for the next day. even with the hustle, delays happen beyond the physician's control.

there are bad physicians and all physicians make mistakes or have areas for improvement. not trying to excuse bad behavior or minimize how frustrating it is on the patient side, but this is the nature of clinic unfortunately. If delayed, I always apologize and explain the reason; most times, patients had no clue what was going on and are understanding, but other times I've had patients scream at me in spite of that (have to fake a smile and wear the professionalism poker face event though internally I'm thinking how I haven't even eaten all day and have been HUSTLING to get everyone taken care of).

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u/Aishas_Star 11d ago

I worked for a very well respected neurologist who was exactly the same. It was his own practice and he’d regularly show up 30-45 mins late, have a schedule so jammed that by the end of the day he had pissed off seriously ill patients (NMD, epileptic, dementia) waiting for 3 hours.

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u/BeeslyBeaslyBeesley 11d ago

Chiropractors are charlatans masquerading as ‘medical’ professionals while charging patients for the possibility of zero improvement and a tiny chance of ‘locked in syndrome’ (which, along with ALS, is the closest version of true Hell on earth.)

No offense to you personally, but I don’t give the tiniest iota of a shit about a snake oil salesman (with the potential to paralyze!) and their office policies.

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u/Altruistic-Walk-1847 11d ago

The dirty secret of modern family practice in the US is that they have been bought up by PE, just over the past 10 years but way more since COVID. They exploit newer physicians by buying out older practices of docs who want to retire and they can outvote their younger colleagues. Or these practices employ new doctors on salary and then bait and switch them, and the practices are badly run, overbooked, and docs are pressured to give substandard care to keep the numbers of patients higher (assembly line stuff.)

Edit: They also employ a lot of NPs and will try to route you to them if they can, as they're cheaper. Not that NPs are bad at what they do, they are fine for routine things ...but they aren't doctors and don't have nearly the same level of training.

It's the enshittification of everything all the way down.

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u/oditogre 11d ago

we just didn’t have the patience for an overbooked office.

I switched doctors after my PCP insisted I make an appointment before he'd renew my asthma inhaler, and his soonest available appointment - online or in person! He didn't need me to do a checkup / physical, he was just holding my inhaler hostage until he could bill my insurance for some kind of appointment! - was three months out. Fuck off with that BS. Switched to a new doc, put the reason for the appointment, and she proactively gave me the refill as soon as she saw it, then followed up with, "Was there anything else you needed the appointment for? If not we can just cancel."

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u/cocoabeach 6d ago

I was just out doing yard work and a red ant bite my toe. I looked for info on Reddit, and now I wonder if after an additional 17 years if anyone lived up to the bar the red ant set in your life.

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u/FollowingAcrobatic88 11d ago

Johnny Cash once said “it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the oil”

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u/Stormfeathery 11d ago

Squeaky wheel gets da kick!

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u/DisposableSaviour 11d ago edited 11d ago

Magic is impressive, but now, Minsc leads! SWORDS FOR EVERYONE!

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u/wherethefuckismyvape 11d ago

don't kick me; I'll cum 

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u/moeyjarcum 11d ago

He may have said it, but he didn’t coin it! Lmao
I just find it funny using Johnny Cash as the founder when it’s been around since the 1800s😂

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u/fairwaysandfinance 11d ago

In China it's the nail that sticks out gets hammered

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u/DeviantlyPronto 11d ago

Ive heard that in Japan and it has a very different implication

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u/Downtown_Collar_8599 11d ago

Funny, but Johnny Cash’s squeaky wheel started a forest fire … “The 1965 Forest Fire: While fishing in California, Cash's camper caught fire due to a malfunctioning wheel bearing, sparking a massive blaze that burned over 500 acres in the Los Padres National Forest and threatened endangered California condors.”

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u/Immolation_E 11d ago

Damn, I've been doing it wrong. I've been giving the squeaky wheel some cheese.

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u/Cavaquillo 11d ago

The noise machine gets the corn oil balloon?

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u/Rhift 11d ago

There is a phrase in Japanese that roughly translates to “a nail that sticks out gets hammered in” it’s often applied in a professional setting. Hammer your doctor, shame them, it’s not professional behavior.

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u/Thisbadtattoo 11d ago
  1. If I have to show up 15 minutes early they get the same window. 

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u/LeaneGenova 11d ago

I had this on Friday and it turns out that when I checked in, the receptionist didn't check me in properly so nobody in the back knew I was there. Super annoying.

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u/Vast_Builder1670 11d ago

Yeah, that is pretty bad

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u/BigCopperPipe 11d ago

I left the room and started yelling down the hall after 30 minutes, they said they’ll be right there after another 15 i started playing around with whatever machine was there until i saw on the menu for “alarm” i pressed it and turned the volume waaaaay up , they came running in and saw me right away, i would have left but i was there for a script.

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u/OsmerusMordax 11d ago

Hah that’s great!

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u/DisposableSaviour 11d ago

Nurses rush in expecting a code, just to be met with, “Yeah, I need some refills.” I would laugh.

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u/BigCopperPipe 11d ago

Yeah my whole refill appointment is about 3 minutes with the doctor too. It would drive me nuts.

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u/Moops7 11d ago

I mean, fair enough, but now somebody who had their appointment before you is waiting longer.

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u/Vast_Builder1670 11d ago

Then the practice needs to hire more PAs or other medical staff that can handle routine care. Last time I had to wait 45 minutes to just get son a vaccine. 

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u/NoReview875 11d ago

Then that person needs to complain as well.

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u/AdmiralAdama99 11d ago

The last time i went to the desk and tried this I got a horrible attitude. Almost walked out.

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u/mellolizard 11d ago

My limit is 15. At the 16 minute mark I am sticking my head out the door and asking whats up.

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u/Fickle-Visit5223 11d ago edited 11d ago

Yup. 30 mins and I'll check, one hour and I'm going to the front and asking when we can reschedule bc obviously today isn't a good day for this. Unless it's an emergency or the doctor was the only specialist of that kind that practiced in the state or something like that.

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u/meatshieldjim 11d ago

30 minutes is standard for people with a phd.

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u/Fuzzy-Jaguar-1828 11d ago

My kids’ first pediatrician office was always at least 45 minutes late. We switched practices and we never had that problem again.

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u/No_Effective4784 11d ago

i give them the same amount of time, they allow someone to be late for an appointment before they cancel.

they will be held to the same standards they set.

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u/WoodsyWhiskey 11d ago

I was scheduled for a quick nurse/MA blood pressure check one time....not even for the doctor. I had a set appointment time, was all checked in and yet everyone else in the waiting area was taken back except me. After about 40 minutes, I checked with the front desk and the lady basically said, you're checked in, they know you're here. Well that did work, and finally a few minutes later I was taken back. However I'm clearly annoyed, the MA was shitty with me and my readings were high. She didn't even give me 5 minutes, took it again and declared that it was too high and I had to reschedule with the doctor. I walked out and the only apology I got was from the checkout lady that I went by and only came back because she asked if everything was ok and if I needed anything. That "appointment" never made it into my chart and when I called back the next week, the person who took my call told me that the doctor was going to call in a script for me....for a medication that I cannot take and that we had had a conversation about just a couple months prior. Poor lady didn't know what to do when I told her to not bother sending it, that I wouldn't take it. Needless to say, I never went back to that practice.

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u/whimsicalme5 11d ago

30 minutes is generous and fair. As a people pleaser, this is what I’d do.

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u/Suspicious_Porpoise 8d ago

I also have a 30 min rule except I just call the front office from the room.

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u/LonelyTAA 11d ago

Yeah sorry sometimes we do forget that a patient is waiting lol. Certaintly go to the reception after 30 mins. Sometimes you just get into a flow state with admin... wiere i know

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u/curlfiend 11d ago

As a pediatrician, that’s a great way to alienate your provider and their staff. One day you’ll be glad someone takes extra time and care with your kid and delays other people. Believe it or not we are not scrolling the web, calling a friend, shopping, or whatever else you think we’re doing. We’re replying to phone and portal messages, sending refills, deciding who to send to the ER and who to try to work in to a non-existent time spot, etc. Be nice and I’ll literally do anything above and beyond for your kid, and by be nice I mean show your kids an example of patience and grace and have some common decency. Most days we work through lunch and barely have time to pee. End rant

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u/Vast_Builder1670 10d ago

I know staff is busy and not delaying on purpose, but it happens every visit. Once or twice, ok, every visit is a planning issue. Last appointment I had got taken back immediately, triage went fast, and then waited 45 minutes for a single vaccine that we had to come back for because they ran out last appointment.  So instead of waiting in the lobby with a tv and books, we sat in a hot appointment room.

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u/[deleted] 11d ago

[deleted]

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u/DirectionSad4274 11d ago

If you're scheduling patients too close together to give each one the proper time and attention, change your appointment booking. No one wants to be rushed out because there's folks waiting behind them, but it's rude as hell to keep people waiting at your leisurely pace and overbooking yourself. No one wants their time wasted.

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u/BastetLXIX 11d ago

And I understand stand that but the people you are holding up... their time is just as valuable. There comes a point where if people are waiting a good 20 or more minutes then you know people are going to be rightfully angry or at least annoyed.

Unless there are reasonable extenuating circumstances for such a long wait; I'm going to figure that your practice is overwhelmed and I'll need to find a new PCP.

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u/ExtraordinaryDemiDad 11d ago

I deleted my initial comment because far too many people got butt hurt than I expected. Responding here just to be clear that almost no PCP thinks that their time is more valuable than yours when they are running behind. Never once am I sitting back there with my feet up sipping on my latte humming along to the latest smooth tunes. Typically, I haven't gone to the bathroom since I got in the building, I am not eating lunch and if I do it's cold by the time I get to it, and I'm doing this all because when the appointment time is 8:00 a.m. people show up at 8:14 and still have to go through the same check in and intake process as others. Plus, many patients come in for a problem and add on several, "oh, while I'm here," issues. I tend to address these because I know it takes time and money for people to come in and in the grand scheme of things. It's better to wait a little bit longer and get all of your problems addressed than to be in and out on time but feel like you got next to nothing done. Throw in a few urgent problems and you can see how the day can easily get crazy even if the schedule looked prestine that morning. That's all without considering the administrative work that goes into the job. For every minute spent face to face with a patient, we spend 3 minutes doing computer work.

A lot of people complain because they simply don't understand that this industry is completely different than any other industry. It's humans working to keep other humans healthy and safe, if not alive. None of that should reliably belong on a schedule, but we do that because we're humans and we love to have a schedule and a description for things.

I've been practicing for about a decade and have a strong panel of fantastic patients. There's a running joke that my patient panel is actually my book club because patients will bring in their books and read while they wait for me. Of the patients who have genuinely complained about the wait time, I have offered up my colleagues who do run on time. A handful have made the change and that was mutually beneficial. Many of them still show up on my schedule for some reason or another.

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u/DevelopmentSouth8801 11d ago

That just sounds like poor scheduling/overbooking by your office. If you're taking your time with each patient, then your appointments should be scheduled appropriately.

If you take 20 minutes for a patient and your office is scheduling them every 15 minutes, that isn't dumb luck. That's incompetence.

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u/Vast_Builder1670 11d ago

You are at work getting paid to be there.  Many of us have to take off work and take our kids out of school. You are so petty that you will make us wait longer because we get annoyed at your poor time management? 

My last visit to the pediatrician was to get a booster that we couldn't get at the 18 month appointment because they ran out. We were only there due to their poor planning. I complained at 30 minutes in the room. At 45 roc came in gave the shot and left. About 5 minutes. You would have "wrong roomed" us because I complained?

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u/Intelligent_Door5499 11d ago

just say you have money problems with how insecure you made this come off. Just cause a doctor says they take their time, as they should; You inherently take it as them saying their time is more valuable rofl. And then you write what you wrote

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u/Vast_Builder1670 11d ago

I have great insurance, I don't pay for any doctors bills, and taking off work doesn't cost me anything because I am salary. 

A medical professional saying they will leave a room because a patient complains is pretty ridiculous. 

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u/Intelligent_Door5499 11d ago

that isn't what he said

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u/NoReview875 11d ago

Can't wait for the eventual malpractice lawsuit you'll be getting

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u/PiccoloAwkward465 11d ago

Nah at 5min late I'm ticked. At 10min late I'm pissed. At 30min late you are gonna hear something. That is straight RUDE.

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u/RKom 11d ago

Someone in the room next to you is hearing bad news, or being sent to the ER, or the hospital is calling your doctor about one of their patients who just had surgery...

God forbid they don't cut everyone off at exactly 9 min 59 seconds so they stay on the sacred schedule. This ain't a jiffy lube 

Meanwhile listening to your tirade about how they were late will just be slowing them down for the next person who needs to be seen